To write or not to write when posting photos on Steemit? I guess this thought has crossed, at one point or another, the minds of many fellow photographers on the platform. I personally rarely make a post if I don't have a story to share along with my photos. I also like reading stories.
Recently, I stumbled upon a new Steemian who was publishing pictures with little to no text in the body of the posts. Beautiful photos, I must say. So, I advised him to add a paragraph or two to his posts, thinking that he can step up his game that way. Curiously enough, another person replied to my comment saying that he's super tired of seeing photographers filling their posts with banalities only because they must have something written. He had a good point - sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Having said that, I still think that the inclusion of text is a prerequisite for engaging with the readers. So the question for me is "What to write and what not to write when drafting a photography post?" What I most often do is write a bit about the process of taking a photo - how I approach my subjects, what hurdles I encounter, and how I overcome them. What I don't like is describing what's in the photos in such detail that there's hardly any room left for interpretation. Maybe that's what @kryshen meant when he said that many photographers write banalities.
I wonder what your thoughts are on this? Would you reward no-text photo posts and leave comments? Am I doing a good job at avoiding banality? Don't be afraid to criticize me :)
I hope you enjoyed my collection of doorbells.
Dan
I was just about to tell you that I am sick and tired of the "easy" job photographers have of putting old work on line to score a few cents. I seldom therefore upvote YET ANOTHER monochrome sunset or a favorite pet sniffing a tulip in your garden. But you change the game somewhat. Your photos DO speak tomes in and of themselves. They ARE little stories for they appeal to the imagination. (#soyrosa has the same knack). Few words ABOUT the photographs are at all necessary.
However, it may well be a case of there being TWO camps, so your idea of splitting off a photo-only section makes sense (although it sort of already exists with birds of a feather flocking together and not appreciating non-photographers visiting with their curious observations).
There are some of us who are better at reading words, and others only need pictures.
I am personally wary of photography (in galleries, museums, awards) since it can become too much like eye-candy and this means many young people are losing their sensitivity for narrative; things have to become very instant for them; they need total pictures which give factual proof of what is.
It takes an artist to use photography to teach us to see how subjectively we see, by training us to look at the works you make objectively. Only then will the photos start to talk and tell the stories you hoped they might tell. Your words are then a great service to us.
There are photographers like yourself who very much work on projects and assignments, self-reflecting, uncovering, exploring, to give us a Gesamtwerk, which may be hard to appreciate for its two dimensional proporitions. Photos then are careful choices that mean to share and care: they mean to form communities with their communications and inspire and stimulate others. Right or wrong, you may need to have to share your angle before we can all see it that way.
In my early days here, I used to publish both old and new photography, but as I quickly run out of photos, I had to start going out and taking pictures in order to do a blog post. All of my recent posts have photos that are new and exclusive to Steem; that's how I create value for the platform.
Would you agree that instant gratification is a much broader problem? I have the feeling that it affects (negatively) all types of art and aspects of our lives.
Thank you so much for this comment @sukhasanasister! What you said means a lot to me 🙇
Totally agree.
It's always fear feeding this greedy false sense of need.
By teaching people to see we create a new calm and reassure them there is abundance you can explore with curiosity (and not rake towards you like a doomsday prepper).
You come to a place like Steemit, if you understand yourself "sent" with a mission - as one might have in the olden days - to share your talent, to educate (ex-ducere= bring out).
Those who write up their emotions educate themselves with self-reflection. But your teaching would be of a more sophisticated level. You present and invite and have to wait and see (patiently) how this makes the difference.
Fortunately, you are too old (of soul) to want instant gratification.
You hit the nail on the head - I struggle with this constantly. I still have not found the perfect balance. I'm a photographer first and foremost, and I do enjoy writing little paragraphs with it to share how I experienced that moment or why my eye was attracted to something. But sometimes I wish for a 'photo only' (better and more interactive than the ones we have now) website on the STEEM blockchain too.
I now started to write little anecdotes without pictures in them. See how that works out. Maybe I'll end up sharing either (almost wordless) photo essays or anecdotes without pictures.
