Criticized… better quit then.

One thing that I have come to realise over the last few years is that at some point, someone is going to tell you they don’t like your photo. Before you go on, accept that as a fact!
The first thing I want to say here is this… Why are you taking photos? Who are you taking photos for?

For me photography is supposed to be FUN!

I take photos for enjoyment, and I love to learn about photography. I love learning the techniques, the various camera setting and about how light works. I also enjoy learning about how Photoshop works (which these days is a big part of photography).
So, who am i first and foremost taking photos for?  ME, after that its great if someone else likes my photographs.

There are guidelines to taking a “good” photograph, things like not blowing out highlights (no area of an image should be pure white), or having shadows too dark (no area of a photograph should be pure black). Detail should remain in all areas of the photograph. Things such as, don’t have objects that appear out of the top of someone’s  head is another. I could spend weeks giving guidelines like these.

I’ve had to judge other peoples work in the past, and I guess we all judge images every time I look at one, do I like it or do I not. The guidelines can serve you well, because generally they enhance the image.

Personally I’d only break the rules, once you have mastered them.
A friend of mine, stopped entering club competitions because, they were continually receiving bad marks. I can appreciate that its disheartening to be told your image (which you like) is not good, but who really lost out by my friend not entering the competitions? I can tell you it wasn’t the judge, or the other members… no it was my friend that lost out. Along with scores would come some critique, a reason for the score, and potentially a lesson to be learnt.

The reason I am posting this now is because for along time people have said,

this became very apparent at a recent photo critique day I attended. I showed a few digital and a few printed images.

First to get critiqued was my Grand Canyon photo titled “Standing on the Edge”, I agreed with what the judge said, the image was taken under harsh light and that the best time to take an image was first thing in the morning (however the judge also pointed out how difficult it is to get low early morning light in to the bottom of the Canyon). I was told this image was my weakest image… Standing on the Edge was published in the Sunday Times Travel Section back in 2010, and the photo editor said it was a “Stunning Image”… I guess there is a difference between commercial photography and a photographer judging the image on its technical ability.

An image I chucked in at the end was one I created for a Kelso Camera Club competition  simply entitled “Rain”. After seeing some of the amazing photographs displayed I considered on several occasions asking the projectionist to remove it, fearing it was a bit out of place in such a critique as it was a simple image that had been created from scratch. However I was astonished to be told, this was one of my best images, as it focused your attention on the main part and the rest of the image was blurred enough to not distract.

Finally, a black & white image from a recent trip to Milan (which still has no title), was shown to a very experienced photographer to judge at the Kelso Camera Club monthly “Mono” competition. This image was very briefly commented on and didn’t rank in the top 4. However, at the photo critique, I was told it was again one of my strongest images, and that I had captured the grittiness of the building.

My point is simple… take photos you like, for yourself.

If someone does not like them, that’s their opinion.
If they are more experienced than yourself, don’t be shy in asking why or what could have been done to improve your photo.

The judge may say “I just don’t like it, its not my style”…Fine.
But they may point out something you’ve not seen.
Learn the basic guidelines… they are there to guide you.
There is no harm in experimenting, but if an image is not sharp or has lost detail, it will be criticised by a number of people for that, so expect it, even if you have tried to be arty (sometimes it looks like you’ve just taken the photo wrong).
One very experienced photographer showed their work at the critique and said these are a range of images, I like they are not here for critique simply to show your what i like. We saw some stunning images in the 5 Min AV (audio visual) slideshow, and even though she had said it was not for critique, one of the judges still commented that the music didn’t fit… her reply was simple…

“I used that music because I liked it!”

Photography is supposed to be fun, just keep that in mind.