Photographer Paranoia

I'm not sure if I'm unique to this or if other people suffer so much from fear of critics.  What does "constructive criticism" really mean?  One definition is "criticism or advice that is useful and intended to help or improve something, often with an offer of possible solutions," now I'm not sure but I've not experienced that on a regular basis, ok, very rarely.  It seems most of my critics are only one thing...critical.  OK, maybe thats only my perception but it's what I know.  I started taking pictures a couple of years ago, attended  several classes and bought books, reference books, picture books, etc.  I have taken 1000's of pics, most of them junk, some so horrible I didn't even need to transfer off my camera before hitting the delete button; but some of them I thought to be fairly artistic, at least the lighting was OK (you could only get the joke of that if you take pictures on manual settings).  There are several things I learned about photography; rule of 3rd's, ISO, shutter speed, cameras are heavy, you need a tripod to take pics at night or macro shots, it's no fun to take your camera to shoot when your with someone who does not have similar intentions (a lot of sighing ensues), did I mention cameras are heavy?  So, as a part of the "getting over my fear of criticism" I  decided I would enter a photo contest-I carefully scanned the tons of pics I had taken to date and settled on one I thought was the best, the lighting was good, the composition was fairly good, the subject was beautiful and really, who couldn't pass up a pic of 2 beautiful dogs?

So I searched the web and found a site that offers weekly photo contests based on an assigned subject--dogs, how could I go wrong.  I carefully uploaded my  pic, filled out the entrance form, and then it was time to hit "enter".  I waited patiently for my e-mail that would inform me if I had won anything, honorable mention would have satisfied me.  Well, it wasn't to be.  I got a big Thanks for entering our contest, please log on to view the winners of the "Best of Dogs" photo contest.  Apparently they (whoever "they" are) had no idea what to look for in a pic...ha!!  What I have learned from this experience-leave the critics to judge the professionals, as for me...I will continue to study my books, play around with my camera to learn it's settings, and take time with my good friend Tina to explore the outdoors, and spend time together talking about life and take pictures, good or bad it's always a good time!!    

p.s. if you have any thoughts on the pic please let me know :)