Being hounded by another photographer

[barry lloyd]

I have to post this as possibly a warning to how one can destroy anothers interest

Yes it has/is happening to me. So much so I have even left another forum. I don't know what this particular guy's hang up is/was but whatever Photo I posted he slagged off. Other members actually liked them. First of all according to him all my photos were out of focus, this may well have been true to an extent but his remidies basically said I should give up as I didn't know what i was doing. Should not even have a camera until I learnt the basics
Gave all sorts of advice,all except realizing the lens itself was a bit OOF wide open. So anyway got a new lens of different make and that shut him up, for a while at least. Then he started attacking other aspects like composition- lighting- reframing in editing anything he could think of. This went on for over 2 years at least. the Mods I complained to said and did nothing even though it was against site rules
To me photography is the means to remember places and events at different times irrespectively of how good a photo is . To him it has to be critically perfect visually and technically to the extent of being paraniod about it.
Criticise by all means but if asked to not do so then respect those wishes. He did not and intensified the attacks to cause me undue stress. leaving that particular forum is a weight off my shoulders.

 

[nuclearjock]

Our world is full of "experts". Aren't we lucky? Happily we don't have that here at the Cafe'.

 

[Growltiger]

I'm sorry you met that nasty person. What he was doing is bullying. Maybe someone bullied him as a child.
Nothing like that would ever be allowed here.

 

[MNglass]

It wouldn't be the internet without the trolls.

Mods on other sites are sometimes weird. Last week (on Dpreview) I replied to a post suggesting that the title misrepresented the content the OP linked to. Three or four other high count members similarly chimed in. Apparently the OP took umbrage and complained about us and the Mods deleted all our posts, leaving the original. I've seen discussions veer off into the same silly arguments ("You don't know what you're talking about." "No you don't understand what I said." "No I understood what you said but you don't understand . . ") - pages of irrelevant harping and not a moderator in sight.

And then there are the Equivalence Police . . .

 

[Mitchell]

Good riddance. Life is to short to have a pleasurable hobby spoiled by some unknown internet troll.

 

[barry lloyd]

Thanks replying it is really appreciated. I know I am not the fantastic all time ever best photographer but I take photos to please myself mainly and if others like them it is a bonus.

 

[Mike Buckley]

I don't know what this particular guy's hang up is/was

Did you consider putting him on "ignore?" I've got only one person on "ignore" here but it works just fine. In all my years of participating in Internet forums, this person is only the third person I've put on ignore. He/she isn't nearly as problematic as the first two but I'm less allowing than 10 years ago.

 

[7006]

My life has become a lot more relaxed since I learnt how to use “block”, “ignore”, similar filters, settings in apps and forums.

 

[Palouse]

I can do without such self-anointed experts. Life is too long, too much fun and too personal to let such jerks get under my skin.

 

[NCV]

I think you just have to accept that one will run into people with obvious mental heath problems on forums or social media of all types. I think you just have to accept these sad individuals exist and just learn to ignore them. I suppose thre was some trigger for this stalking.

I replied quite normally and politely to a guy on the DPR M43 forum a couple of years ago. He was complaining that his camera overheated and stopped working after taking 18000 frames in an afternoon. I just said maybe taking less frames might be the sensible solution. At the end of a short exchange where I was carefully polite, I quite was told suddenly after a first reply, that he wished to see me dying of cancer.

The thing that disturbed me most was that the Moderators refused to ban this individual. I PM 'd one to ask why after such a nasty sort of post this guy was still posting on the forum. I was more or less told to mind my own business. Now you know why DPR can be a cesspit.

I also had a sad little follower on the M43 forum. It was "equivalency" that triggered him against me and others. Anything I posted about format choice would elicit a long rambling reply on the benefits of "equivalency" to the world of photography.

Unfortunately a lot of sad lonely or disturbed people seek solace on the internet. We just need to have a thick skin or find a place like this where the moderation seems to keep things polite.

 

[barry lloyd]

I think the trigger was gear jealousy, he kept on about me not knowing how to use it for what it cost. Only mention when members asked what I used.
to my mind if a general chat web forum that includes "specialised" subject such as photography then there should be a mod who understands something about it

 

[NCV]

It wouldn't be the internet without the trolls.

Mods on other sites are sometimes weird. Last week (on Dpreview) I replied to a post suggesting that the title misrepresented the content the OP linked to. Three or four other high count members similarly chimed in. Apparently the OP took umbrage and complained about us and the Mods deleted all our posts, leaving the original. I've seen discussions veer off into the same silly arguments ("You don't know what you're talking about." "No you don't understand what I said." "No I understood what you said but you don't understand . . ") - pages of irrelevant harping and not a moderator in sight.

And then there are the Equivalence Police . . .

Well I must say on the Nikon Z forum they are quite good, and will remove stuff that offends. The top cesspit is the M43 forum where I posted, when I used M43. There are some good interesting people who made it worthwhile, but there are a boatload of jerks. Yes, The "Equivalence Police" with a certain "Great Bustard" who does not even own a M43, always present and waiting to pounce on format comparisons. The weirdos who will dredge up something you said two or three years ago. The fanboys who cannot accept that others might find another brand better and more attuned to their needs.

