Photographic Quality

I’m probably in danger of causing some division of opinion here, but I feel the need to bring up the question of the technical quality of submitted photographs to Pictures of England. The site exists in part to promote and illustrate the diverse quality of our “Green and Pleasant Land” allowing both those here and in other countries to enjoy all that is here to see and hopefully experience. What is attractive to one might be less so to another, but some level of quality is essential.  I appreciate that POE should not set itself up to be crammed full of professional standard images, but a standard of some sort would greatly enhance the overall impression to viewers new and old.

I have banged on before about large quantities of pictures being submitted, and my stance remains unchanged. If the quality standards remain the same, or heaven forbid, get any worse, then I feel that we are shooting ourselves well and truly in the proverbial foot. My love of POE is there, but right now, I have reached a point of not knowing if I want to add any more of my pictures to the site.

Please POE, take a look at the blurred, the lopsided, poorly exposed and the totally unexplained pictures that pop up daily.

Am I wrong?

No Rod, you are not wrong, and please don't stop uploading your pictures. It's not only here, I 've noticed on another well known site that in amongst the very good images are some very wonky horizons (a pet hate of mine as it's so easy to correct) and some very blurred out of focus images. I wonder sometimes if some people can't see the faults, or whether they just don't care and upload anyway. I always like a narrative even if it's only a couple of lines, but so many pictures lack even a basic description.

As you say it's difficult, one mans meat is another mans poison so to speak. 

The problem lies in the proportion of 'good' to 'mediocre' images. I concur with Rod's view that the proportion of 'good' images is not very high.

PoE should not aim to be a showcase site for technical prowess, but it is not difficult to achieve the basic requirements of correct exposure, focus and sharpness with even the most basic of cameras. I sometimes think people do not look critically at their efforts before uploading them.

The situation is not helped by some contributors who post many virtually identical images of the same scene. Perhaps this could be controlled by a limit on the number of uploads per user per day. Personally, I rarely upload more than three images in a day, and a limit of three per day might encourage some uploaders to be more selective. 

No problem at all in what you say Rod.

There are the occassional very good photos and a fairly large handful of good images but by and large I reckon mediocre is as good as it gets. I do sometimes think I am on the bandwagon of 'too many' of one place but I do try to take the viewers through what ever walk I have been doing. But ever since the enforced shut down earlier in the year I have given a lot of thought to not uploading too many a day.

I have to agree with Edward in view of that and think that 3 or 4 would be ideal. Also agree with all 3 regarding the basic requirements, exposure, composition and keeping horizons straight. Even with the vast majority of modern camers exposure should not be a problem as long as you know light from dark and how the camera meter works. Composition can always be adjusted with a bit of software. And horizons out of line are just as easily adjusted with a bit of software.

Which again leads us to the thread previously of 5's for eveything. Again this in the eye of the beholder but I do notthink there are many uploads in recent months that generally warrant a 5 star rating. Personally the stars mean nothing to me, as you cannot just comment on a picture without a rating!!. It is the comments that mean something, even if someone has indicated a change of some sort. 

I have said before that the comments box when uploading should be made COMPULSORY because if anyone is simply doing a Google search for a place they want to know something about it.

  Indeed we are going over old ground but the story remains the same, and we are all in agreement here ( including the fact that Rod should continue to upload his shots- we all can learn from each other and Rod has a lot to offer ) . This discussion is amongst the converted and I am afraid many of the people who bulk upload, have issues with quality and fail to provide information have never ventured here to the community of POE but just sat and waited for the sales to click up- or not if the pics are as poor as we are talking about.

     Like most of you I have cut down on the number of daily uploads and the info I have tried to do fo a long time now but have now got to the stage of waffling on for a paragraph or two.

    As for the original question, Rod you are quite right in what you say and I think you can see a lot of folk are backing you up. 

Thank you for the comments. I appreciate all you have said and will post pictures as and when I have anything worthwhile to share. 

It is such a shame that more do not read the posts.