Questions to ask yourself... - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

02/18/2004 05:00:16 PM · #1

Having recently registered here, and just getting back into photography, I have started to think more critically of my own work. I have put together a list of questions that I keep near my computer when I am editting my images. They are in no particular order, just when they came to me; either through my own thoughts or suggestions of other DPCers.

1. How is the composition?
a) Is there an important element, ie. a subject.
b) Is your subject lost in the shot?
c) Rule of Thirds.
2. Are the colors right?
3. How is the contrast?
4. Have you reduced or increased the noise as needed?
5. Is the background appropriate for the subject?
a) Is it or should it be noticeable?
b) Is the subject too close/far away?
c) Should I fill the frame with the subject or show some of the background?
6. Will cropping help or hurt the shot?
7. Does it need a border?

please feel free to add to this list any questions you ask yourself in order to make your photos the best they can be, they might be helpful to others. Namely ME! ;)

Message edited by author 2004-02-19 12:18:25.

Adrian Tung

Canon EOS-10D

02/18/2004 09:13:05 PM · #2

Usually I just ask myself "Why did I take this shot" and that will usually help answer all the questions that you listed.

:)atwl

JB707

Canon EOS-20D

02/18/2004 09:55:18 PM · #3

Hey that's a good list, I'll have to start using it, thanks for posting it...
Jeff

TechnoShroom

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

02/18/2004 11:02:10 PM · #4

If I were to keep a list by the side of my computer it would read:

Just delete it

If I have to ask myself why I took something or do I like it, it is better off deleted.

Niten

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/18/2004 11:16:21 PM · #5

Originally posted by Brooklyn513:

1. How is the composition?
a) Is there an important element, ie. a subject.
b) Is your subject lost in the shot?
c) Rule of Thirds.
2. Are the colors right?
3. How is the contrast?
4. Have you reduced or increased the noise as needed?
5. Is the background appropriate for the subject?
a) Is it or should it be noticeable?
b) Is the subject too close/far away?
c) Should I fill the frame with the subject or show some of the background?
6. Will cropping help or hurt the shot?

You might ask yourself these questions before you take the shot?

T

02/18/2004 11:18:54 PM · #6

Niten, my thoughts exactly :)

02/19/2004 11:57:29 AM · #7

Niten, jmsetzler... Naturally I try to nail the composition and exposure in the camera, however, most if not all of the things I listed can be manipulated in post processing. Being new to digital photography (I've had my camera for slightly more than a month now.) I posted this in the hopes of getting a few ideas from people with more experience than I.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/19/2004 11:59:42 AM · #8

Originally posted by Brooklyn513:

They definitely CAN be manipulated in post processing. However, these issues are some of the ones you don't want to have to manipulate after the fact. Your overall image quality will improve if you get these items right on your original exposure.

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

02/19/2004 12:21:25 PM · #9

Originally posted by Brooklyn513:

What better way to examine your photos than looking at them on a big computer monitor than through the viewfinder or a tiny LCD! This is where most of the learning takes place, for me as well.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

02/19/2004 12:22:23 PM · #10

Originally posted by zeuszen:

What better way to examine your photos than looking at them on a big computer monitor than through the viewfinder or a tiny LCD! This is where most of the learning takes place, for me as well.

No argument there. You learn what your mistakes were.

jonpink

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

02/19/2004 12:28:29 PM · #11

It's good to use the LCD for histograms & focus. I use mine after every shot pretty much.

I never used it for months, but got fed up with disappointing shot and missed opportunities by simply not looking until it was too late.

LoudDog

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

02/19/2004 01:01:29 PM · #12

Originally posted by zeuszen:

What better way to examine your photos than looking at them on a big computer monitor than through the viewfinder or a tiny LCD! This is where most of the learning takes place, for me as well.

You should look at your picture with your own two eyes and figure out the shot before you put your camera in front of your face and press the button. Once it's on your monitor it's to late, and if you're walking around looking at everything through your camera you're going to trip and hurt yourself. :)

tolovemoon

Canon EOS Rebel SL1

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

02/19/2004 01:05:42 PM · #13

I like the list, I tend to try to think of everything before I process or edit it cause I hate learning photoshop, Ok I dont hate it, I just aaaaa......have trouble using it! And I usually will take more then 20 pictures of the same subject when I aim fro a good picture....thankgod for digital, dont know what I do if i was spending money on film.

