💡 Ideas for Critique

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Introduction

When providing a critique on a photograph, it’s essential to offer constructive feedback that helps the photographer grow and improve their craft. The following list of elements is designed to stimulate ideas and guide you in analyzing various aspects of an image. Keep in mind that you don’t need to cover every single point; instead, focus on the elements that are most relevant to the particular photograph you are critiquing. If the photographer has stated any specific vision or intent, consider focusing your critique on how well that has been achieved and how the relevant elements from the list below support that intention. The goal is to provide balanced feedback, highlighting both the strengths and areas for improvement, while encouraging the photographer to continue exploring their creative vision.

Vision and Purpose
  • Photographer’s Intent: What is the photographer trying to communicate or express through the image? Is there a clear vision or purpose behind the photograph?
  • Originality: Does the image offer a unique perspective or approach to the subject matter? Does it go beyond the literal representation of what is there?
  • Emotional Impact: Does the image evoke a strong emotional response or connection with the viewer? Does it effectively convey the desired mood or atmosphere?
  • Storytelling: Does the image tell a compelling story or narrative? Are there layers of meaning or symbolism that contribute to the overall message?
  • Artistic Merit: Does the image have a strong artistic quality that goes beyond the technical aspects? Does it demonstrate creativity, innovation, or a distinct style?
  • Metaphors and Analogies: Can you describe the image or the emotions it evokes using metaphors or analogies? For example, instead of simply stating that an image looks peaceful, you could say, “The photograph is as soothing and calming as the gentle rocking of a hammock on a breezy summer afternoon.” Using comparative language can help convey the photographer’s vision and the viewer’s impression more effectively.
Conceptual
  • Theme or Concept: Is there a clear theme, concept, or idea that the photographer is exploring through the image? Is it effectively communicated?
  • Symbolism and Metaphor: Are there any symbolic elements or metaphors present in the image that contribute to its meaning or interpretation?
  • Context: Does the image provide enough context to understand its purpose or message? Is there additional information that could enhance the viewer’s understanding?
  • Coherence: Do all the elements of the image work together cohesively to support the overall concept or theme?
Emotional Impact and Mood
  • Overall Mood: What emotional response does the image evoke? Is it calm, serene, dramatic, mysterious, or something else? Does the image effectively convey the intended mood?
  • Color and Lighting: How do the colors and lighting contribute to the overall mood of the image? Are they warm, cool, muted, or vibrant? Does the lighting create a specific atmosphere, such as soft and dreamy or dramatic and intense?
  • Contrast and Tonal Range: Is there a strong contrast between light and shadow, contributing to a sense of depth and mood? How does the range of tones, from highlights to shadows, affect the emotional impact of the image?
  • Subject Matter and Connection: Does the choice of subject and its portrayal evoke a particular mood or feeling? Does the image create a connection or evoke empathy with the subject?
  • Composition and Visual Elements: How do compositional elements, such as lines, shapes, and symmetry, influence the mood? Does the presence or absence of texture contribute to the overall emotional atmosphere?
  • Depth of Field and Focus: Does the use of shallow or deep depth of field create a specific mood or focus the viewer’s attention on key elements?
  • Motion and Stillness: Is the choice of shutter speed or camera movement used effectively to convey a sense of motion or stillness, contributing to the overall mood?
  • Weather and Atmospheric Conditions: Do the weather conditions, such as temperature, humidity, cloudiness, or wind, contribute to the mood of the image?
Composition
  • Framing: Is the subject well-framed within the image? Are there any distracting elements around the edges?
  • Lines, Shapes, and Forms: Are there any prominent lines, shapes, or forms that guide the viewer’s eye through the image or contribute to the overall composition?
  • Symmetry: Is symmetry used effectively, or is the composition intentionally asymmetrical?
  • Perspective: Is the perspective chosen for the shot interesting or unique?
  • Cropping: Could the image benefit from cropping to eliminate distractions or improve the composition?
  • Aspect Ratio: Does the aspect ratio complement the composition?
Balance and Visual Weight
  • Balance: Is the image balanced in terms of visual elements, or is there intentional imbalance for creative effect?
  • Visual Weight: Are the main elements of the image given appropriate visual weight through placement, size, or contrast?
  • Negative Space: Is there a balanced use of negative space to create breathing room and emphasize the subject?
Depth and Dimension
  • Foreground, Midground, Background (grand landscapes): Is there a clear separation and balance between the foreground, midground, and background elements?
  • Overlapping Elements: Are elements in the image overlapping to create a sense of depth?
  • Atmospheric Perspective: Is atmospheric perspective (the fading of distant elements) used effectively to convey depth?
  • Leading Lines: Do leading lines guide the viewer’s eye through the image and create a sense of depth?
  • Textures: Are textures used effectively to add visual interest and tactile quality to the image?
  • Patterns: Are there any interesting patterns present that enhance the composition or contribute to the overall mood?
Color
  • Color Harmony: Do the colors in the image work well together? Is there a cohesive color scheme?
  • Color Contrast: Is there effective use of contrasting colors to create visual interest?
  • Saturation: Are the colors vibrant and saturated, or more muted and subtle? Does it suit the mood of the image?
  • White Balance: Is the white balance accurate, or is there a color cast that detracts from the image?
  • Color as a Subject: Is color itself a key element or subject in the photograph?
Lighting
  • Quality of Light: Is the lighting soft and diffused or hard and directional? Does it suit the subject and mood?
  • Direction of Light: How does the direction of light impact the image (e.g., frontal, side, or backlighting)?
  • Shadows: Are shadows used effectively to create depth, dimension, and contrast?
  • Highlights: Are the highlights well-controlled, or are there any blown-out areas?
Processing
  • Believability: Does the processing maintain a natural appearance, or are there any elements that look overdone or artificial?
  • Enhancements: Do processing enhancements (e.g., contrast, sharpening, noise reduction) improve the image without drawing undue attention to themselves?
  • Burning & Dodging: Are there areas of the image that could benefit from selective darkening (burning) or lightening (dodging) to guide the viewer’s eye through the scene?
  • Consistency: Is the processing consistent throughout the image, or are there any areas that appear inconsistent or out of place?
  • Artistic Effects: If artistic effects or filters are used, do they enhance the overall impact and mood of the image, or do they detract from its authenticity and effectiveness?
  • Guidance: If you have any specific processing techniques that may help improve the image, please share them in detail, providing step-by-step instructions if possible.
Technical
  • Exposure: Is the image properly exposed, with a good balance of highlights and shadows? Are there any overexposed or underexposed areas that could be addressed?
  • Settings: Were the appropriate camera settings (Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO) used for the subject and the desired effect? Could different settings have improved the image?
  • Focus/Sharpness: Is the main subject in focus, and is the depth of field appropriate for the scene? Is the image sharp where it needs to be, or are there any areas of unintended softness or blur? Should focus stacking have been used to increase depth of field?
  • Noise: Is the image free from excessive noise or grain, especially in low-light situations? If noise is present, does it detract from the overall quality of the image?
  • Distortion: Is there any visible distortion from the lens, such as barrel or pincushion distortion? If so, does it affect the appearance of the subject or the overall composition?

