What's Good?

I tend to steer clear of photographer's forums. 

Sometimes there are some good tips on how to achieve a certain look i.e. what camera settings to use, where to put your strobes, etc. What annoys me are the know-it-alls that critique pictures based on nothing but lighting ratios and lenses. They start picking apart things that nobody cares about unless you only go "by the book." It's annoying to read someone picking apart a beautiful photograph because of where a shadow falls and therefore giving it the title "all wrong." 

Then you look at the photos posted by these critics. They might be lighted correctly, but usually they are booor-ing. They don't say anything.  Are these the people I want to get advice from? Probably not. If someone gives me some critisism, good or bad, I always go back and check their work.  If I really like what they do, I'll give what they say some serious thought. If their photography is garbage, I just ignore it.  

Art comes from breaking rules. I get my best shots when I feel like my work is getting stale and I think, "forget about the flash and the shadows," and just start shooting in ways I usually don't.