So here we go in with the big feedback test... I uploaded the same image (the one on the top in the 22 January post, because it offers good points for critique but still has some beauty to it imo).
Photosig: 3 comments (wow!), unfortunately none of them in-depth or really helpful.
Fotocommunity: no comments and 63 views. This was rather surprising as I posted it in their Critique channel - I'm a member there since 2006 and usually got useful feedback. Nothing good stays the same, obviously.
1x: rejected, which could be business as usual if it wasn't for some ignorant comments in screening (like "overexposed face" - wtf?) Nota bene: if I uploaded it to their Critique channel, I would have probably received useful feedback (I didn't because I know what they would say).
Deviantart: no comments, no critique
Photo.net: no comments no nothing
Reggae.com: no comment, no cry ;)
Bottomline: if I was in need of quick and useful feedback I'd be in trouble. To me, this superficial little test proved that for useful feedback there's no alternative for 1x.com. However... this is what a truly great photographer told me once:
"I haven't sent a single image to the [Critique] section, because in all honesty, if an image that I shot didn't get accepted the way I wanted it, I don't really care about what most people have to say about it. If it was rejected, they will look for flaws. Most advice will be useless, there's again probably just a handful of people whose advice would be useful. When you've got a teenager who hasn't seen life and hasn't really created any significant images telling you that you should crop an image in a particular way, it's usually not worth paying attention. I'll value his opinion, as far as whether an image works or not - a YES or NO answer, but nothing more than that. There's just too much nonsense in critique."
Couldn't agree more. BTW, Mitchell has an excellent Lightroom and PS tutorial you can download from his site for a few bucks. It's worth the investment. Come on, it's the price of 2 bottles of wine.
Hungarian photographers are sadly underrepresented on sites like 1X. Probably because they have three excellent sites to choose from (photograph.hu, topfoto.hu and fotozz.hu) as far as feedback is concerned. Photograph is more of a joint blog, topfoto appreciates nature above the rest, and fotozz offers everything from total bullshit to excellent in-depth critique. My photo in question got quite good feedback on fotozz, which came as a suprise. If you are Hungarian, don't speek much English and in need of feedback, fotozz is still the place to go. With their ingenious screening and evaluation system, topfoto could be even better (a Hungarian 1X) but it's more for tack-sharp bird shots than other kinds of photography.
Next time I'll test some webhosting services, like one.com and smugmug.
By the way... I got into contact with an old buddy who blogs on http://inphoto.blog.hu. He asked me how I like his blog (actually, his first question after 7 years of no contact was: "oh hi! have you seen the new Leica M9?" - now that's what I call fanatic!). I told him he'd reach a much bigger audience if he wrote in English, as the interest in cameras with a 13000 $ price tag is not really hot in Hungary nowadays. We agreed to start a joint project - he will write the posts on shiny Leicas and stuff like that, I'll translate, we'll get dirty filthy rich by Google Adwords and then move to some godforsaken Caribian island resort and photograph piña coladas for the rest of our life. Or something similar.
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