It's a constant experiment.
Thanks for sharing your struggle, we're not alone at least ;-)
Hey Rosanne, maybe we will have a dedicated photography-only section on the blockchain once the so-called Hivemind and communities get implemented. It will be exciting to see what will happen :)
It's good that you are experimenting, though! I will check out your blog tomorrow to see the photo essays and anecdotes that you mentioed :) Thanks for stopping by and good night!
It will be interesting to see how Appics effects the community here when it launches.
Did you manage to read its white paper?
Yes I have read the white paper. I like the curation aspects . I was going to invest in the ICO but they had no road map for spending which was a little worrisome . Let’s see if they can deliver a product . The world is waiting for a simple blockchain based Instagram alternative . So they will do well if they can deliver on their promises as the time is right.
I haven't read the white paper yet, and until recently, I was thinking that this going to be a busy.org-style app to access the Steem blockchain. Man, this could be huge!
No its will be built using a SMT ontop of the steem blockchain. It will have curators for each of the trending categories who are voted in by the users and they have delegated power (like steem power) from the platform so they can up and downvote content on the trending. Addresses a lot of the issues here. Similar to what ONO is planning on doing (ONO will be built using a token ontop of EOS). APPICS will be good for steem price still as they have to hold steem in bond to obtain bandwith on the blockchain.
a think its depending on the user if its a well a known name u can let the photos do the speaking sometimes, but a think its ned text most of the time relevant to the photos or not.
but if u are a "new" user its Ned a story.
Personally, if ist no text a put it in as spam , no matter how good the pictures are. door bells are fun :)
Well, yes, you have a good point. If you have already established yourself as a vital part of the photography community on Steem, you can do such posts every once in a while. But as a new user, you need to engage with the community as much as possible.
By the way, I have been thinking for a while about starting a #NoExplanation weekly series where I post an abstract photo and ask people to interpret it :) What do you think about it?
Thanks for your feedback, man!
yes...go fore it. good abstract photo are better then most a think
Yes!!!
You're right. Unfortunately I also have the same problem, I often have little time available and I prefer to use it to study post-production techniques, but then I find myself with too synthetic texts... it's a difficult life!! :D
Haha, especially the life of those that are not native speakers :P I guess being an architect takes most of your time...
Yes, consider that in recent years I also work in the field of photography... now I understand why I'm single! : D
Haha 😁 Are you photographing events?
Events, models, artists and next week I have a wedding 😊
Weddings are one of the things I'd never consider photographing :)) Haha. I hate them.
Good luck!
I understand you, I hated them too. But attending them as a photographer is different. They pay me to go there and I eat for free 🤣🤣
You should do whatever you feel like - that's what I stand for. If you don't feel like writing anything and you know you're not good at this, just don't. If you want to write but you're not sure if your text is good enough - go ahead. There will be always somebody who appreciates your work and some critics that will help you develope your skills, to find your style, to avoid mistakes in the future. It sounds like a cliche, I know, but listen to yourself!
Cliche or not, it's a good advice. You shouldn't do things that you don't feel like doing :)
I really agree that you should write something - it's not instagram! But I can also appreciate that's difficult for photographers who express themselves through art, not words - it must be really frustrating. However, I don't think it can hurt to write a few lines just saying what the photo was about, how they (god forbid) feel about it, and so on. It's just a nicer experience and will likely land them more upvotes anyway, surely? Unless they are relying solely on bid bots and don't care about community interaction at all, which is kinda sad.
Saying that, I also like a series of photos that tell a story, which is better than just one too. And sometimes it's refreshing - reading gets pretty labourious too!
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts on this @riverflows! I appreciate it :)
Well, I am also more likely to upvote authors who put the effort into writing something. It doesn't even have to be a description of the photo - just some context as @interpidphotos wrote in his comment. And just as you say - I sometimes think that those who don't write anything don't care much about the community.
By the way, compared to other traditional social media sites and apps, Steemit is a quite laborious platform, at least at present, because most of us are both authors and readers. So, one should probably take that as well into consideration when posting :) You have to strike a good balance between not saying enough and saying too much in your posts.
