1. Critiquing
Photography
Erin McHugh
Mr. Boothby
Photographic Imaging One

2. Why Critique
Photographs?
• We critique photography to help enhance our
own photography. Picking out the flaws or the
good in others work can inspire us to take our
own good pictures. Critiquing, often called
“crit”, helps us to become better
photographers.

3. The Basics
• The first questions to ask when critiquing a
photo are “What is good about it; What isn’t
good, and how could it be better?”
• When asking these questions, we need to keep
in mind style and standards. Sometimes, a
photograph might be good, but we won’t like
its style. Its standards are the technical parts
of the photography, its value, composition,
clarity and presentation.

4. Value
• Value of a photograph refers to light, a good
photograph usually has a good contrast
between its darks and lights
• A well-contrasted photo usually has a good
range of blacks, greys, and whites.

5. Clarity
• The key to a well clarified picture is focus- a
correctly focused photo is either sharply or
softly focused
• A well focused photo often has a contrast
between the subject and background. A well-
clarified photo doesn’t have a dark subject on
a dark background, or a light subject on a light
background.

6. Presentation
• A good photograph is presented with no dust
marks or scratches. There aren’t air bubbles or
fingerprints, and any impurities have been
removed using photoshop.

7. Composition
• A well composed photo has a central point of
interest.
• It is cropped well and has given the subject.
While negative space can enhance a
photograph, too much isn’t good.

8. Adding It All Together
• Look for each of the key points in the previous
slides- composition, presentation, clarity, value
and the basics. A good photo should address
all the points and be visually interesting. Make
sure to use a critical eye when critiquing and
don’t hold back your opinion.

9. Critiquing A Photo
Now, let’s critique the photo to the right! The photo is okay- it could use
some work!
1- What’s good about it? You can really see
the texture of the bark. What isn’t good?
Its kind of plain without a focal point. What
could be better? It could use a focal point
to be more interesting.
2-Value- The photo could use some more
contrast. There aren’t any blacks or whites,
just all grey.
3-Clarity- The photograph is well focused.
4- Presentation- There aren’t any marks,
scratches or impurities.
5-Composition- There's no negative space,
but the photo needs a main subject to be
more interesting.

10. Critiquing Another Photo
1- What’s good about it? The girl
upside down is a good focal point.
What’s not good? You can’t see the
girl’s facial features.
2- Value- There’s a good contrast
This photo is very nicely done!
between black, whites, and greys.
3-Clarity- The photo is extremely well
focused.
4- Presentation- There are no
scratches, dust marks, or other
problems with the image.
5-Composition- There isn’t negative
space and the subject is clear.

11. Our Final Critique!
1- What’s good about it? It is extremely visually
interesting. What could be better? It would look
even more interesting if it had color.
2-Value- There is a good contrast between the
greys and whites, but the photo doesn’t have This is an excellent photo!
much black.
3- Clarity- The image is very well focused.
4- Presentation- The photo doesn’t appear to
have any scratches or impurities.
Composition- The photo takes up all the space
very nicely.

12. Works Cited
• Gutierrez, David. "David Gutierrez Photostream." Flickr. Yahoo!,
n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.
• O'Brien, Michael, and Norman Sibley. The Photographic Eye:
Learning to See with a Camera. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications,
1995. Print.