{"id":31397,"date":"2016-02-03T05:32:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T09:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=31397"},"modified":"2016-02-03T13:33:07","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T17:33:07","slug":"growing-as-a-photographer-learning-to-do-a-formal-image-critique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2016\/02\/03\/growing-as-a-photographer-learning-to-do-a-formal-image-critique\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing as a Photographer: Learning to Do a Formal Image Critique"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>What&#8217;s Up?<\/h3>\n<p>Tuesday was an artie holiday: no swim, no ice bath, no exercises. Jim and I left for Melbourne at 2pm and met some of the camera club&#8217;s boys and girls for an early dinner. <\/p>\n<p>Patrick Sparkman&#8217;s 70-300 sold on day two for the full asking price. He&#8217;s hot. <\/p>\n<p>The program at the Camera Club of Brevard was received tremendously well. With 175 folks in attendance the place was packed and I was right on my game. I judged a club contest with &#8220;Shadows&#8221; as the theme. There were lots of excellent images and folks loved my critiques of some of the images, even the winners. <\/p>\n<p>I started off with lots of stories to set the scene for &#8220;A Bird Photographers Story&#8221; and then got into a smooth and easy flow as the audience joined me on my various trips to great places. Along with more than a few educational tidbits. All of my standard jokes got the expected laughs and I came up with quite a few new good ones. The folks met my two wonderful daughters and their kids and got to know me a bit as well. All in all it was a great night. <\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/?BI=6633&#038;KBID=7226\" class='shutterset'><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/bhsmalllogo.jpg\" alt=\"bhsmalllogo\" title=\"bhsmalllogo\" width=154 \/><\/a> <\/center><\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<h1>B&#038;H <\/h1>\n<p>B&#038;H contributed generously as the primary SDNHM exhibition sponsor. Thank them (and me for the blog) by clicking on the logo link above to shop.<\/center>  <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/dsc_3904.jpg\" class='shutterset'><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/dsc_3904.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_3904\" title=\"dsc_3904\" width=800 \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>This image was created at La Jolla, CA the day after the IPT ended by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.birdphotographers.net\/forums\/content.php\">BPN<\/a> member Adhika Lie with the hand held <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1013957-REG\/tamron_a011_n_sp_150_600mm_f_5_6_3_di.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/TA1506005N\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xTA1506005N\" target=\"_blank\">Tamron SP 150-600mm f\/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon<\/a> (at 500mm) and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1082599-REG\/nikon_d750_dslr_camera_body.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NID750\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNID750\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon D750<\/a>. ISO 2000. Center-weighted average metering -2\/3 stop: 1\/500 sec. at f\/6.3. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>Image courtesy of and copyright 2016 Adhika Lie. <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"468\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"60\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/mer54715.datafeedfile.com\/widget\/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=7226&#038;aff_net=1&#038;size=468x60&#038;mode=m&#038;bucket_num=7820&#038;link_target=y&#038;sid=\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iFrame.<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Learning to Do a Formal Image Critique<\/h3>\n<p>I have run into lots of folks who state plainly, &#8220;I do not know how to do a critique.&#8221; Or, &#8220;I am not qualified to do an image critique.&#8221; I always beg to differ. <\/p>\n<p>After looking at an image, simply ask yourself, &#8220;What do I like about this image? &#8220;What do I not like?&#8221; Begin your critique with either or both. It is usually best to start with at least one good point, even if an image is basically terrible. State what you like and what you don&#8217;t like and why.&#8221; Then study the image design and consider the plusses and minuses. Let the photographer know how they might have improved the image design either in the field by pointing the lens a bit differently or in post processing by suggesting a different crop. Let folks know why you think that a change in perspective might have been better: &#8220;If you had moved left and gotten a bit higher&#8230;.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Is there anything in the image that you find distracting? State it and suggest a possible solution either in the field or at the computer. <\/p>\n<p>Now move on to some of the technical aspects of the photo. How is the sharpness? The exposure? The image quality?  <\/p>\n<p>Here are three important things to realize about critiquing. <\/p>\n<p>1: Typing &#8220;Great shot!&#8221; is not a critique. If you really love an image, simply state that but let folks know why, what you find exciting or dramatic or interesting about the image.  <\/p>\n<p>2: A good critique does not necessarily need to include at least one negative. If you think that it&#8217;s great and can find nothing wrong with it, just say that while letting folks know exactly why you feel the way you do. <\/p>\n<p>3: It is fine to be frank. There is no need to be rude or nasty.  <\/p>\n<h3>Your Turn<\/h3>\n<p>All are invited to critique todays&#8217; featured image. Don&#8217;t be shy. All comments are welcome. <\/p>\n<h3>Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links \ud83d\ude42<\/h3>\n<p>To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&#038;H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/default.aspx\">BIRDS AS ART Online Store<\/a>, especially the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=274\">Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=2\">Gitzo tripods<\/a>, Wimberley <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=35\">heads<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=8\">plates<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=17\">LensCoats and accessories<\/a>, and the like. We sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a>. I just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.  <\/p>\n<p>I would of course appreciate your using our B&#038;H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. <font color=red><strong>For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. <\/strong><\/font> Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/default.aspx\">BAA Online<\/a> store as well. <\/p>\n<h3>Facebook<\/h3>\n<p>Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack!<\/p>\n<h3>Typos<\/h3>\n<p>In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a><\/center> or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right \ud83d\ude42  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s Up? <\/p>\n<p>Tuesday was an artie holiday: no swim, no ice bath, no exercises. Jim and I left for Melbourne at 2pm and met some of the camera club&#8217;s boys and girls for an early dinner. <\/p>\n<p>Patrick Sparkman&#8217;s 70-300 sold on day two for the full asking price. He&#8217;s hot. <\/p>\n<p>The program at [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[599],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-599","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}