Exactly. It takes A huge amount of work. If I posted longform all the time I would die of exhaustion and who has time to read so much all the time? Check my post on Dad and the Customline. Only a 10 minute one. Phew. But others can take 1 to 3 hours. Yet it was nice.. this morning I awake to a couple of interactions. X
Not being a photographer I've never really given this much consideration... I guess the issue only really arises because of the limited nature of platform as just a 'linear style' blog which does kind of 'demand' photos and text...
If you had more display options pictures only would probably seem more acceptable.
Nice photos of doorbells.. was that a deliberate inversion of the concept of banality of words into photos, although ironically you could probably pair those up with some nice evocative stories....
Very clever, and truly irreverent.
Nice to meet you Karl and thanks for sharing your perspective. Yes, the current style of Steem demands both text and photos. I wonder if a set of styles (or layouts) could be implemented in the future... Or maybe we will see the development of separate applications that will be based on the Steem blockchain?
And yes, I deliberately picked pictures of old doorbells for this post :) Glad that you liked it!
I think that's the idea - for seperate applications - hopefully it'll evolve so that, like WordPress, we can choose our presentation styles.
They were still nice photos and well met!
I always like to see a bit about a photo - where it was taken is always important to me. And that can be dropped at the end of the photo with the camera stats.
I find writing difficult so I use quotes to create a mood or a theme. Other people's words.
If someone posts just a photo I'm not a fan. Or if they post dozens of photos, I am even less than a fan. Too much is too much sometimes.
I guess it comes down to personal choice. Are you blogging with photos or are you posting your photos like an art gallery - each still needs "something". I don't believe there is a right or wrong....just what works for the individual.
Hey Deb :) Thanks for sharing your opinion!
I think it works quite well with the quotes in your case :)
Yes, there isn't a definitive answer - it all comes down to personal preferences.
Do you get annoyed by too much text?
I visited that person's post who said he didn't think it was necessary to add content. And I looked at a number of his submissions. Beautiful photography but not inviting. Words are warm and an absent of them seems cold somehow.
Steemit isn't an art gallery with an anonymous name pinned on a photo. It's a social interaction platform as well as a place to make some money.
This photographer isn't branding himself. He isn't making much from his attempts - which is too bad bc like I said, he's very talented. If he added something, anything like where the photo was taken or why or something it would provide a conversation starter of some sort.
So I gave this a lot of though can you tell??? :) It was a very good question Dan. A really great one.
I also liked the idea of #noexplanation for a weekly challenge thing. It would be similar to that 7 day black and white one where we just posted a photo without explanation. Remember that one?
Hey, look at you! You are such a detective :)
I think this sums up very well what Steemit is at the moment. That might change once we start seeing different apps (like Appics, which was mentioned by @interpidphotos) that are based on Steem. Until then, we gotta write and interact with one another :)
Oh yes, I remember it! Maybe the idea of not explanation got stuck in my subconsciousness back then. By the way, I ended up adding text to all of my photos :)
I am such a detective....ask John. I can figure mysteries out all the time. I really should have been one. :)
I'll have to check out the Appics app.
I like the way you post....keep it that way. It's you. Remember when I wanted to change my name logo and you told me to keep it the same because it was me? It's the same here.
Haha!
I remember it :) So I am not changing anything!
The Appics app is apparently not out yet; it will be released once the Smart Media Tokens are implemented.
Too much text from you? or from anyone ?
Your posts are perfect. You put just the right amount of text information between photos and if I have a question I can ask - so it's a win/win. You try to engage your viewers which I like.
As for long text? I don't like it. What do I consider long? More than 10 minutes of reading. There are a lot of great posts on Steemit that are long and would do better to break the post up into a series.
But, to answer your question for real....I don't follow people who write too much text or post too many pictures. 😇
I try to engage my viewers and then I spend days replying to their comments 😁 A 10 minutes read is a super long one in my opinion, and I would probably ignore it unless the topics interests me a lot. Did you know that the viewers' attention span is extremely short nowadays? I believe it was something like 10-20 seconds.
