1. DEVELOPING A CRITICAL
EYE
BY: ASHLYN DOHERTY

2. CRITIQUE SESSIONS
• There are three basic questions you should ask
yourself before analyzing a photograph.
1) What is good about it?
2)What is not good?
3) How could it be better?
• Most people find it easier to critique someone else's
picture because you won’t have a connection to
it, that’s why group critique sessions are always a
good idea.

3. EVALUATING A PRINT
• Start by asking yourself the three questions.
• Most people would start by deciding if they like the
photo or not.
• Your goal is to go behind the likes and dislikes and
evaluate the style and standards.
• Each photograph has a individual style, however,
liking the style is a personal matter and it doesn't’t
decipher if the picture has skill or not.
• Next, look at the standards. Standards include
value, clarity, composition, and presentation. If a
photographer scores well in all of these, then it must
be a great photo.

4. VALUE
• Value in a photograph concerns the a amount and
range of light it has from black through shades of
gray to white.
• The more contrast or range of dark to light a photo
has, the more visual impact it will have on the
viewer.

5. IMPROVING VALUE
• There are many reasons why a photo could be
improved. They are…
1)Incorrect exposure
2)Too little light, which causes a “muddy’ print
3)Too much light, which causes white highlights.
4)How the film is processed: Make sure it doesn’t
stay in the developer too long.
• In order to keep these mistakes from happening
consistent dark room habits are the fix.

6. CLARITY
• Clarity is the second key factor in a photograph.
• Three questions to ask:
1)Whats in focus?
2)What should be in focus?
3) Then look what's not in focus, why is it not?
• If a photo is correctly in focus, then it will have either
sharp or soft edges.
• Sharp edges are clearly defined and soft edges blur
more with the photo.

7. IMPROVING CLARITY
• Focus is the most common problem, generally
caused by failure to correctly set the distance on
the focusing ring.
• The photographer can make up for this lack of light
by decreasing the shutter speed or increasing the
aperture.
• Another problem could be if your object is moving
or “camera shake”.
• A photographer cannot do much if th object they
are shooting moves, however, they can place the
camera on a surface to help prevent “camera
shake”.

8. PRESENTATION
• A photographer should always examine the final
copy.
• Look for white flecks, glitches, scuzz, hickies, or glop.
Also look or, finger prints, scratches, or dark circles
caused by poor agitation while developing.
• Overall, follow the instructions, use cleaning
tools, and keep the darkroom dust-free.

9. COMPOSITION
• Point of Interest:
1) Does it stand out or is it lost in the surrounding confusion?
-There should be one clear point of interest and it should be near the middle
of the frame, but not right in the center.
• Cropping:
1) is it “tight” –is the frame filled with important elements, or is there wasted
space?”
-Always try to keep a clean, simple idea.
• Lines:
-Even the smallest, single line can draw the viewers eye to or away from the
point of interest, causing it to increase or decrease the photographers main
idea.
• Aesthetics:
-Aesthetics is similar to style.
-Sometimes, a photographer could have all the right elements but still have it
not work. Other times, the right elements combine and create a great
photographer.
-To proper way to start is to master the techniques of consantely producing
good photos.

10. SAMPLE CRITIQUE
• The photo I chose from the book is the black and white
photo with the window and the starfish in it.
• The first thing I noticed about this photo is the good
value it holds. The more of a range it has from dark to
light, the more impact it will have on the viewer and this
photo has just enough light. However, I do think it could
use some more light in the top right corner. This photo
also has good clarity. I can tell that the starfish is the
focus and its placed well in the photo because its not
completely centered, its shifted a little over to the side.
Another thing about the clarity is that it has sharp
edges, which means everything, especially the starfish, is
clearly defined. Overall, looking at the presentation I
think the photo is a goo presentation because there are
no marks or anything that leaves signs of agitation.

11. This photo was taken by Michael Potts. He is a wildlife and
landscape photographer and travels all over the world to get great
pictures. I like this picture because its main focus is a beautiful bird.
The value of the photo is good and I like how its dark around the bird
because it makes it easier to see what's in focus. Also, the clarity in
this photo is good because the viewer can clearly tell what's in focus
and the photo also has soft edges. Overall, the final presentation
looks good, however, since we are looking at it on the computer it
makes it harder because we cant see the final copy. Because of
that dilemma, we cant tell if there are white spots, scratches, or
anything else that shouldn't be there. Therefore, we go by what we
see and I think the presentation look good.
HTTP://WWW.MICHAELPOTTSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM/GALLERY/

12. This photo is by Marco Ryan called “ Captive hand”. The first
thing I noticed that I think is goof about this photo is how its
perfectly focused on the hand. Its shifted off to the side and
that makes it more interesting. With that said, this photo has
good clarity. The photo also has good value because it has
a good ray of dark to light lighting effects. Also, the
presentation looks good as well. Even though this photo is on
a computer, it doesn't’t seem to effect the presentation very
much, which is a great thing. Finally, the composition is
perfect because the point of interest sands out and is not lost
in the black mesh.