How to Critique a photo

By: Rachel Ahlmeyer

Photo Cliques

For the photo to the right you

Should Crop the top of top of the image to eliminate negative space, Make sure it is in focus, Its grainy

For this photo you should eliminate something because there is to much going on and the color is

unbalanced

To critique this photo you would want to eliminate the background, and you would also want to lighten up

the photo, its pretty dark.

Other things to keep in mind when critiquing a photograph

What is in the background? You want to be careful with what is in the background. You don’t want to have your background in focus, to have pixels or for it to be irrelevant.

Rule of thirds You always want to follow the rule of thirds when taking photographs. You want to try and get something in each section. But at the same time you want to balance out the photo and make sure the image isn’t over powering.

Color Accuracy When taking photographs indoors without using a flash you need something to balance the light our or it will take out and all white drawing for light

Is the photo different or standout

A common photograph is taken of flowers, sunsets or other basic photographs. You want your photograph to be different, unique and memorable.

What is added or taken away from the photo?

Is the photograph something you could have done something better or different. You also don’t want an over whelming photo. Less is more, cluttered takes away from the photo.

Do you know what the subject is? Is it easy to know or see what your subject is, can you

look at the photo quickly and see the subject. Is your eye drawn to the main point of your photo

Does the photograph tell a story?

Does the photograph tell a story? Does it keep you interested or intrigued?

Clarity Is the picture or subject in focus? Do you need a sharp or soft focus? Soft focus is when the lens forms the images to be blurry. Sharp focus describes the elements in the scene at the best quality. You want a smaller aperture.

Cropping

Is there open and plain unused wasted space? Does the photo need to be cropped or should you zoom out more on the photograph.

Exposure

Is the picture exposed or not? If your photo is exposed you did something wrong, how can you do something differently for the next time?

Citations �  http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Photography-

Critique

�  http://www.silberstudios.tv/blog/2011/05/how-to-critique-photographs-a-key-ayp-club-feature/

�  http://www.gurushots.com/photo-critique/

�  http://www.photosig.com/go/main/help?name=tutorial/t10