Evaluating Work!

Joe Ciarlante shared this awesome piece of information with us: 

Looking at Photographs: Evaluating Your Work & the Work of Others

Last week I gave a talk to a local camera club about evaluating photographs.  They were specifically interested in how to better judge the merits of an image when it came to their print competitions.  As I thought about what I was going to say to them I realized that this is something with which we all struggle.

When we look at an image and consider if it’s “good”, the first thing to remember is that there are no rules.  Things like the “rule of thirds” in composition and keeping the subject sharp are only guidelines.  For every rule I can show you a very successful photograph that breaks some, if not all, of those rules.

The reason that there are no rules is because of the dichotomy of photography.  Photography is always the marriage between the technical and the aesthetic.  The decisions you make, from whether to shoot film (color or B&W?) or digital, to what lens, what f-stop, etc., are all part of your technical workflow.  The application of art is what makes a photograph interesting, while making it more difficult to evaluate, because art is so subjective.  That doesn’t mean, “Anything goes”.  It means that there are questions that you, as the viewer, must ask to try and understand the intention of the photographer.  Applying these questions, or similar ones, will also help you evaluate your own work.

* Questions to ask:

Technical Quality

• Focus: Is the image sharp? If not, is it intentionally soft and successful?
• Exposure: Is it too light, too dark, or just right? Does the exposure fit the idea the photographer is trying to convey?
• Lighting: Does the lighting have too much contrast or is it too flat? Does the lighting fit the subject?
• Color: Does it have neutral or appropriate colors? Was the use of color choices sound?

Composition

• Balance: Is the composition balanced? Is that important to the photograph?
• Logic: Is the arrangement of visual elements effective?
• Purpose: Is there a strong center of interest, pattern or design?
• Clarity: Is it simple, yet complete and without distracting elements? What do you see first? Is this the right thing?

Emotional Appeal

• Dynamic: Does it grab and keep your attention?
• Provocative: Does it excite your imagination, or create a strong emotion in you?
• Creative: Does it show a familiar subject in a new, unusual, and effective way?

• Effort: Has the photographer made full use of the facilities at their disposal? Does it look like the photographer made an extra effort to capture the best possible image under the circumstances, or did they just go with what was in front of them?

• What emotional or physical impact does the photograph have?

Remember, there is no interpretation in “I like it”.  That doesn’t help anyone unless you can expand on why you like it.  Try asking some of the above questions about your own work.  You might be surprised as to what they reveal.

*Gary Kolb, Photographing in the Studio, 1993