following up on my themes RANT, i'd like to propose here a list of topics you'd rather should not publish on photoblog.

this, of course, can only be a very subjective list. it doesn't matter, because there is no law to be enforced here, it's just to find out what kind of content people don't like to see on this blog.

so, obviously, i'll have to make a start with..


- flowers
- "free tibet" pictures (i.e. any picture that "frees tibet" by being shown)
- your pet doing funny things
- your pet not doing anything, but just minding it's own business
- babies
- odd looking clouds

what would you rather miss?

lol

Now I'm just curious, then what would you recommend to post at all?

that's another thread. let's stick to the topic here...

Ummmm. I am not into censorship, so I don't think there is anything I could add here as I happy to see all, however there are obviously certain things that appeal more than others, but not enough to not allow them to be published.

A couple of months ago I started thinking "shots of urban graffiti are just too easy. they look sort of cool without saying much". Then yesterday, I saw some in a blog that I thought were great - something new. So now I think I just have to ask myself 'have I really taken almost the same shot before?'

YOU think it is the subject. Originality is in the eye of the photographer.

If I could make one guideline [for myself], it would be this:
Don't post pictures that look like advertising shots
Our aesthetic has been shaped so much by the thousands and thousands of advertising images we see every week. I forget this. I copy the easy niceness of ad images without even noticing. That's as much about composition and lighting as it is about subject.

there are 4 categories that seem a bit prone to cliche here on photoblog

1) kids are cute/pets are cute

2) flowers are pretty (also called 'small nature' - includes anything with small drops of water on it.)

3) women are sexy (there are the 'men are sexy' photos, but these are not often seen on photoblog)

4) the sky is awesome (also called 'big nature' - includes clouds, sunsets and other large natural expanses such as water and sand, usually seen with sky)

I take pictures in all 4 catagories, and many of the pictures on my favorites list fall into one of these four categories.

it isn't the subject. It's the approach of the photographer.

the content i'd like to see on MY blog are MY images.
if you don't like it then don't look at it .

and for everyone else ... to each his own .
why does it bother you what other people post on their personal blogs ?
sheesh enough of the post bashing !

try photo.net if you think its so bad here !

The only thing I'd not like to see published on photoblog are posts that demean or insult photographs some like to take. This includes forum posts.

It's like going to a casino. You might like to play baccarat - after all, it's a "sophisticated" game. Others like to play poker. This is really fine - there are tables for poker players, and others for baccarat players.

Now if you were to go over to the poker table and proceed to tell everyone how wrong and boring they are for playing the game they prefer, that would be incredibly rude.

You're not only being that rude baccarat player, you're trying to eliminate all the games from the casino except baccarat.

If you hate poker, roulette, blackjack or any other game so much, then you should just open your own casino exclusively for baccarat, and leave the rest of the players alone.

Really. Your endless rants on the subject are what's getting B-O-R-I-N-G.

Im not sure about pictures - but I do get very bored with people who get technical - like what camera and what exposure and ....
yes ... people who are anoraks! Maybe that is an English expression but I suspect it is eminently translatable (and it is not kind!!) . AsI said in the other forum - I do not blog for others, I blog for ME! Maybe someone needs to understand that and stop ranting? Especially when there are so many other, more worthwhile things you could rant about - bad English in particular! LOL!

Yes Robertthebob! Bad English; maybe it's time for my rant...

The grammar and spelling pedant in me gets so frustrated at times with 'native' English speakers' poor grammar and spelling (British and American English) on here.

By the way, this is not related to bloggers where English is their second/third language or the odd typo. I actually cringe at some of the mistakes I see, but we all have our gripes and this is one of mine, but I'll live with it...somehow.

Rant over

I do not have the slightest problem with people who are not English making mistakes. I do have a HUGE problem with the concept of British English. It is to say the least insulting! And I refuse to spell colour (which now comes up underlined in red!) any other way! rant rant!

Some want it. Some don't.

I want critical feedback and critical conversations.

It seems fair to me that people can decide for themselves if that's how they want to engage.

I saw someone put it right in her profile - that she's NOT looking for critical feedback here on the blog.

That's clear. Of course it is rude to keep leaving critical comments on blog entries without any invitation to do so.

However, for those of us who do find the critical input part of the fun and part of the opportunity of being here, the forum is a good way to engage. I want a place to have this kind of conversation without feeling I'm insulting unwilling participants.

I agree Julia. I feel the forum is a great place to be used for critical conversations without infringing on blogs where it might not be welcome.

The forum appears to have more of a 'buzz' about it at the moment, which can only be a good thing...

All I can say is your ranting is................getting to be B-O-R-I-N-G!! I am only refering to one on here!! If you don't like what people are posting don't go to their blogs!! Because this subject should end!!

@mystic1: well, if it's boring for you... don't go to look it up and post on this forum thread. obviously, it's nagging at you still too much for that.

besides, why "should" it end? some people like to argue about such things. other people like to post on themes. some people like challenges. some people like flower pictures.

if we can keep the discussion here without always getting personally touchy, we'd be a big step further.

i opened this thread to collect input from fellow bloggers about what they individually thinks should NOT be a photographic topic to be published (here). we've seen the view point "null" already; any more voices who think there ARE some topics to be avoided?

thanks for your engagement.

Like the rose in bloom, décolletage is not a rare subject on internet photography sites. One might argue, as you have regarding flowers, that mere photos of cleavage cannot compete with reality. And yet, Eidea, you have not included this frequently photographed subject in your list of pictures to avoid. Looking at your favorites list, you seem comfortable with the idea that a really good cleavage shot is worthy of recognition, even though it has been photographed so many times before. I must be missing something. Please explain.

ok, here u go:

additional topics not to be published as pictures on photoblog:

- décolletage
- cleavage
- any other french sounding buzz word with no decipherable meaning in a decent context.
- with other words, don't try to make pictures of "la liberté", "l'union" or "equité"

it's not how often something has been pictured before. it's how often people think they found a genuine view point on things... instead of knowing that they just share common sense. at last, we have too little of that.

Ah no! We are not getting the French in there, are we? Poor French are not much represented on this forum! (well, not obviously)

If only I had a chicken pet, I could be taking pictures of it all day long ...Ah, to have a chicken. I am so bored I wouldn't have anything else to do but photograph my little pet for Eidea...
I hope nettles aren't forbiden. because I have somewhere some pictures of someone's cleavage surrounded by nettles and some other body parts.

The thing is with carrying on posting rants like that on here, Eidea, is that people come to read it instead of spending time doing their blogs!!! So what about that to stop people's creativity! It will be your fault if they don't have time to take interesting pictures of stuff to post!

Of course the pot should never call the kettle black. In Michael's blog there are dogs (no cats that I have seen) children - (pretty close to babies) and in a rather interesting blog about the Zurich Street Parade, cleavage! LOL !!

But do keep on sending your pictures in - they are interesting!

Ouch!!..................Can't take a joke very well, Oh Well

hey! great way to get people looking into my blog! robert probably never has visited me before THAT intense... how about you others? can you please find more of the stuff that i've listed up here in my blog? i'm sure it's easy to find!

@claude: there's a proverb dating from the german branch of the "flower (sic!) power" generation i grew up in, that goes like this: "it's better to talk for long time about going to war then to go to war." so, maybe that's exactly what i intend to get: more talk about stuff, less stuff. we really, really, really have enough blog stuff up there already... each and all of us.