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DPChallenge Forums >> The Critique Club >> What Is The Critique Club?
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04/10/2003 09:44:01 AM · #1
This question has come up recently so I decided to write it down so we can share it. I will also be asking that this information be placed on the Critique Club page that non-members view from the top menu:

What is the Critique Club?

The Critique Club is a group of DPChallenge volunteers who are offering detailed critiques and comments on challenge photos.

How does the Critique Club Work?

If you notice, when you submit a photo to a challenge, there is a check box on the submission page where you can request an in-depth critique on your photo. When you submit your photo, if you check this box, your photo will be put into a queue for the Critique Club members.

When the challenge is over, the photos from the completed challenge are made available to the Critique Club. Critique Club members go to the Critique Club page and press a button to get a randomly assigned photograph to critique. Once this button is pressed, the photo becomes assigned to which ever member selected it, and that member is responsible for critiquing that photo before the end of the week. The members are not allowed to select another photo for critique until the current photo critique is complete.

Each member of the club selects photos until either all the photos are completed, or the next challenge rollover occurs. If there are photos in the queue that have not been critiqued by the next challenge rollover, these photos are removed from the queue and the next week’s challenge photos re-populate the queue.

What types of critiques are expected from Critique Club members?

One of the purposes of the Critique Club is to provide detailed feedback to the photographer. There is no specific format that must be used for the critique. Some members use a format where they make comments on several specific elements of the photograph. Others use a prose style and just write whatever comes to mind. The primary objectives of this special critique are to provide feedback to the photographer that would not normally be included in most comments received during the challenge.

Some of the elements that are discussed in Critique Club critiques are composition, color, contrast, focus, depth of field, lighting, and any other element of the photo that stands out or is lacking in some way. The person giving the critique simply writes his/her own opinion about some or all of these items. If the photograph being critiqued has any emotional value to the viewer, those subjects are often included in the critique. It’s not always necessary to include all of these items and there may be additional items that are included based on the specific photograph. The theme of the challenge is sometimes discussed, especially if the viewer believes that the challenge was not met or was a poor/weak interpretation.

In a nutshell, the Critique Club critiques should be significantly longer than your average challenge comment and they should contain details about why the viewer feels a certain way about a photograph.

What is expected of a Critique Club member?

Currently, we do not impose a minimum number of critiques for members. In a perfect world, we would perform enough critiques each week so that all of the requested photos received one each week. At the time of this writing, the average number of critique requests falls between 180 and 220 per week. Currently, this averages out to three or four critiques per member per week if all are to be completed.

There is no minimum critique requirement because we believe that the quality of the critique is much more important than the quantity of critiques given.

What is the benefit of being a Critique Club member?

There are no tangible benefits of being a member of this group. You won’t get any prizes and there are no physical rewards. The primary benefit that I receive from doing these critiques is an overall improvement in my own photography. Writing critiques and comments on photos makes me think about the elements of my critiques when I’m making my own photographs. It keeps composition, depth of field, focus, contrast, and all other elements of photography in the forefront of my mind. I believe that critiquing and commenting on photographs has been the single best learning tool I have found and the greatest source of improvement in my own photography.

Another benefit of being a Critique Club member is that you will be giving valuable feedback to other photographers. Your opinion matters. Sharing critiques also helps build and strengthen the community we have at DPChallenge.

How Do I Become a Member?

If you have read everything here and feel like this is something that interests you, all you have to do is contact the DPChallenge Admin/SC team via the Help/Contact Us page.

Message edited by glad2badad - Updated the contact information..
04/10/2003 09:49:24 AM · #2
Well that clears up any questions I had floating in my head about the CC. Thank you John.
04/10/2003 10:09:31 AM · #3
Originally posted by kiwiness:

Well that clears up any questions I had floating in my head about the CC. Thank you John.


Kiwi, I still had your request also, so I added you to the roster...

04/12/2003 05:30:53 PM · #4
Just to add to the benefits John listed above, this is my first week with the Critique Club, and though I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing, it has been fun to get into detail, and I've already seen my photography improve!
04/12/2003 07:22:25 PM · #5
Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Originally posted by kiwiness:

Well that clears up any questions I had floating in my head about the CC. Thank you John.


Kiwi, I still had your request also, so I added you to the roster...


Cheers John, owe you a beer now. For a piece of your cornbread I'll even buy you two beers!
04/12/2003 08:41:31 PM · #6
John, thank you very much for writing this! Must have taken you some time, but I really like the description and think it will help people interested in the CC a lot. Thanks!
05/07/2003 11:54:17 AM · #7
John: I sent you an email a few days ago to propose my participation to the critique club. Have you received it?
05/07/2003 11:55:21 AM · #8
Originally posted by christo:

John: I sent you an email a few days ago to propose my participation to the critique club. Have you received it?


Christo, I am actually the primary Critique Club manager now. I've added you to the list.

