After passing your latest favorite photo around the social media water cooler and receiving rave reviews and compliments on how, “You must have a great camera!” you decide to up the ante and post it for critique. Practically before you click the submit button, industry pros (and internet trolls) descend like ants on a picnic. After a short period of time, you hang your head and try to put the responses out of your head. The pain of something as personal as a photograph being ripped apart can quickly become overwhelming, I understand! I have been there and I’m sure I’ll be there again…
Before I go any further, realize that this happens to everyone. While there are some steps you can take to ensure that your photos have a level of quality, ultimately, you are the final judge of your photograph. If you are happy with your results, that’s what matters. Don’t allow critique or differences in preference keep you from creating…
How Can I Tell If It’s A Great Photo?
The best way to determine if a photo is worthy of public consumption is to run through a checklist as you view photos for processing/selection. Despite the fact that what makes a great photo is generally subjective, I have found that by completing a simple check of some basics before submitting a photo for critique or before posting it online, I can avoid sharing embarrassing flaws.
Beginner’s Guide to Photo Critique Checklist
When I say that these things are basic, I mean REALLY basic. However, whether you are a beginner or an experienced pro, these elements are vital and provide guidelines that will help you present the good photos whenever possible.
Subject
Regardless of your creative style, the subject of your photo is the most important element. It might be something as obvious as a person in a portrait, or it could be as broad as a scene in landscape photography.
In order for your photo to be successful, the subject must be clear, in-focus, and sharp. (I know, I know, there are instances where creative license leaves your subject blurry…these are just general guidelines/rules. Once you know ‘em, you can break ‘em!) Take time to determine whether or not what you want is in focus and to ensure that your desired level of sharpness exists. If these criteria aren’t met, move on. It might be heartbreaking, but realize that you determine the level of quality you provide. The higher your standards, the more impressive your body of work.
Also, take some time to ensure that there are no elements on your subject that will be distracting to the viewer. Are there weird shadows or distracting clothing elements, etc? Take the time to look in detail for these elements. It might be beneficial to leave a photo alone for a few days and come back to it with fresh eyes to see if anything distracting jumps out at you.
Background
This is incredibly simple to overlook. Make it a point with look closely at the background of every photo you take. Is there a tree limb or fence growing out of someone’s body or head? Are there distracting blobs of light or shadow? A photo-bomb by a scary looking person, place or thing behind your subject? While the subject is the focus of your photo, the elements found surrounding that subject can either enhance or detract from the message you are attempting to convey. Make the effort to study all aspects of each photograph and determine if the background works as-is, needs edited, or is distracting enough to trash the whole image.
Crop
Avoid in-between crops wherein compositional intent is unclear. If the subjects should be centered, center them. Also, when shooting medium shots, be sure to crop your subjects at points that flatter their appearance. In other words, crop the subjects at points where their bodies appear to be slimming instead of widening. It also helps to determine your subject’s “side” to take the most flattering images possible. When determining a subject’s side, don’t point out flaws. Instead, find positive attributes that make you want to shoot from a particular side.
There are instances where specific crops are called for by clients and, in those cases, you took the job so you have to conform to their requests. But even then, most of the time you have leeway to crop as you see fit. So take the time to make the crop count. Get rid of a distracting element at the edge of the frame. Find some natural framing within the image and crop to that…don’t limit yourself to specific ratios or approaches. That being said, be careful not to crop too much. Too much cropping will inevitably lead to lower image quality, especially if you are trying to create large prints from a heavily cropped image.
Photo Editing | Processing
The polishing before production…or uploading. Similar to cropping, this is something that can incite great debates among the pros and trolls resulting in disturbances in the Force that keep Obi-Wan awake nights. Ultimately, you have the freedom to do whatever you want with processing. When first starting out, I definitely recommend taking advantage of great Lightroom Presets. These will allow you to polish your images with minimal extra work on your part. Don’t just apply the preset, upload the image and call it a day though. If you truly want to learn, apply the preset and study the changes it makes your images. Play around with the changes to deepen your understanding of the functions in Lightroom, Photoshop, or editing software of your choice. Doing this will launch you years ahead of the learning curve because you are able to, essentially, look over the shoulder of someone that has mastered their craft.
Selection
The last one we will discuss today is perhaps the most important, being selective. Photography is an endeavor that gives you 100% control over what is shown to the public (unless you’re a celebrity). In this modern era of social media, it is easy to forget that we don’t have to constantly blow up our feeds with new pictures and we don’t have to share every picture we take. One of the most difficult things to do is to set standards for your images and then stick by them. Invariably, you will have images that you absolutely love, but that can never share because you missed focus, cropped off a toe, etc. Stick to your standards. Only share your best work and over time you will grow a high quality portfolio that you are proud of.
Ultimately, all of these topics hinge upon a single characteristic, discipline. Maintain your discipline and run through this checklist before sharing your images. You might hate the process at the beginning. I did! But as you progress and take time to look back at your earlier work, you will appreciate having been exacting in your selection process.
Know the story you’re trying to tell
What is the story you’re trying to tell? When you discover this answer, capture a variety of expressions and poses at different focal lengths that will help create cohesive image clusters and better tell that story. For example, if you are recreating a first date downtown, then photograph the couple in action at key locations to tell the story of what they did and where they went during their date.
CREDITS : Photographs by Michael have been used with permission for SLR Lounge. Do not copy, modify or re-post this article or images without express permission from SLR Lounge and the artist.
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