Excerpt from the Feature:
Q: What made you initially join Nature Photographers Network? What benefit has been the most impactful since joining?
Guy Tal’s article from 2019 piqued my interest in Nature Photographers Network (NPN), so I checked it out. After having a look around, I realized there were many experienced photographers that freely gave advice and critique. Getting constructive critique on photography is quite valuable to me, so it was a no-brainer to sign up right away. I’d been in a Facebook group since about 2013 that had been a good source of critique, but the membership there had started to wane by 2019. Since then, NPN has definitely filled my needs for photographic critique. I’ve also “met” lots of interesting folks and seen wonderful photography!
The biggest benefit to my membership is the critiquing — both in receiving and giving. Receiving critique on photos really helps. We often don’t see what might improve an image, especially if we’ve worked on it for a while, and that’s certainly true for me. It’s also quite enlightening to hear how others interpret my photos — often in a way that didn’t even occur to me. I should add that the critiques given on NPN are generally sophisticated and targeted to what the photographer intends, if they have indicated an intent. Even if an intent isn’t given, once a photographer has been a member of the community for a while, we learn their “style” and can tailor comments to that end.