Right now the viciousness towards anybody who dares to say M43 as a format is finished, aided and abetted the moderators verges in the hilarious. A snippet.

Commenting that the fact that Olympus having paid JIP to take the camera decision off their hands and the the chance of new products is close to zero earnt me a ban from the forum, as it agitated the fanboys given to me as a reason. I complained and the Mod was overruled.

 

[bsinc1962]

Just shake it off. There's trolls out there everywhere who have nothing better to do. Their life sucks and they want to drag you down with them. That's what makes the Cafe such a friendly place to hang out.

 

[Deleted member 4116]

I won't defend the actions by the person in the original post as that's just flat out wrong and definitely bullying but i've been on other photography forums where the members were there to critique and provide constructive criticism on how to better themselves as photographers. Even the true professionals were there and getting it from lesser known photographers (good in their own right, but hadn't made a name for themselves yet). Rarely did someone post a photo with a thread full of responses such as "great shot", "love it" and so on like you see here. Even in threads where the critique flag is included here rarely do you get a thread starter who can take genuine criticism or others are afraid to provide criticism because they'll get moderated. Ask me how I know...

Photography is subjective and how people perceive a scene are vastly different and that's good. Criticism is for helping the other consider a different view or way of constructing that photography. If you don't want the criticism that's fine, you're allowed that right and other than the bully in the original post most people will respect that and move on. But I would recommend to any photographer who are looking to perfect or better their craft to post and accept criticism but don't expect it here until management/moderation changes...it's too conservative for growth in my opinion.

 

[Palouse]

A critique is not a criticism.
The first includes positive elements and is thoughtful, helpful, and is intended to help the recipient grow.
The second is negative, mean and intended to downgrade the work and its artist and eventually to dissuade one from continuing.
After a career of 40 years where I was paid to evaluate and judge student work, I very quickly learned the difference between the 2 forms of evaluation.

 

[NCV]

I won't defend the actions by the person in the original post as that's just flat out wrong and definitely bullying but i've been on other photography forums where the members were there to critique and provide constructive criticism on how to better themselves as photographers. Even the true professionals were there and getting it from lesser known photographers (good in their own right, but hadn't made a name for themselves yet). Rarely did someone post a photo with a thread full of responses such as "great shot", "love it" and so on like you see here. Even in threads where the critique flag is included here rarely do you get a thread starter who can take genuine criticism or others are afraid to provide criticism because they'll get moderated. Ask me how I know...

Photography is subjective and how people perceive a scene are vastly different and that's good. Criticism is for helping the other consider a different view or way of constructing that photography. If you don't want the criticism that's fine, you're allowed that right and other than the bully in the original post most people will respect that and move on. But I would recommend to any photographer who are looking to perfect or better their craft to post and accept criticism but don't expect it here until management/moderation changes...it's too conservative for growth in my opinion.

I post on a long running thread on another forum.

I am happy to get criticism of the things I post. I may agree or not agree, but sometimes another pair of eyes can pick up things I missed or revaluate a shot I am not sure about. This can be priceless
.
A criticism of a set of pictures I posted with my high resolution D810 / Z7 forced me to get on top of a problem I had with the sharpening of web sized files which appeared unsharp when posted.

I try to be very tactful if I criticise sombody else's work with a " maybe you might try" sort of comment as I realise not everybody likes their work being criticised.

 

[Deleted member 4116]

A critique is not a criticism.
The first includes positive elements and is thoughtful, helpful, and is intended to help the recipient grow.
The second is negative, mean and intended to downgrade the work and its artist and eventually to dissuade one from continuing.
After a career of 40 years where I was paid to evaluate and judge student work, I very quickly learned the difference between the 2 forms of evaluation.

Semantics. However, criticism can be constructive (hence the term constructive criticism) and that's what I was speaking to.

 

[Clix Pix]

I for one appreciate thoughtful critiques, as indeed they can be useful and helpful, nudging me to take another look at something I've shot and reassess the final product. Should I have perhaps cropped the image, or cropped it in a different way? Did I over sharpen the image or did I need to add a touch of sharpening? What about the exposure? Since I'm developing a cataract in one eye I always wonder if what I'm seeing is accurate now in terms of exposure? Is the image underexposed and I need to lighten it up more? Or did I overexpose it in the first place or lighten it too much? Sometimes an image just doesn't look right and I cannot always ascertain why -- too close to it -- and someone else can come along and immediately pinpoint the issue.

Yes, photography is indeed quite subjective and an art form. Actually, good critiques are also an art form in their own right.....

 

[Deleted member 4116]

I try to be very tactful if I criticise sombody else's work with a " maybe you might try" sort of comment as I realise not everybody likes their work being criticised.

Absolutely, which is why I recommend the reverse of what is allowed here. Here, a poster has to disclaim they want critiques vs. what I think would be better which is a flag to say "no critiques".

 

[Palouse]

Semantics. However, criticism can be constructive (hence the term constructive criticism) and that's what I was speaking to.

I'm sorry, it is NOT semantics. They are 2 opposing ideas.