Posting Pictures Of Your Work In Main Forums.

[Mrs.Clooney]

Mods, please feel free to move this if I have posted incorrectly. As most posts are nail related, I chose this forum.

If you post pics of your work in any of the main forums, what sort of response do you expect, or what feedback are you asking for?
eg. a) Wow, fab work, Can't fault it!
b) Well done, could not have done better myself!
c) Good attempt but could have done xxx differently because .....!

Do you think critiques are different from eg. posting nail pics showing off your recent work or latest attempts, yet not asking for critique exactly? If your answer is 'yes' then what comments would you expect from pics posted in the nail forum, other than critique?

In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, posting pictures in the main forums invites direct feedback which I think is different to critiques. To my way of thinking, critiques are asking for comments and scores on length; sidewalls; crisp (or lack of) smile; Free edge; apex etc.... with different shots and angles such as lateral view and barrel shots.

Surely if one is not looking for comments other than 'fabadoobee', then these pics should be in albums, blogs, but not in the main professional forums?

What do you feel geeks?

 

[suzie49]

Well I can only speak for myself here, but whenever I have posted a pic...very rarely I must say..but I would be asking for an honest opinion. I wouldn't want someone telling me how good it looked if it didn't, I would prefer constructive criticism. I always assumed that was the point of posting pictures TBH ..x

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

At one time I posted pictures nearly every day lol,
I did this before the critique section was there, and when we had a separate nail art forum,

I did this because I wanted help....I knew my nails needed improvement, even if I was pleased with them,

I think it is ok to be happy with something and want to just show people "yayyy look what I did" but its nice to be able to take some advice on how to achieve and even bigger "yayyy" next time.

Of course it is nice to get compliments on your work, BUT...it is frustrating (maybe not the correct term) when YOU yourself KNOW that you need to work on certain area's and nobody offers the advice on how to do that.

I hope this making sense,

When I used to post piccies, all of the lovely comments would cheer me up and give me confidence to keep at it, but in every say 5 "lovely well done" comments there would be 1 gem of a reply...that would have me dashing back to the nail desk to try out the technique advised that would help me...

If anything posting the pictures spurred me on to go and create a set of nails, just so I could receive the feedback on improvement...

I don't post pictures for critique really now, even though I could do with it for some area's, because I know that many people are possibly afraid to comment, as they think they are not "qualified enough"...

I look at critique pics and don't always comment because I don't want to appear I am being harsh, when all I am trying to do is help...
And its usually NOT the original poster of the picture that thinks you are being harsh...it's someone else !
Even if I still helped the poster somehow, I still don't want to be made to feel like I have done something wrong...so I keep out of it,
And its a shame I don't post to be honest because although I may not be as "qualified" as some others etc.....I know for a fact I have a VERY picky eye lol...(as many of us do)

Where some people are pointing out smiles for example...I can see, the smiles...the line of light ...the sidewall...the one pinky is shorter than all the others...etc...etc...
I can't help it, I am always searching for amazing pictures of nails, and these stick in my head as what I want to aim for...so it has taught me to spot all the flaws.
So sometimes I just don't start critiquing, as I might not know when to stop lol....and then it will come across as I am being too "picky" or nasty,
and that would NEVER be the case.

I would love to feel that we can post and say "omg look what I did today I am sooooo proud" and have yay emms' posts...
But what would be the point in 20 of them, when 5 people are hiding behind the monitor thinking "hmmmm well they are a bit thick, should I tell her or not"
OF COURSE YOU SHOULD.....that's how I will get better ! lol..

I do hope this thread clears some stuff up regarding how people want pictures to be looked at, because we all need to work together I think as a team yeah ?

Personally If I put a picture up, whether it be in my gallery,post or critique......please feel free to do so, as I am always open to seeing my work from a different angle...

If i wasn't I would still be doing Tanya turner style nails, and actually thinking they looked SEXY
I look back now on photo's of nails I did 2 years ago, and think "omg the shame of them nails, they were rubbish"
But at the time I was sooo proud of them....

There are people out there who have been doing nails for 20 years and they still look like pink and white house bricks ! now who on earth wants to be stuck in that rut !
NOT ME....I want to always improve...and be the best I possible can...
And I have tonnes of people here at my fingertips who can help me to acheive that,
I think it is pure MADNESS NOT to take up that assistance !

 

[suzie49]

At one time I posted pictures nearly every day lol,
I did this before the critique section was there, and when we had a separate nail art forum,

I did this because I wanted help....I knew my nails needed improvement, even if I was pleased with them,

I think it is ok to be happy with something and want to just show people "yayyy look what I did" but its nice to be able to take some advice on how to achieve and even bigger "yayyy" next time.

Of course it is nice to get compliments on your work, BUT...it is frustrating (maybe not the correct term) when YOU yourself KNOW that you need to work on certain area's and nobody offers the advice on how to do that.

I hope this making sense,

When I used to post piccies, all of the lovely comments would cheer me up and give me confidence to keep at it, but in every say 5 "lovely well done" comments there would be 1 gem of a reply...that would have me dashing back to the nail desk to try out the technique advised that would help me...

If anything posting the pictures spurred me on to go and create a set of nails, just so I could receive the feedback on improvement...

I don't post pictures for critique really now, even though I could do with it for some area's, because I know that many people are possibly afraid to comment, as they think they are not "qualified enough"...

