It didn’t take long for my photography to improve dramatically, largely due to the generous advice and critique of many NPN members. Once the\u00a0veterans there\u00a0figure out that you’re serious about your photography, that you pay attention and learn from advice and don’t continue to repeat the same old mistakes, that you’re willing to take your lumps,\u00a0that you’re honest and don’t try to deceive and that you’re not just a “taker”\u00a0but comment\u00a0often and meaningfully\u00a0on the posts of others\u00a0– then they’re generous with their valuable advice. And I do mean valuable. Many photographers charge big bucks in workshops for the education I received for free. Part of the reason I stayed at NPN for as long as I did\u00a0was to try to pay it back with my own advice and critique\u00a0once I thought I had gained some competency.<\/p>\n
I can’t say enough about how valuable my experience at NPN was. To be sure there were some conflicts and heated differences of opinion and there’s always a few jerks (very few in this case)\u00a0in a community like that but without NPN and some of its members I’m confident that I’d have eventually\u00a0given up bird photography out of sheer frustration. When I tackle something I like to do it well but I was going nowhere until I took the NPN plunge. There are other nature\/bird photography critique forums out there but I always preferred NPN.<\/p>\n
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I photographed this Northern Harrier in flight\u00a0in early 2010 – a little over three years after joining NPN. It took me several years to even attempt birds in flight – hell, at first I couldn’t even get perched birds very sharp and didn’t understand the importance\/significance of eye contact, catch lights, composition, bokeh, head turns, wing position, long lens technique\u00a0and a host of other things that factor into the appeal of\u00a0an image. And then there was processing – sharpening in particular, but other things too. All that, at least in part, I learned on NPN.<\/p>\n When I posted this\u00a0Northern Harrier\u00a0image on NPN it\u00a0received many positive comments (including one from Neil Rossmiller) and I was so very proud – not so much for the public recognition but because I was able to do something difficult and do it well. And that gave me a lot of personal\u00a0satisfaction. Still does, when I can do it…<\/p>\n I became inactive on NPN partly because of\u00a0philosophical differences related to ethics and\u00a0guideline enforcement\u00a0I had with administration. Since that time those issues have apparently been addressed but in the interim I began blogging which leaves me no time for a critique forum and I regret that because I miss NPN and I certainly have more to learn. And hopefully to offer.<\/p>\n But\u00a0I believe that a critique forum is certainly a viable option for anyone\u00a0interested in\u00a0improving their photography and in my experience NPN was one of the best. Without\u00a0NPN I’d likely be collecting stamps today in my retirement\u00a0instead of photographing birds…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A comment by Neil Rossmiller on yesterday’s blog post reminded me of my years of active participation in a nature photography critique forum and how much I learned while I was there. Since I often have folks ask me how they can improve their photography I thought the subject was worthy of some discussion.<\/p>\n![\"northern](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/northern-harrier-2978-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n