-Terry

Message edited by author 2003-05-07 11:55:44.
05/07/2003 12:03:32 PM · #9
Thanks a lot Terry.
05/07/2003 01:06:30 PM · #10
John

Am I right in thinking that the critiques don't appear until the challenge has closed? Or has that just been a coincidence on my shots? If that is the case, perhaps you should add that somewhere.

Ed
05/07/2003 01:09:59 PM · #11
Originally posted by e301:

John

Am I right in thinking that the critiques don't appear until the challenge has closed? Or has that just been a coincidence on my shots? If that is the case, perhaps you should add that somewhere.

Ed


I'm not sure if i understand your question. If someone leaves a CC on your photo, it appears as soon as it is critiqued. The Critique Club does NOT critique 'current' challenge photos... just the photos in the most recently completed challenge...

I think this is outlined in the first post in this thread...


Message edited by author 2003-05-07 13:10:35.
05/07/2003 01:22:50 PM · #12
Originally posted by e301:

John

Am I right in thinking that the critiques don't appear until the challenge has closed? Or has that just been a coincidence on my shots? If that is the case, perhaps you should add that somewhere.

Ed


The critiques are not done until after the challenge voting ends. In the near future, you will not request the critique until after voting ends, so this confusion will no longer be an issue.

-Terry
05/10/2003 07:45:05 PM · #13
Originally posted by jmsetzler:

I think this is outlined in the first post in this thread...


Oh yes - so it is. Perhaps I need to work on my reading as well as my photography :-|

E
11/18/2003 02:35:05 PM · #14
OK I have signed up and even done a couple critiques, my question however is do I need to state in my critique that it is a CC comment? Or is that somehow done for me?
11/18/2003 02:37:38 PM · #15
Originally posted by ellamay:

OK I have signed up and even done a couple critiques, my question however is do I need to state in my critique that it is a CC comment? Or is that somehow done for me?


You should do it yourself. It doesn't do it automatically...

I start mine with "Greetings from the Critique Club".

11/18/2003 03:19:16 PM · #16
Oh no, someone bumped one of the threads where I make a fool of myself. :-S

E
11/18/2003 03:38:23 PM · #17
lol sorry e
thx john
01/07/2004 02:52:15 PM · #18
I just found the above explanation today, after having requested two critiques. To be honest, as a new participant I was not sure exactly what the check box on the challenge submission page meant. I wondered whether "detailed critique" meant simply that I was enabling voters to comment as well as vote on my submissions, or whether it referred to a separate detailed critique being generated outside of the voting process. Now that I know, thanks to this helpful explanation, I will be more thoughtful about checking that box in future.

Might I suggest that a link to the explanation at the top of this thread be provided on the submission page, so that new users understand what it means, and the effort that is involved.
05/19/2004 03:58:01 PM · #19
Thanks for detailing the critique club for the general population John. As always, you have given your valuable time to help others.

I will only take exception to one of your comments, that there are no tangible benefits to critique club members. As a critique club member, you take your assignments as they come. You don't get to pick and choose which photos you would care to comment on. In that aspect, it is incredibly more dificult. It is easy to write a valuable critique on a bad shot. It is a world's different experience to critique a ten, and still give the photographer something of value to think about.

The tangible benefit it obvious. Every time you look through the viewfinder, you can remember what you told the other guy he was doing wrong.

Message edited by author 2004-05-19 15:59:27.
05/19/2004 04:16:48 PM · #20
Originally posted by rananculus:

The tangible benefit it obvious. Every time you look through the viewfinder, you can remember what you told the other guy he was doing wrong.

Tangible is substantially real, capable of being perceived especially by the sense of touch.

But yes, that is a definate benefit.

Message edited by author 2004-05-20 01:50:13.
07/14/2004 01:27:34 PM · #21
I haven't gotten any critiques, and I checked the box for the past three challenges. Is there a backlog right now that would account for this?
07/14/2004 01:42:47 PM · #22
Yes, they're typically backlogged. Probably even more so with the burden of a Free Study. I requested a critique on all of my early shots, not fully understanding what that entailed, but I never received a single one. :-(

If you get even a handful of regular comments, you can usually piece together your own in-depth critique.
07/14/2004 02:42:04 PM · #23
1. Remember that once the challenge is cleared from the front page, those photos are cleared from the CC que so if you didn't get a critique on an older photo you never will.

2. The best way to move the que along is to JOIN! The only reason that it is backlogged is that it is understaffed. You don't need to be any kind of expert to give an opinion on a photo.

3. One of the most effective ways to improve your own pictures is to critique others. It makes you think long and hard about everything that goes into an image.
07/14/2004 03:34:22 PM · #24
But don't you have to be a paid member to critique?
07/14/2004 04:25:55 PM · #25
Originally posted by airatic:

But don't you have to be a paid member to critique?

I think you have to be a committed, but not necessarily a paid, member. If you are interested, see the link under the "Community" menu and ask if you can join. You will really learn a lot by writing them ...
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