I look at critique pics and don't always comment because I don't want to appear I am being harsh, when all I am trying to do is help...
And its usually NOT the original poster of the picture that thinks you are being harsh...it's someone else !
Even if I still helped the poster somehow, I still don't want to be made to feel like I have done something wrong...so I keep out of it,
And its a shame I don't post to be honest because although I may not be as "qualified" as some others etc.....I know for a fact I have a VERY picky eye lol...(as many of us do)

Where some people are pointing out smiles for example...I can see, the smiles...the line of light ...the sidewall...the one pinky is shorter than all the others...etc...etc...
I can't help it, I am always searching for amazing pictures of nails, and these stick in my head as what I want to aim for...so it has taught me to spot all the flaws.
So sometimes I just don't start critiquing, as I might not know when to stop lol....and then it will come across as I am being too "picky" or nasty,
and that would NEVER be the case.

I would love to feel that we can post and say "omg look what I did today I am sooooo proud" and have yay emms' posts...
But what would be the point in 20 of them, when 5 people are hiding behind the monitor thinking "hmmmm well they are a bit thick, should I tell her or not"
OF COURSE YOU SHOULD.....that's how I will get better ! lol..

I do hope this thread clears some stuff up regarding how people want pictures to be looked at, because we all need to work together I think as a team yeah ?

Personally If I put a picture up, whether it be in my gallery,post or critique......please feel free to do so, as I am always open to seeing my work from a different angle...

If i wasn't I would still be doing Tanya turner style nails, and actually thinking they looked SEXY
I look back now on photo's of nails I did 2 years ago, and think "omg the shame of them nails, they were rubbish"
But at the time I was sooo proud of them....

There are people out there who have been doing nails for 20 years and they still look like pink and white house bricks ! now who on earth wants to be stuck in that rut !
NOT ME....I want to always improve...and be the best I possible can...
And I have tonnes of people here at my fingertips who can help me to acheive that,
I think it is pure MADNESS NOT to take up that assistance !

Yes thats how I meant to say it, but Emm's said it so much better :hug:

 

[becki x]

Tracey i totally agree with you,and for those who want to showcase their work only,there is the gallery section :idea:

 

[maguire]

I totally agree, people seem to get upset when someone say's something like...I love your nail art but....., sureley if you put a pic on the sight people are going to critique it wehter you wanted it or not, and people should not get upset, yes sometimes the truth hurts a little but it should make you try better next time. Sometimes critique can seem a little harsh but it is never meant to be taken as that, it is meant to help, and sometimes softly softly does not do you any good. I hope that if I put a pic on the sight I will get honest critisism so that I know I can try and rectify my mistakes which could be something so simple you can't see it but other eyes can. good post

 

[becki x]

Just to add ,to avoid the "lovely,well done posts" I once asked two of the best to critique my work privately. I knew neither would mince their words and I wanted to improve,I did this because i was sick of seeing IMO sub-standard nails being complimented. Actually it turned out they were still complimentary,but at least I knew I was getting honesty as opposed to kindness.

If work is being posted on a thread,which is obviously where people will comment,thread posters have to expect professionals to give advise,other wise what's the whole point of the thread ??? An ego stroke ???

 

['chelle]

I think Becki's just coined the phrase I was looking for - The "Ego Stroke"!

My view is very simple. this is a professional forum, not an ego stroke forum. If you post pictures of your work ANYWHERE on this forum and a fellow tech can see an area where you could improve your work and make it better next time, they would be letting the side down if they didnt tell you.

It's not the responsibility of the majority to learn how to tiptoe around the over-sensitive, it's the responsibility of the over-sensitive to learn how to cope with constructive criticism which is there to help you to improve your work. If you cant cope with other techs saying you have areas to improve on, however will you cope with paying clients? They certainly dont mince their words!

For anyone who takes offence to constructive criticism I would say that you are shunning a training opportunity by doing so. when you did your foundation course, and the educator told you that you were doing a good job, but to try xy&x to improve, did you take that as helpful constructive critcism, or did you take offence to it? On this site, I think we could count the truly fully accomplished techs on one hand, which means that ALL of us have something we can learn from the techs on this site who have got more than us in the way of experience and knowledge, so it does seem like a foolish act to actively shun the advice given that could help us to become better techs.

 

[1999judy]

Tracey i totally agree with you,and for those who want to showcase their work only,there is the gallery section :idea:

Good point mate.
If you don't want help or "critique" then there's no point posting pics in the main forum....because we'll give it you anyway... it's just second nature tbh.

 

[geeg]

Good point mate.
If you don't want help or "critique" then there's no point posting pics in the main forum....because we'll give it you anyway... it's just second nature tbh.

I was just going to say the same thing, Judy. If you don't want comments or can't handle or accept criticism re your work ... then don't post pictures anywhere. End of. :lol:

 

[femmefan]

I agree that any pictures posted should be honestly commented on and constructive critisism made where appropriate. I do think though that when commenting on someones work who is still training it is not very helpful to point out a fault without helping with 'how' to put it right. For example, the first few sets I did my tutor commented that they were a bit too flared and I could see what she meant - however she omitted to tell me how to get rid of the flare. It took me ages to find out how to slim down the sidewalls without completely ruining the shape of the nail. In fact it was only when I stumbled on Geegs tutorials on file control that it all started to come together for me. So please, don't just say what is wrong - say how to put it right :hug: