City - Ochikawa State - TOKYO, HINO CITY Country - Japan
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This is a small local shrine. The fearsome guardian appears to be made of concrete. Note the red & white plaited rope that you pull to sound the bell (above) that is supposed to attract the gods' attention, the folded paper prayers, and the large wooden offertory box under the rope, into which you throw your money. The value most Japanese put on this whole procedure is shown by the average amount of the offering, which is typically 10 yen.
You misunderstand. I did not suggest that you are making *revenge" comments, only that you were inviting them. I expressed appreciation of your comment, and remarked how unusual it was. I have also already commented on two of your own photographs; didn't you notice? You seem to have misunderstand entirely the point of my reply to you. I'm sorry about that but I don't see how I could have made myself clearer. I hope you enjoy your time in the Usefilm community and that it helps you to improve your photography as it has undoubtedly helped me to improve mine. I also trust you will have the joy of making friends who value your comments and reciprocate in ways that you find helpful.
Hi Roger,I studied all of the photos that I have commented on for at least 15 mins each in order to ascertain what the photographer is trying to project.My opinion is my own, like it or not.If you can get a dozen comments for each of your photos then if mine is 'revenge' commenting it is only 1 in 12, and shouldn't ruffle your feathers much.Do you prefer one word comments like 'Great' or Groovy' or just 'nice photo'? Incidently, I haven't had a lot of bad comments about my work, but even if I did, I would take note in order to improve my standards.I don't see the point on commenting on vast numbers of photos if you don't have the time. What you do comment on should be your own point of view.How about some comments on my work from you? Ian Pearson
Understood, Mary! I have problems keeping up with comments, too... Thanks for giving me a comment on this rather neglected photo. As you can see, opinions are rather divided on it, but personally I like it a lot! I have another three from the Okoto performance, portraits of individual performers...
Thank you for taking the time to criticise a photo you didn't like. Very few people do that. In defence of this photo as it is, I don't possess a 250mm lens, and I wanted to give the stone statue some context. I particularly wanted to include the shrine--the bell pull and the paper prayers--as to my mind they provide the needed context. The degree of out-of-focus seemed, to me, about right for the purpose. I have a pretty thick skin, but you will offend people a little less if you avoid giving the impression that your view is the only right one. I see this impression given rather frequently in your criticisms (I took the time to read them all!). If you trigger "revenge" downgrading of your own photos, which alas has been known to happen on Usefilm, your own enjoyment here may be impaired.
What you have here is a photo record of a stone statue.It has been wrongly composed and should have been taken from a three quarter front view with a 250mm telephoto lens, slightly low about 10 metres back,so as to isolate the statue, the title figure, and throw the shrine out of focus. Ian Pearson
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