Let me ask you another question, do you follow people that post a lot? :) Like 5-6 or more times a day?
Nooooooooooooo. Does that answer your question? lol.
I remember someone asked me about this a while ago - somewho who did post that much and I opined that I thought it was a tough burden to put on their followers. Would he expect them to upvote every one of them, two of them? Or make them have to choose and worrying about offending. So I talked him down to two a day.
Personally, I don't know where people get the time anyhow. I have a hard enough time posting once a day and then replying to comments and then visiting other people's posts. Now that I am curating, it's even harder. Something has to give :)
When I encounter a lot of photos or a long post full of information I tend to skim unless I am interested. And that doesn't happen often on here. So yes, I believe out attention spans are shorter than years ago. Everything is instant. So why wait?
Hey, have you become part of the @curie team already? :) That's awesome! How do you like it so far? How does it work - you find a post that you like and you submit it for curation?
Yes, I don't know either how some people find the time; maybe they are just ultra-productive :) But yeah, anything more than one or two posts per day is too much to follow.
Yup. I am part of the team. I don't know how I got on there bc I think I am not very good at it, but they think I am so that's why I am on their team. It's slow going, tough, and a lot of work to find a diamond - there are a lot of criteria which needs to be met before submitting to a reviewer. I fail half the time 😭but I win half the time too.
You can get info about curie on their @curie posts.....they tell how they work. There aren't any secrets. I've stepped down since last spoke. I did curating for about two months and decided it wasn't a good fit for me.
Hrm... I get annoyed when I see photos with no text. I've come across many a post where there is nothing to tell you where it was taken, what it is, etc. Even on sites like ViewBug and Flickr, I'll at least write a brief description, so that interested viewers have at least a basic startin gpoint to find the information.
Nice photos, too! I remember using those push-calls in Spain. They're not very common here. The first one looks like it could use a little repair job!
Thanks for your feedback, Mark! Now when I think about it, I am less incentivized to upvote photography posts that have no text whatsoever. When you visit photography exhibitions in the real world, do you prefer seeing descriptions or stories next to the photos? :) The last time I visited an exhibition, I was annoyed by the A4 prints with explanations next to the images.
I'm happy that you liked the photos. Most older buildings in Sofia have such rusty (and probably not functioning) doorbells.
The exhibitions I like best in the real world have a card with a short description. Obviously, there needs to be a balance and the focus should be on the work.
On Steemit, I think it depends on your post, what you write, etc.
hat I'm more on the fence about is whether or not to include camera settings in my posts. On one hand, it does that it's not just taken from a Google search. On the other, is technical jargon and meaningless to non-photographers.
I used to include camera settings in most of my posts, but I started to have the feeling that they are of little to no value to most people. I reckon they might be useful if the photos are of a thunderstorm for example. Or something unusual.
I have the same opinion as the photographer you mentioned. If you are posting travel photos it is natural to write about them, but if you want to post your photography work, I seriously think that text is totally unnecessary. If photos accompany or illustrate the story, OK. Flower photos-ridiculous to write about, most of the information is already written on the internet and you can easily find them, animals-same, street photography is self-explanatory... and so on... I think that photo section need to be separated from the main platform...if you look at the portfolios of professionals you don’t have explanations, photos are the best representation of their work. I write about my photos just because it is expected on this platform, but to be honest I hate it! That’s just my opinion...
P.S. just like in literature everyone has their own interpretation of a photo, too many words spoil the fun and artistry.
Thanks for sharing your two cents, Di :) The photography section (and Steemit as a whole) will surely change after the implementation of the Hivemind. I am yet to fully understand how this will function, but it is likely that we'll see the birth of diverse photography groups. Who knows, maybe they'll be a group that will be suitable for sharing photos without the need to write something. Interesting times ahead! :)
Thanks for the resteem!
Interesting discussion. I feel myself a photographer first and foremost (just as @soyrosa stated). For me, this means that I want the images to tell their own stories. And that may be different stories for different people. Writing a story in words for me is hard; words don't come by themselves; I have to think about every word. And English is not my mother tongue; this doesn't help either.