GoldBerry

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

02/19/2004 01:06:38 PM · #14

read my signature s'il vous plaits

02/19/2004 01:11:18 PM · #15

Originally posted by GoldBerry:

read my signature s'il vous plaits

There are guidelines that definitely will make you more consistent though.

leaf

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/19/2004 01:15:44 PM · #16

and saying there are no guidlines is certainly poetic but doesn't really help the beginner that doesn't know where to start. once you get an eye for photography (after perhaps 20 years or longer) you don't have listen to any 'rule', but to learn with... rules are not bad.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

02/19/2004 01:29:33 PM · #17

Originally posted by GoldBerry:

read my signature s'il vous plaits

As a quote from the one person who has probably written the most on guidelines and recipes for good photography may I posit that you aren't fully grasping the significance or context of the remark ? What you seem to be saying is akin to the idea that there is nothing worth teaching in photography. The only way to get better is to take pictures. a warm, fuzzy romantic view of the world perhaps, but not really getting to the real truth.

There are well established conventions that have been studied in great detail that give guides towards what are successful in an image. Those have been distilled into a handful of 'rules' or maxims of a good image. Once you understand those, and then further, understand the underlying concepts, then you can usefully throw away the 'rules' and do something interesting.

Reinventing wheels is tiring and kinda boring too.

Message edited by author 2004-02-19 13:32:30.

ScottK

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

02/19/2004 01:52:22 PM · #18

In defense of Tom's list (though maybe not with the same intent in mind), I like the idea and may adopt it for this purpose: not as a rule for what to do in post process, but as a tool for self-analysis. John and Niten are right, these are things are better if fixed in the original shot. But it seems just as useful in learning to have things in mind (or on a list) to check when reviewing your pictures to see what worked, what didn't, what you missed or forgot, etc. It seems to me this has the same benefit to your growth as critiquing others, but with the added bonus of knowing what the photographer had in mind. :)

As far as using the LCD goes, I find the things to be big liars! I use it all the time, but beyond evaluating composition and maybe a general sense of exposure, it becomes hit-and-miss. Even my bad pictures, slightly off focus or exposure, might look fantastic on the LCD. When I view it full size - not so good. :(

Message edited by author 2004-02-19 13:53:40.

02/19/2004 02:07:56 PM · #19

I posted this list, not as a set of rules, but as questions to ask myself about my work while I am reviewing it. As both Niten and jmsetztler said, it is a good idea to have these questions in mind when taking the shot. As I have been too long away from photography, these things are not quite second nature anymore. I was simply fishing for some other things that I may have missed, something else to squeeze into my tiny little mind. ;)

GoldBerry

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

02/19/2004 02:11:53 PM · #20

Originally posted by leaf:

20 years? Crap.....rules aren't bad, but limiting. Why tell a newbie to do this that and the other thing when it's what holds most people back from really experiencing life, not just photography?

GoldBerry

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

02/19/2004 02:14:16 PM · #21

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by GoldBerry:
read my signature s'il vous plaits

As a quote from the one person who has probably written the most on guidelines and recipes for good photography may I posit that you aren't fully grasping the significance or context of the remark ? What you seem to be saying is akin to the idea that there is nothing worth teaching in photography. The only way to get better is to take pictures. a warm, fuzzy romantic view of the world perhaps, but not really getting to the real truth.

There are well established conventions that have been studied in great detail that give guides towards what are successful in an image. Those have been distilled into a handful of 'rules' or maxims of a good image. Once you understand those, and then further, understand the underlying concepts, then you can usefully throw away the 'rules' and do something interesting.

Reinventing wheels is tiring and kinda boring too.

What we have here folks is a classic case of The pot calling the kettle black. Your interpretation is not what Ansel Adams [or I] meant at all. Learning about photography and composition doesn't equate learning RULES at all. Having a good eye and knowing your camera isn't the same as "use your rule of thirds".