MINI COURSE TOPIC 10: Where to get feedback and what you can learn from it
The best way to learn anything is to read about it, try it, and then get feedback on what you did so that you can improve. The trick is to find the right feedback. You don’t want to work with someone in this way if they’re not going to tell you the truth. Nothing is worse than having everyone around you tell you that you’re great when you’re not.
Best Feedback Is from a Stranger
Getting feedback is essential in having a perspective of how others relate to your work and answering your concerns on how good your photos are perceived.
You need to hear real criticism for your work from your peers in the photography field to get to the next stage.
Having pictures judged by friends and relatives will not give you the objective information you need in improving the level of your shots. Your friends will likely give false platitudes and tell you what you want to hear.
Truth Can Hurt, But It Helps
What you need is the truth (even if it hurts), to help you take your best photos. It's important to learn how to be thick skinned and not lose motivation by bad reviews.
They can make you question yourself about the decision you made in pursuing such a field as photography, but you need the objective input to know how your work is being perceived by people who are qualified to understand.
Social Media Is Great Third-Party Feedback
You can find third-party feedback from social media in groups on Facebook or Instagram. Facebook has several groups in specific interests or users of photo-editing software programs who continually share tips and answer questions.
This can let you see problems other people are trying to correct, allowing you to gain by their mistakes as well as yours. The power of these groups is in their numbers.
Local Clubs Can Help Keep Things Private
But you do get an advantage keeping it more private by going to a local club. Having said that, try to always get more than just a single opinion. Sometimes the photographer isn’t as keen on a genre as perhaps the one you chose.
It helps to be selective of who you picked for feedback and try to gauge what sense of usefulness the input provides. Try to find out if your mentor is sought out by others for their expertise so you can gain confidence in the feedback you receive.
Get the right feedback
Getting the right type of feedback about your work is going to help you improve. While it can be hard to get criticism, the only way you can improve upon your craft is to listen to the critique and the advice of people who know more than you and are more experienced than you.