Remember to be specific in your suggestions and always strive to provide a balanced critique that encourages the photographer to continue exploring their creative vision while offering guidance on how they can refine their technique and approach. Encourage them to think deeply about their purpose and the message they want to convey through their images, and to push beyond the literal representation of their subject matter to create more meaningful and impactful photographs.

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Thanks for posting this reminder for critiquing ideas, David. :pray: :+1:

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I think this looks great!

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A ton of great suggestions, David. Hopefully no one will try to hit on every one for a critique!

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I think you have most if not all the bases covered. My concern is how people are going to absorb this. We don’t, for the most part, learn through intellect. For the most part we learn through experience. What you have written here is an expression of intention, but intention is not very meaningful unless it is attached to action or practice. I haven’t been as active on NPN this year as I have been in the past. But on occasions where I have posted as well as on occasions where I have critiqued others and read the critiques of others, I have to say, I don’t think the quality of critiquing has improved a whole lot. I find that many, even most people fall back to what is safe, namely technical advice. I don’t think most people appreciate just how valuable critiquing is for growing as a photographer - and I’m talking about critiquing, not being critiqued. I’ve learned more about what makes an impactful photograph through critiquing than any other single action I’ve taken as a photographer. I think one of the best ways to learn is to critique the masters because we know that the photography of, say, Vincent Munier is “great”, the question, however is why? Why does this image move me? Why do I have any feelings about it at all? Equally, critiquing our own work can be eye-opening as well as it helps us to clarify our intention (vision) and the means we took to actualize it (voice) . I think everything you listed above helps us to answer the “why” but I wonder if there is a way to distill it a bit more. For example, I might make “mood” a category and list below it all the ways in which mood is created - colour, light and shadow, composition etc. In any case I don’t know if you have put these categories in any particular order but I would say this, that for me at least “Technical Aspects” does not belong at the top of the list but rather, at the bottom.
I realize I’m rambling on but that is because I have strong feelings about critiquing and the respect it deserves in terms of what we can learn as photographers about photography through practicing it.