So, 'photo only', with a small explanation works the best for me.
(btw: I like the series of the doorbells; make me wonder what kind of people live behind these doors)
Ah, yes, language! English is not my mother tongue either. It's a search for words sometimes :D Thanks for sharing your view on it as well! :-)
Nice to meet you @bringolo and thanks for your insight! I am not a native English speaker either, so I know very well what you are talking about. Although I like writing stories, it takes so much time and effort to double and triple-check what I have written. It is what it is though, and practice makes perfect :) Photos with short explanations should are alright.
Glad that you like my doorbells! I like your minimalist shots :))
Great point, Dan! I also think that some words about the photo, or some thoughts and photo background is better than nothing. Of course, the photos of talanted photographers talk themselves and tell stories from the autor’s name. But still it’s really enjoying to read posts like yours - accompanied by a story.
Cheers!
Thanks, Miro! Whilst I prefer seeing photos without any explanation whatsoever when visiting photography exhibitions, I like seeing a blend of writing and photography on Steemit. I guess such is the nature of the platform - if you want to connect with other people here, you have to write something . That said, I am happy that you enjoy my posts! Thank you so much for the feedback and support. Cheers!
Ok, I'm not a photographer (Well, I take pictures - mostly of beer :-)). Perhaps some of the question is who your audience is. I really enjoy having some context with the pictures. I love listening to heavy blues. It's great hearing an emotional ten minute piece. To me, ten minutes of instrumental music leaves a gap somewhere. Even one minute of vocal in there gives some understanding, a framework of sorts that gives it all extra depth.
My vote, continue the dialogue with your photographs. I feel they add considerably.
Interestingly enough, I think a novel telling the story of each doorbell would be a fantastic idea. Have fun. :-))
Hey man, you make such a wonderful comparison with music :) I quite often listen to post-rock precisely because it doesn't have lyrics - I can interpret the songs in my own and unique way. But then again - depending on my mood - sometimes I only want to listen to songs that have vocals. So, After reading quite a lot of comments and the thinking about it, I came to the profound conclusion that it all depends. :)
Thanks for the feedback! I will continue to do what I have been doing so far :)
By the way, the idea about the doorbells is indeed fantastic! Thanks a lot for it; if I have time one day, I might try to write a couple of stories.
I don't mind photos without words. I have high regard for photography and I'd rather people post just the photo than think they have to add words. It's great if they can add words as well but I don't think it's a necessity.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your opinion, Steve! Much appreciated :) I think that I will stick to what I have been doing for the past year - that is mixing photos with words.
P.S. Thank you also for Resteeming this post 🙇
I try to write as much as I can but with wave photos it can be quite the mission to come up with something new and creative haha
Haha :) Yes, I think you are doing a great job with your writings, considering the types of photos that you post :))
Thanks man!
I agree completely that you need some text. The key however is it needs to be relevant text and add to the viewers experience. Even if I am busy I always try and add a little context. Context is everything in life. I love that first shot.
I couldn't agree more :) Thank you for sharing your opinion and for praising my photo :) I am very glad that you liked it!
Seems were are in agreement ;-)
Good point! I often have to ask where was the photo taken or what is it made of if it's a gate, a statue. Some photos speak for themselves but most of the time a few words would be nice.
Thank you for sharing your point of view @erikah :)
My pleasure! And btw, I love these photos, they represent a piece of the past. :)
Thank you! I am so glad that you like them :) I am a sucker for things and places (mostly abandoned) from the past. Do you have such places in Transylvania?
We certainly do but not so much in the cities. Where the land is expensive, you don't see abandoned things. But you have the chance to see old things.
This is a special kind of art and you have to see the beauty in it, and not many people see it as such.
I'm going to check out what you've posted and comment with your permission if you don't mind :)
I'm planning to start a series, a special theme, different each time, like broken or outdated and so on.
Oh, I don't mind at all! :))
Yes, not everyone finds beauty in the broken, outdated and abandoned, but one of my Romanian friends on Steemit is into such stuff. He's nickname is @catalincernat - check him out.
