{"id":108179,"date":"2018-08-07T21:18:55","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T04:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=108179"},"modified":"2018-08-07T21:18:55","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T04:18:55","slug":"how-to-critique-your-own-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/07\/how-to-critique-your-own-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Critique Your Own Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

If you want honest feedback on your photos, share them on ARSBETA.COM<\/a> — if not, you can always critique your own photos!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some simple ideas:<\/p>\n

1. Draw composition lines over your own photos<\/h2>\n

\"DABC8855-52F0-4382-8F4D-8F8937EC636C\"<\/p>\n

To better understand your photo compositions, draw composition lines on top of it! For example, I use Dropbox to look at my photos on my iPad, then I take a screenshot of it (home button+power button), then I sketch the compositions I like and see!<\/p>\n

\"X<\/p>\n

Some more examples:<\/p>\n

\"65FCEBA1-E125-4C19-AE2C-620B7428C97A\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"E28CBBE5-B06A-41F0-8AA4-4339324AB337\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"0CE6BB4D-93C3-496C-9D8D-7104C5D097E9\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"EDB2CD4C-F916-4404-A203-75500B0B64A6\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"CD57431E-D5BC-4D18-86D7-9C6FA68C7240\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"0F438A27-BB65-431B-B337-4B7DC8D89275\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"03EBDE1E-548F-4B21-91FE-A3A46B72B521\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"C3E49430-5287-4EA2-95F4-6F54524205E0\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"5BB587C3-7D13-48FF-BE4B-3BC95073D0DD\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"30B0DB4E-E2C5-454A-933F-46311D15D5BD\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

2. Does the photo have a dynamic composition?<\/h2>\n

\"BAB64E48-5CF7-4CF7-97B1-D8D41511CE66\"<\/p>\n

A dynamic composition has vigor, energy, and excitement! For me, a dynamic composition can include a diagonal composition, strong hand-gestures, facial expressions, or emotions.<\/p>\n

3. Is the light epic?<\/h2>\n

When looking at your photos, judge them by the light. Does the light look epic to you? For example, I consider ‘epic light’ during sunrise or sunset (during “golden hour”):<\/p>\n

\"EBF5B4C5-146F-4DA7-BCC1-456B49DAC430\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"922532CB-3484-4F1D-8F54-CC64BF25B6F3\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"97A08020-139A-474F-8536-FF01916F8675\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"831CD03C-095D-4E88-8F98-6BEE3894A2CF\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"9287E8BC-5C58-4584-A0C7-7C04907928E8\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"293ED727-C68F-4DE6-9DA0-B0ACECFCAD11\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

4. Surrealism<\/h2>\n

\"EABD7BE4-0422-4509-81CA-F34700F3C01E\"<\/p>\n

I like surrealism<\/a> in street photography — a small detail which makes the photo seem unreal. For example, the use of a flash reflection on a mannequin.<\/p>\n

Or look for decapitated body parts:<\/p>\n

\"E3C00C4C-5B81-4848-827D-FE75B541C9E4\"\"5FEA22D9-D1A1-4684-B124-D43860687200\"<\/p>\n

5. Dramatic shadows<\/h2>\n

\"3DFEA991-0D95-43AC-B1F9-87052EEFF49A\"<\/p>\n

Look for dramatic shadows — especially when they are curved composition (arabesque)<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"B81B4418-4F9D-4701-8E05-A12FB61F4BF5\"<\/p>\n

6. Look at your photos as small thumbnails<\/h2>\n

The ‘small thumbnail test<\/a>‘: look at your photos as small thumbnails, and choose your best compositions when you look at them small!<\/p>\n

\"F127A10B-77A1-4740-B76C-1C50108B9B4F\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lisbon <\/a> <\/div>
\"Sketch <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Why does this work? If your compositions work well as small thumbnails, the compositions are probably strong!<\/p>\n

Some of my contact sheets<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"D08E171D-4766-4826-99C1-FF4E139DBEAC\"\"3DFEA991-0D95-43AC-B1F9-87052EEFF49A\"\"B85B738A-8350-44C4-A6AA-186CB3FA6A34\"\"4B932382-9C5E-4B4A-8570-0D78C1CB2C81\"\"E53887BC-A50F-4FBC-B0F7-7F14BF16EB36\"\"BAB64E48-5CF7-4CF7-97B1-D8D41511CE66\"\"FAA04112-C446-48B0-B10A-DCFC6891260B\"\"3A951DBA-05B6-4BAC-AC62-B14238E08404\"\"3FDFC353-88A8-413E-9A3D-CE1514E329EF\"<\/p>\n

7. Does your photo have personal significance for yourself?<\/h2>\n

Don’t worry whether your photo is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ — ask yourself:<\/p>\n

\n “Does this photograph have personal significance for myself?”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If so, pick it and choose it! Ultimately I think we must make photos which spark joy in our heart. This means pick your family snapshots– moments which make you smile :)<\/p>\n

\"21C46F06-EF78-41A7-AD6F-3A857E18556F\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"47EF23E1-68EE-458D-9F2E-705A8A032E3A\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"340E1034-EF36-4917-B6ED-2285790CBDB2\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"616D4452-CC55-488E-9F6D-4847B8B8F6FD\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"B9AC7D2F-1B38-46FC-A676-23D25E4EA1B2\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"6B88CCB6-DDDC-4517-8F99-7C32C2FAA60F\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"FF65173D-62AE-41B0-BFC1-38ADF2BA6769\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"8CAE47CC-A6A2-446F-8105-EB8735254C12\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"BDF29AAE-7078-48AD-930B-88511F7809A7\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n
\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Don’t just study your own work; study the work of other master photographers<\/a> who you admire– to learn from them as well! Like I did sketching the compositions of Garry Winogrand<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot_20180807-123621_Dropbox\"\"Screenshot_20180807-121618_Dropbox\"\"Screenshot_20180807-123407_Dropbox\"\"Screenshot_20180807-121901_Dropbox\"\"Screenshot_20180807-123818_Dropbox\"\"Screenshot_20180807-122024_Dropbox\"\"Screenshot_20180807-123527_Dropbox\"<\/p>\n

And if you’re really confused, signup for arsbeta.com<\/a> (my startup alongside my friend Kevin and Cindy), upload your photo, and get real feedback from other photographers!<\/p>\n

And ultimately, it don’t matter whether others think your photos are good or not. Make photos that you like to look at<\/a>!<\/p>\n

JUST SHOOT IT.
\nERIC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friend, If you want honest feedback on your photos, share them on ARSBETA.COM — if not, you can always critique your own photos!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/F6219A99-3475-460D-A3D8-C26B20B1D6E7.jpeg?fit=2224%2C1668&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108190,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108179\/revisions\/108190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}