Journal archives for January 2023

January 25, 2023

regarding the unfortunately necessary disclaimer

A wise person once said, “No one can tell you you’re doing it wrong if no one knows what you’re doing.”

Something I’ve observed on iNaturalist is people’s persistent need to tell others that they are doing it wrong. The problem with that is, this site is incredibly vast. There are people of all ages and ability levels doing things for drastically different reasons. It never fails that as soon as I take interest in a new taxon, one of that taxon’s regulars will feel the need to let me know that I’m doing it wrong. I’m not shooting the organism properly, or from the right angle, or with the right light. I'm not talking about constructive, tactful input, which is usually welcome when well intentioned. I'm talking about comments like, "Worthless without photos of (random thing)." I realize that not everyone knows how to interact meaningfully with other people online, but I still believe we should be seeking to de-normalize such maladaptive behavior.

The disclaimer I use is only included on my plant observations. Why? Because those seem to be the only organisms that elicit comments like the one above. It was intended to (hopefully) get people to stop and think before offering unsolicited criticism; Perhaps pause and ask themselves, "Is my comment necessary or useful?"

Mind you, I’ve been a photographer for a long time. I started with film. I’ve processed film. While I am always hoping to learn and improve, I’m pretty confident in my ability to take pictures. But I recognize that I don’t necessarily have the same objective as every other person who is shooting a specific subject. It is still and will always be my goal to create images that can be used for reference purposes. In fact, many of my photographs have already been used as reference images. This does not mean every observation I post is scientifically useful. At the end of the day, this is something I am doing for enjoyment.

Posted on January 25, 2023 03:31 AM by juliabohemian juliabohemian

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