Thanks for the info, I'll check him out.
And you just keep posting amazing stuff. Are you familiar with customnature's abandoned shit contest?
wow :)
I loved. There are always details that interest me. colors and photo quality are brilliant.
I would not say that.
You are a very successful photographer. Oh you already know that!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Ceren! 😊 I can't say that I am successful, as photography doesn't pay my bills yet :)
Sometimes the photo can be left to speak for itself but I do prefer a paragraph or two. Some people would be better off posting nothing, though.
And I like your doorbells, they have great character
Lol 😁 Like some of the authors that occupy the trending pages?
They do have a character, and I am happy that you liked them :)
Hahaha, you got it!
Are the doorbells communist era?
Haha!
The ones in the first and the second photo are 100% communist era doorbells :)
If you're not a very good photographer you have to write a lot of text and explanations...
If you're a good photographer... you only need a good title ;-)
I good title only won't make it :) I am more inclined to give a bigger upvote to those who put some effort into writing something. Thanks for your comment @anonyvoter! And welcome to Steemit :)
Thanks!
But then again : with a good photograph AND a good title, more people are inclined to open the post they see in their feed... ;-)
For me, I do like a little bit of text, it doesn't have to be a thesis, but I do like some text, maybe just describing where the photo/photos were shot... There are some photos which are.....just wow.... in these cases, you can probably get away with no text, but I still feel less engaged with the poster... When someone writes a few sentences or a couple of short paragraphs, I feel more engaged, like I know them a little better through their style of writing..
Hey man! Sorry for the super late reply - response time is something I should definitely improve 😁 You like writing and playing with words, don't you? :)
I totally share your viewpoint on the engagement with the author.
Ha ha, I do indeed, and I can be really slow at getting back to peoples comments too, but I always eventually get around to it..
If it happens one day that I quite my full-time job, I promise to become better at it 😁
interesting subject for a photography serie..But actually really creative and all pictures have their own unique character...
Thank you for sharing and have a nice day my friend...
Thanks for stopping by, Mustafa! I am really glad that you liked the shots :) Have a great week ahead!
Oh well. Each to their own @irreverant-dan. 😁
Personally, I like to add the story behind the photograph if there's one to tell. Not so much the technical detail, because there isn't any as I use my phone, but what I was doing, why I was there etc.
Generally, I find that's what creates true engagement. However, I can see that it totally depends on what you photograph and if you see yourself as a photographer first and foremost, which I don't.
I find it hard to comment meaningfully on photographs that have no story behind them. You just end up saying the same sort of things over and over.
Having said that, I really like your photographs here. Great composition. I love photographs like this of ordinary objects that turn into art in their own right. 😊
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Gillian :)
Very good point. I often find myself staring at some splendid images and wondering what to say. And at the end, I don't say anything because a short "Great image!" sounds like spam. Haha. I still write that from time to time, though!
I am glad that you liked the photographs. And as some other people here mentioned, there are a lot of stories to be told about these doorbells :)
Great comment @irreverant-dan! 😂 😂 😂
different photography... its amezing... photography is a art ... no description need to say sir... your photo will talk... just love your photos...
Thank you so much for the kind comment @kumilla :)
oh love the photography, beautiful colours :DD many post boxes
Thank you so much, @viktoriyani! :)
(And YES, I do love your collection. See? I got distracted by your words, should have commented on your pictures more than on something else, haha!)
The words! The words were more important than the pictures :)) Haha, thank you so much! I am very glad that you liked these rusty and dirty doorbells :)
I found it, here it is! Don't upvote it because it's too old, don't waste your votes on this :)
https://steemit.com/aswcontest/@erikah/the-abandoned-washing-mashine
Thanks! Hehe, it's very cleverly built right under the stream of water :)
Have you ever seen such a washing machine? 😀
Not exactly like this one :) I saw a few times something that vaguely reminds me of it, but that thing was for washing big rugs.
Then this one is new to you and I'm happy I could show it to you :)
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