This document provides tips for critiquing photographs. It explains that critiques should balance positive and negative comments, and evaluate technical factors like value, clarity, composition, and presentation. Value refers to the range of light and contrast in a photo. Clarity depends on focus, shutter speed, and contrast. Composition considers the point of interest, cropping, balance, and guiding the eye with lines. Presentation looks at the quality of the final print. Three sample critiques are provided that comment on these elements.

1. Critiquing a Photo
Samantha Agnelli
Period 6

2. Basic Tips for Critiquing a
Photo
 Positive and negative comments are balanced
 Ask yourself:
 What is good about it?
 What is not good?
 How could it be better?

3. Things to Remember
 Move beyond your own likes and dislikes
 Identify the technical, objective factors that define a
photo and evaluate them

4. Where to Begin
 Determine the facts about a photo
 Once you do this, you have a good basis for determining
your own opinions

5. Four Basic Factors
 Four basic factors determine a photograph’s standard:
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Value
Clarity
Composition
Presentation

6. Value
 Value, in a photograph, concerns light
 Value refers to the range of light in a photograph
 As a general rule, the more contrast a photo has, the
greater its visual impact will be
 Causes for poor value:
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Incorrect exposure
How the film is processed
The kind of paper used to make the print
Exposed paper

7. Clarity
 The primary key to clarity is focus
 In a correctly focused photograph, a subject may be
either sharp or soft
 With sharp focus, all edges are very clearly defined
 With soft focus, the edges blur a bit
 Questions to ask:
 What’s in focus?
 What should be in focus?
 Look at what’s not in focus: Why is it not?

8. Clarity
 Clarity depends on an appropriate shutter speed and
an appropriate degree of contrast between the subject
and background
 Causes for poor clarity:
 Focus is the most common
 Using too large an aperture
 Incorrect shutter speed

9. Composition
 Point of Interest
 Is there a point of interest?
 A photo should have one clear point of interest
 Cropping
 Is is tight? (Is the frame filled with important elements or
is there wasted space?)
 Balance
 Is it top-heavy, lopsided, or boring?
 Lines
 Even a single line can draw the viewer’s eye toward away
from the point of interest

10. Presentation
 Look for the care and skill with which the final product
has been produced
 Look for stuff on the negative that shouldn't’ be there
like white flecks, fingerprints, and dark circles
 Other aspects of presentation:
 Neatly trimmed edges
 Squared corners
 Proper adhesion to the mat board

11. Sample Critique 1
I like the value in this photo.
There are very dark darks, very
light lights, and many shades of
gray in between. I also like how
the photo is in focus. Another
thing I like is how it’s cropped,
so that the entire picture is filled
with important elements.
Something I would improve is
the brightness of the window
and the watch because they
distract from the faces, which
are darker.
From Chapter 4 The Photographic Eye

12. Sample Critique 2
I really like this photo because it is
very interesting and not boring to
look at. The thing that makes it
interesting is the presentation of it;
the lines are not perfectly
horizontal. Something I would do
to improve this would be to crop
the cloud out because it can
distract from the main focus, which
is the cat.
Corey Arnold Photography
http://www.coreyfishes.com/#/wolf-tide/2

13. Sample Critique 3
Micah Albert Photographer
http://www.micahalbert.com/#/southsudan/SOUTHSUDAN-3151
This photo is very interesting to
look at. I like the way the
photographer captures the sun
shining through. The value in this
photo is great because there are
light lights (the sun) and dark
darks (the side of the hill). There
are also many shades in
between, like the ground.
Something I would improve is the
purple spot on the picture, as it
distracts from the photo since it’s
a completely different color from
the rest of the picture.