Watches in any state of dress or undress.

Political posters and or other forms of political propaganda that are intended to be taken literally.

More than 7 sunsets/dawns and/or flowers per week per poster. ( I had thought that orchids were supposed to be rare) :tonguefirmlyincheeksmiley:

When I started here, I was new to photography, and the first few friendly and positive comments I got on my pictures (of cats, plants and objects) meant a lot to me. If I had received critical comments before the positive ones, I doubt I would have had the confidence to keep posting.

each new photographer starts at the beginning, looking at the objects and beings around them in what is for them a new way. and so I strongly object to your idea that there is any subject to avoid.

I prefer to say to myself what a friend told me his photography teacher told him: "Good. Good. You've got to take these pictures. Get them out of your system".

And then, it might turn out that what is 'just a phase' for one photographer expands into an area of brilliance for another. it isn't the subject matter. It is the photographer's awareness coming through (or not) in the image.

And now I think I'm repeating stuff I've said elsewhere (getting boring). So my point is this: if you are battling self-criticism to begin with and the critical stuff cuts into the pleasure of taking and editing pictures, tune it out.

zedsdead, that is a great, pithy comment.

But Eidea, are you trying to say that "one" should post much less because there are already so many blogs out there clogging the system? And that we should just talk more? And blog less? I can't agree! Talking takes longer than posting a blog! And there are homework waiting (...)

Seriously, I agree on Julia, I was also so touched by my first comments which were very encouraging!
And it's all about expression after all! Whatever it looks like to others , and as Robert said, this is for us...

Lets not post the inside of buses with no people

Mystic, that is a good idea!
Buses interiors are really good!

There are at least 10 million sites on the web to see porn. I don't want to see it here.

what do you think?

I agree Julia.. like you said there are millions of sites filled with it .. why not be different here? Isn't there anywhere anymore than it is not.. infact it is so everywhere it's boring!

couldn't agree more.

I love to see explorations of the body, intimacy, touch in photography. and example is this person:

kretz

I appreciate that the Mikes remove hardcore porn when it shows up here. ShangriLa, I don't think I misunderstood you. I posted this in response to seeing some porn posted (by someone called puncsos) which has been deleted.

julia, ShangriLa & all the others,

i think the porn question should get a threat of its own. i otherwise i fear this here is gonna get out of focus, i just meant it to be a collection of topics, not a discussion about the adult or not adult state of this site.

i'm gonna put up a thread and would ask you to post your statements there.

hope this is OK with you.

sure is ok with me.

thanks for the hint, ShangriLa. done.

i add dog-grrr-days pictures to this list.

please don't post any dog pictures. please. i'm volunteering to even take down mine.

Right before posting my contribution to the "Bad Mood Tuesday Theme," I read a number of the posts to those off-topic forums (fora?) instigated by Eidea regarding subject and theme posts. He clearly has the stuff of which the best stand-up comedy and satire is made.

Which made me think about the Shakespeare plays I've been reading with my students -- plays that often invite us, as humans, to recognize our own inanity ("Lord, what fools these mortals be"). Shakespeare reminds me again and again how important it is for us to be able to laugh at ourselves. Eidea did that too.

On a day when I wake up with that gritty urban edge -- the one that, during my year living in Paris, would bring on "mon visage du metro" -- I can be as playfully scathing and critical as Eidea. But there are days when the softer animal in me craves heart-melting and the comforting reassurances of familiar beauty. And Shakespeare usually works for me here, too -- because the very reason his plays have endured for more than 5 centuries is because they cleverly recognize our most essentially human fears and desires:
We want to be acknowledged and to connect with others.
We fear abandonment & rejection.
And then there's the perennial tug between craving new adventure and fearing what is unfamiliar.

Sharing images on Photoblog has offered me daily varied and thought-provoking experiences. I have appreciated the wide range of subjects, geographic variety, and personal styles of the blogmembers, and the feedback I've received on my own images offered from thoughtful people -- like those of you engaged in this dialogue --has been affirming and encouraging. On days when people I've grown to appreciate are too busy to post or comment, I even miss them.

There are subjects and styles here that don't interest me, to be sure, and I don't linger where the composition fails to resonate with my aesthetic or engage my imagination -- because there is so much more that does! I do agree with Julia's observation that it isn't the subject but rather the photographer's approach to the subject that produces such an effect. Virginia Woolf helped me see this originally.

I have to laugh because at this very moment, a mother sparrow is feeding her fledgling right outside my classroom window! And guess what? I'm going to go and get my camera! In fact, I'll probably add a shot of this new life to the entry I already posted today -- of a deer skull. HA! Because I can only stand too long in the shade.

Thanks to all of you for giving me so many things to think about. You've actually inspired me to post a question of my own in this forum. But first I have to chaperone 63 eighth grade girls on a trip to the Chesapeake Bay for three days. Wish me luck!

Only your photos should be banned for such poor quailty, and you should be forbidden to own a camera for the rest of your life. ; )

Plus you are so full of yourself! ; )

woa, gretel, i think i'm just fallen in love with you! blushingly and with the sweetest smile on my face, because you actually compared me to shakespeare. SHAKESPEARE! not goethe or schiller or hölderlin or any other of these german suckers, but SHAKESPEARE, the GOD of english literature, my hero of all times when it comes to witty writing!

awww, that i was lucky to live so long to be able to read THAT!

thank you, thank, you, thank you so much my love! 'cause i already felt so rejected and abandoned here by julia, emma, dkelly and all the others... *sniff*. ;-)

other then that, i had difficulties to understand what you're saying... about the topic, i mean. so what kind of pictures you don't want to be published on photoblog? sparrows? dead skulls? the hideous and utterly imbecile "bad mood tuesday theme"?

why the heck nobody is sticking to THE T.O.P.I.C. here, anyway? is it too much to ask? is it so much more important how you feel and think about your reasoning about things than just to simply post what you dislike... and stand for it with your name?

political correctness is a fine thing, i really like it as a principle. it might even prevent some wars. but too much is too much. just, for heaven's sake, tell me what YOU DON'T THINK SHOULD BE PUBLISHED ON PHOTOBLOG! and don't give more of this "no censorship, i like everything people want to express" shit; i think we're long over this!

sorry, gretel, it's always the ones we love that get the incidental bashing... *sniff*

I laughed all through this thread. Gretel, I am happy that you followed my link to the off-off-off-topic area to add your exquisitely articulate comments. Eidea, I never viewed you as Shakespeare until now, but yes, I do see a bit of similarity.

But my all-time favorite comment on this thread is this:
( I had thought that orchids were supposed to be rare)

I think that "never" is one of those words that ought "never" be used. However, as a way to capture attention to one's subject, then you chose an apt title, eidea. I find it captivating. Ack! I am late for an appointment.
-Jan

Glad to make your day, Eidea, even if it took me into unsolicited paragraphs of introspective ramblings.
I guess I was stuck in the diary-like part of blogging.

So here are my peeves:

Careless, unselective posts -- as in those that include 40 takes of an only mediocre subject, carelessly shot, to begin with, and 80% of the entry is redundant. I'd like to see more self-editing.

And then the pile of "Great work" comments at the end of such a post, when it's pretty obvious that little actual work or thought went into the product. . .

Thank god for the mouse.

eek.