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12/26/2005 03:50:49 PM · #1 |
One of the primary skills I want to work on is self-critiquing my photos. It is sometimes difficult for me to seperate enough from a photo to give it a really good evaluation. Weeks later I can see more clearly what could be improved in the shot, but that is generally not in time for what I took the photo for.
What kind of techniques do you use for evaluating your own photos? Do you have a set of steps to take, or a checklist you use as a guide?
Thanks for any advice in advance :) |
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12/26/2005 03:53:16 PM · #2 |
Once I am done editing I look at it and see what I might can change to make it better. A good way to practice this is have others choose one of your photos for you to critique. There was a thread a few months back where a couple of us where involved in doing so.
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12/26/2005 04:01:58 PM · #3 |
I've been messing around with this I also use this as a guide for Critique Club.
Compostion
oGood/Bad
1.How is it good or bad?
2.How can it be fixed?
3.What do I think of it?
Set-up & Camera
oChoice of Lighting
oHow can it be made better
oCamera work
oDepth of field
oISO/Shutter Speed
oAperture
oTripod
oFilters
Post Processing
oConcepts to think about
oHistogram
oColors
oSharpen
oThoughts of what I would have tried.
Opinion:
oHow well does this image work for the challenge
oWhat is my reaction/Feelings
oWhat would I have changed with this image.
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12/26/2005 04:19:40 PM · #4 |
These are usually my steps:
1. Composition - Sucks
2. Lighting - Sucks
3. Post Processing - Sucks
4. DELETE |
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12/26/2005 04:21:49 PM · #5 |
Rotate the image 180 degrees and study it that way. I'm serious. By inverting the image you can see the composition much more objectively. I do it all the time. It's a standard technique for evaluating prints, actually.
Robt. |
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12/26/2005 04:24:13 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by bear_music:
Rotate the image 180 degrees and study it that way. I'm serious. By inverting the image you can see the composition much more objectively. I do it all the time. It's a standard technique for evaluating prints, actually.
Robt. |
That's just crazy enough to work! ;o)
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12/26/2005 04:59:08 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by dpdave:
Originally posted by bear_music:
Rotate the image 180 degrees and study it that way. I'm serious. By inverting the image you can see the composition much more objectively. I do it all the time. It's a standard technique for evaluating prints, actually.
Robt. |
That's just crazy enough to work! ;o) |
It's actually an offspring of large-format work; on a view camera you are viewing the image through the ground glass upside down, and you get used to it. It has tremendous compositional advantages, because you are looking at something that is "different" from what you expect to see, so you leave a lot of baggage by the wayside when you work this way :-)
R. |
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12/26/2005 05:07:15 PM · #8 |
I ask my wife about the shots that are important, or for clients. For DPC I wing it, and go with what I like. Even know it may not be the best, it's what I like.
Message edited by author 2005-12-26 17:08:28. |
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12/26/2005 05:13:32 PM · #9 |
Interesting question...
One of the first thing I look for in my own images is excess space or getting in as tight as I can or on what I feel is most important in frame and release outward from there.
I'm also trying to achieve greater color accuracy and I felt DPC was making me drift towards slight oversaturation. So now I look to see how much I can pull back and then re-up only what strengthens the image.
I'm also getting hypersensitive towards overkill...of any kind..Neat Image being a tool that falls victim to itself, for example...guilty as charged.
Always a work in progress, I quess? Thanks for that question...really facilitates some introspection.
Message edited by author 2005-12-26 17:14:41. |
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12/26/2005 05:21:59 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by dpdave:
Originally posted by bear_music:
Rotate the image 180 degrees and study it that way. I'm serious. By inverting the image you can see the composition much more objectively. I do it all the time. It's a standard technique for evaluating prints, actually.
Robt. |
That's just crazy enough to work! ;o) |
Hmmmm... Can we request this as a website feature for challenge voting? 2 images side-by-side with the second rotated 180 deg. |
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12/26/2005 05:42:21 PM · #11 |
Thank you VERY much everybody for your input :) I am going to take these ideas and implement them into my work flow. bear_music, I would have never thought of that, but it make good sense.
One thing I have encountered is sometimes I pre-visualize a shot, then I execute it and edit it to be what I imagined. Even though I like the image, sometimes it gets shot down in a challenge. I guess what I'm working on accepting is that if I love the image and wouldn't change anything even if I had the chance, then that is what my photography is all about; making images I love. |
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12/26/2005 05:44:28 PM · #12 |
LOL!!! :-D I can relate to these steps :)
Originally posted by Telehubbie:
These are usually my steps:
1. Composition - Sucks
2. Lighting - Sucks
3. Post Processing - Sucks
4. DELETE |
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