I think it's less looking for approval, at least in cases where you've put hours worth of work into something it's more like you lose the ability to see it fresh. After a while, all you see are the tiny parts you worked on. This can last a long time too, it can take a while to be able to see something you put a lot of work into with fresh eyes, so I can understand seeking a third party's opinion, especially someone who has experience doing the same thing.
Yeah, as a total newbie the "hey it doesn't matter it's all subjective" is actually super unhelpful.
It's like asking for feedback on a meal you've cooked, or a song you've written and just getting "hey, so long as you and/or your spouse enjoy it who cares!"
It's like, sure, but I actually do value the opinion of people who have spent a lot of time developing good taste and have a good eye for what is generally accepted as "good", and are positioned to give valuable and helpful, especially technical feedback.
A spouse may say they like it or not, but will not be able to articulate why in the same way that a professional would be able to give pointers on specific elements of colour correction or mask use.
The same way someone may say they don't like a meal, but a professional would be able to articulate why there needs to be a tad more salt, or a touch more acid to balance out the flavours etc.
It's all subjective - but there are some people better able to feedback than others, and that's incredibly useful for learning.
Thank you for the well reasoned response – yes I was being a little bit too flip. Will attempt to give honest and constructive feedback and just ignore use of my personal unfavorite word: “overcooked“
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u/Nodak70 Jun 22 '25
I’m presuming you’re serious that you don’t know – this sub forever has been accusing posters of over processing their images.
My standard response is always been: “Do you like it? Does your client/spouse/contest judge like it? Then who cares what we think?”