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Agreed, and I have other ideas in mind to get people more engaged, this is one of the stepping stones to help with the thought process. Just a tool to stimulate ideas.

Absolutely true, and we need to encourage going beyond this.

Great idea, I’ve added this!

Agreed. Thank you for the reminder, I meant to reorder these to avoid too much tech talk. This is done as well.

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I’ve added a note at the beginning to avoid this, thanks Dennis!

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@David_Kingham - to the list under “Mood”, which you’ve covered very nicely, I might also add “motion” - choice of shutter speed or camera movement to help create a mood.

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Good one, done!

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Overall, these ideas are great! I also like Kerry’s remark:

Maybe something could be included in these “Ideas” to encourage critique of the extent to which the photo seems to fulfill the photographer’s intention, if declared. I would be even tempted to reword the Submission Form’s section “Would you like any specific feedback (optional)?” as I too often tap in “All comments welcome” here and realize how unnecessary this is!

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What I think is missing is the ‘More Than a Rock’ quality of an image. The artistic merit of an image that is not defined by composition, leading lines, color, etc. The Vision of the photographer that goes beyond the literal of what is there.

In fact I think VISION should be a category in itself, with questions to be answered that help photographer have a vision and show it. Vision, in my opinion, is the most difficult thing to achieve and therefore most don’t even try. And that’s fine. The only mentee I had was primarily interested in developing her vision and I find that most advanced photographers struggle with it. It’s like ‘you have nothing to say but you say it beautifully’. I think emotion and mood can lead to vision but that’s not enough. The current template does not do enough to encourage members to not make superficial (shallow) images.

I guess what I’m saying is that all of the suggestions in the template can be met and yet the image can be mediocre. So there is something missing. Purpose and how it’s being achieved.

There is a ‘conceptual’ category in the current way of critiquing that’s not even mentioned in this template. Why was it dropped? Perhaps because nobody asks for this type of critique. They likely didn’t ask for it because they didn’t know what that meant.

PS As I read Kerry’s comments I realize that I’m just elaborating on what he has said about vision and purpose.

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Great ideas Igor, I’ve integrated these thoughts, let me know if you feel this could be improved.

I’ve also made some changes to combine some sections and clean it up overall if anyone has any further feedback.

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What a great list, it is very helpful when trying to analyze an image with the purpose to give more meaningful critique but also when thinking of how to go about when creating my own images.

When reading rev. 7 of the list I have only one comment regarding the detailed content:
When it comes to mood in an image, the weather (temperature, amount and form of airborne moisture, cloudiness, and strength of wind) could contribute a lot. Should that be explicitly mentioned in the list?

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Good call Ola, I have added that!

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Wow, David, thank you! This list and the discussion it has generated is really valuable! I’ll use it, and I’ll keep coming back to it! Best regards – MET

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David, fantastic post and revisions. I’m previewing a course for a photographer I admire, and you have distilled hours into 3 pp (yes, I printed it - nerd alert!). As a couple of others have mentioned, I find these questions to be helpful when shooting and when critiquing not only others’ work but my own work. As my post-processing improves, I sometimes find an interesting image in older work where the in-camera is 99% there and tweaks to color, contrast, etc. can reveal intent much more clearly. Thank you for this.

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One thing I would like to say about vision but I’m not sure how to incorporate it here.

How many times have you received the comment ‘this looks peaceful’, or to that effect. I see this all the time. It’s very impersonal in a way. Either because the viewer hasn’t spent enough time with it or has difficulty expressing him/hefself. One of the best ways to get your impression across is through metaphor or analogies. ‘This is as peaceful as …’. I would encourage everyone to approach their comments that way and also use it when making pictures. Strange as it may seem comparing your vision to something conveys it better than just saying what it is. @John_Williams is very good at these sort of comments in my opinion.

Here’s an example. Yesterday I was finishing the short story The Death of Ivan Ilyich. The ending is particularly instructive. Instead of just describing the end as a doctor might Tolstoy introduces the metaphot of a sack. Ivan felt as though entering a dark sack which bound him on all sides and from which he could not back out. When I read this it took the whole ending to another level of experience. I understood him and his experience much better.

Personally I believe that this way of looking at images and making images is essential to good photography. We should somehow get people to understand this.

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Thanks Igor, I’ve attempted to integrate this into the vision and purpose section. If you have any suggestions to improve it, I’m all ears.

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Thank you for that. One thing I’ve noticed is that now it is no longer possible to download an edited image in a comment. Is that intentional or am I missing something? I was able to work around this issue for now by copying and pasting the file directly into the comment but I don’t think that’s your intention.

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Do you mean upload? The button is still there, but I choose to highlight the critique ideas button instead.

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