NOTE: The Miscellaneous section is a place where the less serious shots
find their proper place to be shown. Pictures posted here should receive
relaxed comments and critiques, but the casual critique should still follow
the basic rules.
How to give feedback - a guideline for writing photo critiques.Photosapien is a photocritique site, and so we all like feedback for the photos we posted.
Which leads me to the
first rule: write feedbacks and critiques! Those who give
will receive... write at least twice as many critiques as you hope to receive.
But the amount of critique isn't the most important point - the quality and sincerity is.
We all like positive comments and we all are here to learn and to advance on our journey
of becoming a better photography artist.
That leads me to the
second rule: be honest, but stay constructive. Always find
at least one positive aspect of a shot, before you go on and find any negative aspects.
Then, write about both, the beauty and the ugly. Before Posting, always read the post aloud,
and imagine someone else writing you the same type feedback. If you wouldn't like
such feedback, delete it and start all over again. Learning to find a positive aspect in
every shot is chalenging, but chalenges are what helps you develop a better eye!
Photography is about communication. Every photographer sees something special in front
of his camera when he/she decides to press the shutter release. Sometimes the result is
obvious to every viewer, sometimes it is not. It might just be that you can't detect or
understand the embedded message. But every photo has something to say. Therefore,
rule three: when you write from your very personal point of view, don't make it
sound like that's the absolute truth about the image - keep in mind that others might see
the photo completly differently.
Be honest and let us know what the photo manages to do to you. Write about emotions,
about the perceived message (or the lack thereof), about associations the photo provokes
in your mind. But never ever make it like your perception and interpretation (or the lack therof)
is the only valid one.
Writing critiques takes a lot of time. That's
rule four: learning always takes a lot of time.
To become more proficient with photography, the best way is to spend time analyzing
photographs of fellow Photosapiens. If you wonder what aspects one can analyze in a picture,
have a look at this list of aspects.
Feel free to pick one or many aspects from this list and analyze the photos. This is the most
efficient way of teaching your brain photography. I recommend you take one or two aspects
from every section, and go over the shot with these questions in mind. It's enlightening to
learn
why the photograph does with you what it
does with you (see rule three).
Rule five is easy: enjoy!Kind regards
RolandThe list of aspects for photo analysis is part of my essay on constructive photo critiques "Ah-Bah" :
http://www.voegtli.net/gallery/docs/ahbah/
These pages are currently only available in german. You're kindly invited to help me translate the text!
And if you have additional aspects for a picture analysis - I would love to know and add them to the list!
