The three big secrets about the critique page

[Note: I'm posting this to Beginner Questions and not Site Help because this is intended as an answer to a common beginner question]

 

Secret #1: You don’t need to be an expert to provide valuable feedback to photographers on the critique page. Comments from people new to photography (or new to the site) are extremely useful even to experienced photographers, since they reflect the responses of most the people who will be viewing a particular photograph. Here are some easy ways to get started:

Secret #2: The more you comment on other people’s photos, the more your own photos will be commented on, for the simple reason that people won’t take the time to comment if they don’t think the photographer cares about their comments. If you’re also commenting, then you obviously care. That’s also a very good reason to add a follow-up comment after the critiques are in, acknowledging your appreciation for the comments you’ve received. I personally make a point of critiquing at least 5 images for every image I post for critique, since in an ideal world I’d like to get feedback from at least 5 people on each of my images, and that’s the ratio that would make that possible.

 

Secret #3: Critiquing others’ photos may be the quickest and most effective way to improve your own photography because it makes you think a lot about what does and doesn’t work in an image. Once you've thought about it, you can apply it.

 

If you have any questions about critiquing, please ask; and if you have further tips about critiquing, please chime in!

Well said, Leslie...

Some great points, Leslie. Thanks!

 

I'd simply add that it's not incumbent on anyone to say or even know whether they like a photo or not. You can simply describe what you see and what it makes you feel or think about. That's often been very helpful feedback to me. Your taste is your taste and there's not much I or any other photographer can do about that. But it will often help another photographer to know what message you got or what you think the photo is saying. I'm not discouraging offers of "I like" or "I don't like". That's certainly a big part of the sharing of photos. Just want to make sure everyone realizes it's not a necessary part of a critique. And, especially when people don't like something, they may be hesitant to flat-out state that for a variety of reasons. But even photos we don't like can be reacted to in the terms I mentioned above and still give the photographer some important insights into viewer response.

And, if you are the recipient of comments, accept the comments as opportunities to learn not as criticisms or put downs of your abilities. I try to be polite and friendly when I leave a comment ("It might have been better to move the subject over a bit so the telephone pole doesn't look like it is growing out of his head"). I stopped leaving comments for a while after I would receive severe rebukes from the person, "Just what makes you think you are such a great photographer that you can go around criticizing other people."

James, lol, probably most of us have been on the same end of such a rebuke. To be honest, in my early days here I could be defensive at times. So I try to understand it, even though it can be off-putting. But, despite my own defensiveness, I think some messages actually got through in the long run. That's why I think it's important to give honest critiques. Though they may not be accepted in real time, I think they can still have constructive effects over time. Plus, there are other photographers reading our critiques and others may benefit as much or more than the photographer in question.

 

Though I tend not to mince words and might have phrased a criticism the same way you did, I've read critiques that phrase it slightly differently, kind of leaving out the suggestion yet still getting the point across. I've tried it a few times myself and I do think it lessens the defensive responses. "One thing I notice is that the telephone pole looks like it's growing out of the person's head." Let the photographer do with that info what he will. Of course, you still might be rebuked in some circumstances.

 

Funny you should bring that up. It's a criticism often leveled at photographers. I watch a whole lot of old movies and I've particularly noticed that there are many long still sequences of someone sitting and talking, for example, with a telephone or flagpole right behind their heads and it rarely seems to be a problem. Difference between moving and still pictures perhaps and also various uses of depth of field. I do wonder if it might not be as big a problem as it's often made out to be. (Not suggesting you did that, as I trust your aesthetics. Talking more generally here.) Obviously, sometimes it's blatantly distracting or odd, but I think sometimes it's really not a problem and is made into one unnecessarily. I find the same is true about centered subjects. There are times criticism of centering seems more dictated by someone's internalized rulebook than what the photo is actually showing.

 

Which leads nicely to another point about critique. It can be as constructive to be critical of some critiques as to be critical of the pictures themselves. Rebukes like the one you mention seem unfortunate but good criticism of criticism and even reasonable argumentation from the photographer being critiqued explaining his choices can yield productive dialogue.

I've been out of the critique business for a while, what with the day job and all. Honesty and respect always go a long way in formulating a critique. I sometimes find that asking a question about why the photographer did something a certain way is more diplomatic than saying I thought it was done poorly. Sometimes I learn something in the response that I had not considered. I'm (mostly) past the point of feeling I must justify my opinions. But I also make sure I remain open to alternatives, particularly in regards to aesthetics and taste. As I have said before, my own professional circumstances have exposed me to heavy and obdurate criticism, so I am somewhat harder shelled than most. Others, particularly those new to receiving critiques, tend to be more sensitive, It behooves us to keep this in mind. I might think twice about writing something to a newby that I would do without worry in a discussion with Fred or Leslie.