Out of focus rollercoaster girl.

Don't get me wrong. Flickr is wonderful. It's both an outstanding piece of web-based software and a wonderful community full of talented photographers. (At least I think a piece of software can be a community... that may be another discussion altogether). Nevertheless, there are times when my fellow flickrites wear me out.



I took this shot at the 100th Yankee Doodle Fair in Westport. The weather had been hot and balmy all day until around three when a huge thunderstorm rolled through. Afterwards, we had this wonderful warm misty thing going - normally, not my kind of weather but for photographic purposes: outstanding.

This shot was one of about 10 that I took of this particular subject. I'd say I started by focusing the camera on the front of the car, and then I shot a few with the girl in focus.

During post I decided that this shot was more meaningful to me. Somethinig about the way that the shallow depth of field amplifies the expression on her face... Yes, I realize that sounded a bit doofy.

Whatever. I'm proud of my shot. I post it to all the flickr groups that I usually go to. What happens next, I wasn't prepared for: The shot gets absolutely panned. Of the 20+ comments, probably half contain some variant of "too bad the girl isn't in focus".

I know that criticism is feedback. Sometimes its amusing. Sometimes its helpful. Other times...

What do you think?