Ego and the Threads

I have been joining the discussion threads a lot more often and I’m enjoying them for the most part. I would like to thank FAA for having moderators who are active and participate themselves, and who keep the threads civil for the most part.

On the other hand, I have noticed a few times that a relatively new member to the site will come into the threads with the idea that they are the best thing since sliced bread, their work is superb and they are willing to tell you so and if you don’t follow their particular work procedures, your work is crap and if you have anything good posted, you achieved the results by accident.

BUNK

I am a photographer, so I notice this more in the photography threads because I follow them more often than the threads about other media, but I’m sure there are some of those people who work in other media as well.

Here’s my deal: My ego is in tact. I keep improving as a photographer the more I work, and I’m not embarrassed to ask for an opinion on a work and I can take the criticism or the praise as long as it’s honest and not condescending or over the top gushing. Several members of this site have given me help with technical questions and thoughts on a particular work. Some of them are more blunt than others, but I respect their opinion or I would not have asked in the first place, and one person in particular (I will not name names) always provides a REASON for a harsh critique of something that is spot on. This is not disrespect, it’s honesty. I can appreciate that.

What I don’t appreciate are people who think I’m not a serious photographer because 1) I have never studied formally 2) I have never memorized shutter speed to aperture ratio charts 3) I don’t process my photos a certain way.

When I used to paint in oils, I was a “traditional” oil painter. That is, I would paint the background, let it dry for a week, paint some more elements, let it dry for a week, etc. I would never tell someone who completes a work in a day working wet on wet that their work is crap (it may be crap, but not because of the working method). Instead, I’m in awe they can paint that way successfully because I could never master that technique.

Bottom line - it’s fine to have a healthy ego about your work, but don’t go around telling people they will never amount to anything because they don’t work like you do. I have perused the galleries of people who come into the discussions with this kind of attitude and almost to a person, their work, to me, looks “over-cooked” in whatever software they are using.

Just an opinion.