Criticism - a better way to use it...
/Hello all,
This will be a brief post, not because I don’t have a lot to talk about - I do. It will be brief because it is all I can do right now. This is my third week with back pain, and by that I mean third week in my entire life. I have never had this experience before and I have been genuinely humbled by how disruptive and draining the symptom of continuous pain can be. I am a retired surgeon and have a great deal of first hand experience in managing acute pain. Most of my patients came to see me because of acute pain, and most of the time, the treatments I provided (the ones involving surgery) caused even more pain. But it was a temporary and well understood phenomenon for which we had effective and standardized medical treatment. What I am experiencing is a different beast. The root cause of my pain is unknown, making treatment hit or miss. Without any imaging findings, I am left with back, hip, and leg pain, but nothing to fix.
There is an understanding among back surgeons that back surgery should be reserved for nerve decompression, spinal stenosis, instability, and stabilization of traumatic injury. There are others, of course, but the one thing most back surgeons would agree upon is this - back pain, in the absence of a proven condition that is surgically correctable, is unlikely to resolve the pain. I respect that position and believe that such a conservative approach to back pain is entirely consistent with the oath that all doctors take upon graduation.
So, where does that leave the hard working patient who wakes up one morning in severe pain, without any localizing symptoms (complaints that typically occur with nerve compression, disc herniation, compression fracture, etc., etc.). Just the back pain. Now, I will end up getting an MRI and whatever else is recommended and if it shows anything “surgical”, a trip to the OR may be in my future. But right now it isn’t. The treatment at this stage consists of waiting for my symptoms to improve, which they have not. Which brings us back to my apology for writing such a brief blog post. Being creative, engaged, and excited enough to produce good macro photography content is not easy to maintain at the best of times, but try doing it when your brain is being interrupted every 30 seconds by an important message from your back, hip, thigh or calf, while you foot remains fast asleep.
It is extremely difficult to focus on writing original material, especially technical content, when you are hurting. Then add a layer of sleep deprivation to the mix. Being asleep for only a couple of hours each night makes it inevitable that staying awake and alert for the workday will be impossible. But I should be able to manage telling you about the coming week!
On Tuesday we have our usual Macro Talk at 8pm, In this hour I plan to open a can of worms by talking about criticism and its role in our improvement as photographers. I am going to introduce a new way of thinking about self-criticism - a technique that we can use to quickly and accurately assess our own work. The link to Tuesday stream is here - https://youtube.com/live/c9AnMQcswJc?feature=share
On Thursday we take it a few steps further to consider how the abbreviated critique can be used prior to taking a photograph to ensure that we are covering all five of the key components of the critique. With this approach, we can be confident that we are paying attention to the same elements that the judges are. Your link to Thursday’s stream is here - https://youtube.com/live/c9AnMQcswJc?feature=share
On Saturday we have a surprise double-header, starting with AfterStack42. Bring an image and the group will help you to get creative with your post-production. We are also going to take a look at all the new AI tools that have come on the scene in the last couple of months. It is free but you will need this invitation to get in - Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Allan Walls’ AfterStack with Bud Perrott
Time: May 2, 2026 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
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Right after AfterStack I will be offering a short workshop on the practical application of “project-based learning” - an extremely powerful tool for solving tricky problems in macro photography. Attendees will learn how to design a simple project with which questions can be answered and problems solved. I will stay as long as I need to, but I think we can cover the basics and a couple of great examples in about an hour. Everyone is welcome but you will need this invitation to enter - Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Allan Walls’ “Project-Based Learning” Workshop
Time: May 2, 2026 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 691 680 2815
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That is all I have for you this week - but under the circumstances, I think it is plenty!
Allan
Right after AfterStack I will be offering a short workshop on the practical application of “project-based learning” - an extremely powerful tool for solving tricky problems in macro photography. Attendees will learn how to design a simple project with which questions can be answered and problems solved. I will stay as long as I need to, but I think we can cover the basics and a couple of great examples in about an hour. Everyone is welcome but you will need this invitation to enter - Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Allan Walls’ “Project-Based Learning” Workshop
Time: May 2, 2026 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6916802815?pwd=TS9tZi9ZL1NXeVUvOUF4eTg5YjdlZz09&omn=81898046418
Meeting ID: 691 680 2815
Passcode: 678122
Join by SIP
• 6916802815@zoomcrc.com
Join instructions
https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/81898046418/invitations?signature=tlZ3f4HZZi3aLDskGrEHZpP8ngxyXcj5dGZxipedjXU
That’s it! Hope to see you sometime this week!
Allan