Thanks for the experiences thus far everyone. Like others have mentioned, I feel I am my own worst critic. I do bounce photos off the opinion of family and friends, but I realize it's quite subjective due to our existing relationship. My wife is pretty honest though about whether or not she hates an image
She will tell me straight up "I don't like it."
Originally posted by cats_five: And my feeling is that here people are mostly looking at image quality, not the artistic aspects. A sort of 'boys toys' approach with none of that dodgy touchy-feely artistic stuff.
Like family and friends, I find the forums to be equally subjective. That's to be expected though, considering taste and style vary wildly. Some people are heavily into landscapes while others into portraiture, wildlife, and so on. Thus, with specific likes and dislikes, people approach and critique differently on the boards. I tend to agree with what Cat said above how we can get feedback here based on an image's technical merits or image quality, but style and artistry remains very subjective.
When I first started shooting, I was shooting everything. Household items, toys, family, friends, pets, backyard plants, etc. Lol...I often get annoyed at seeing everyone's pet Cat photos here, but I remember back to when I first started and had nothing but my dogs as subjects. So I understand everyone needs practice in whatever form they can get. Often when I saw an image I liked online, I would look at the exif and try to mimic the original. Sorta like a "monkey see monkey do" approach. That was essentially my 1st year of shooting. If anything, that experience has helped me to know my camera better and the settings I should use for a given situation. Composition and artistry, still remain facets that I continue to explore and learn. Especially with personal style, which is something I really desire to develop this year.
Originally posted by RioRico: If you and/or an audience are happy, GREAT! If not, do something else.
Ah, photography in general makes me very happy. And I agree, if not, why do it? Am I content with my images? Not necessarily, but I consider that an ingredient to strive for continual improvement. Of which, this year I'm measuring my improvement by participating more in monthly photo contests through the forum and other avenues. I think these contests, although not definitive, do provide a method to gauge oneself.