How do you critique your own work?

[adamfogerty]

As the title says really, what process do you use to select your best photos from a days shooting?

I'm interested in both the technical aspects but also the creative, more intangible 'artsy' side of things - How do you know you're looking at a GREAT photo? What criteria are you measuring it against?

I often find that I think my photos are better when I review them immediately after the event, vs. looking at them weeks, months or years later. Part of this is obviously skills development - as you get better you raise your standards. But I'm convinced part of it is emotional attachment as well - shortly after the event the photos are evoking memories which I fear I'm reacting more to than the photo itself.

I think these warm fuzzy memories then prevent me from hitting the 'delete' key on what is otherwise a rather mundane photo. But then, is there anything wrong with that?

Some questions to illustrate what I'm getting at:

• Do you review the photos in a slideshow as part of your workflow? Use labels or keywords?
• How trigger happy with the 'delete' key are you?
• Do you distinguish between your 'photography' photos and 'snaps' for friends and family?
• Do you inspect the histogram, check for noise, focus, etc.? If so what are you looking for?
• If you've taken two similar shots of a subject, how do you decide which is the 'better' one to keep? Or will you keep them both?
• Do you get someone else to pass judgement on your photos?

I'm a fairly harsh self-critic at it seems I'm continually culling my collection of good photos - I decide that they are in fact, just okay at best.

Also when someone posts up 10 shots from their day shooting landscapes/cars/planes/abandoned places aren't they distracting from the quality of their work somewhat by posting so many? Wouldn't the one GREAT photo from the set be far more powerful than the whole series?

Finally how do you teach yourself to ignore all your friends and family who tell you that you take great photos?

Sorry for the rather long rambling post, just something I've been thinking about recently as I try to develop a proper workflow. I realise I've covered a pretty broad topic and there's no right or wrong answer, but I'm just looking to hear your ideas.

Thanks,

Adam

[y2blade]

I am very self critical but I don't delete any of my pictures...why would you?

[14-7]

adamfogerty said:

• Do you review the photos in a slideshow as part of your workflow? Use labels or keywords?
• How trigger happy with the 'delete' key are you?
• Do you distinguish between your 'photography' photos and 'snaps' for friends and family?
• Do you inspect the histogram, check for noise, focus, etc.? If so what are you looking for?
• If you've taken two similar shots of a subject, how do you decide which is the 'better' one to keep? Or will you keep them both?
• Do you get someone else to pass judgement on your photos?

If I like it then I do something with it. If not it gets deleted.

[RobDickinson]

I delete only absolute trash ( oof, too blury etc) or poor shots out of a sequence of many similar ones.

I usualy zip through them tagging ones that are OK technicaly, then pass through those and look at them from a asthetic POV.

Where it gets tricky with things like landscapes where a lot of PP work can realy bring out an image that didnt look that great to start with (but was OK), some PP and cropping can realy make an image sometimes.

[Simpo Two]

adamfogerty said:

I'm interested in both the technical aspects but also the creative, more intangible 'artsy' side of things - How do you know you're looking at a GREAT photo?

I've never claimed to take a 'great' photo, but I have taken many that please me greatly. So for me A 'great' photo is one somebody likes enough to pay for, or one I like, or both. My photos fall into three categories:

1) Photos for clients.

2) Photos I take for my own enjoyment which I think have potential (don't bother much with this now to be frank)

3) Photos I take as snaps, eg 'this is me building my shed'

adamfogerty said:

* Do you review the photos in a slideshow as part of your workflow? Use labels or keywords?

Professional photos are sorted as I process them from RAW. About 85% are keepers; the rest fail for various reasons. I sort them by eye and they're either in or out; I see no point in tags, keywords or fruitbats that seem to obsess most developers of RAW processing software now. 'Ooh look, I've rated it "orange"'. WTF?

adamfogerty said:

* How trigger happy with the 'delete' key are you? * Do you distinguish between your 'photography' photos and 'snaps' for friends and family?

For me these two questions combine. For clients if a photo passes my personal quality parameters then they get it. They can decide what to print; they may well have different preferences to me. Standards are of course far higher than for personal snaps - if I take 5 photos of my cat with a compact and one is best, I dump the other 4.

adamfogerty said:

* Do you inspect the histogram, check for noise, focus, etc.? If so what are you looking for?

For clients (ie important photos), I check every photo for (a) exposure, using the histogram (b) focus, using a one-press 100% zoom function. This allows me to be sure I have a decent photo even if I'm outside in full sun and can barely see the monitor.

adamfogerty said:

* If you've taken two similar shots of a subject, how do you decide which is the 'better' one to keep? Or will you keep them both?

For cleints, if they pass my tests I supply both and let them decide which they prefer. For me, I'll probably delete the one I like least.

adamfogerty said:

* Do you get someone else to pass judgement on your photos?

Tried that in the December competitions and got nowhere, so no. The only opinions that concern me are (a) mine (b) the people paying for them. As long as my standards are the higher, all is well

adamfogerty said:

Also when someone posts up 10 shots from their day shooting landscapes/cars/planes/abandoned places aren't they distracting from the quality of their work somewhat by posting so many? Wouldn't the one GREAT photo from the set be far more powerful than the whole series?

I see your point but different people prefer different things, so posting 10 is more likely to get responses. (But it would be nice if they observed the posting guidelines which have been nailed to the top of the forum for years)

adamfogerty said:

Finally how do you teach yourself to ignore all your friends and family who tell you that you take great photos?

I'd be more concerned if they told me I didn't!

[CVP]

adamfogerty said:

Some questions to illustrate what I'm getting at:

• Do you review the photos in a slideshow as part of your workflow? Use labels or keywords?
• How trigger happy with the 'delete' key are you?
• Do you distinguish between your 'photography' photos and 'snaps' for friends and family?
• Do you inspect the histogram, check for noise, focus, etc.? If so what are you looking for?
• If you've taken two similar shots of a subject, how do you decide which is the 'better' one to keep? Or will you keep them both?
• Do you get someone else to pass judgement on your photos?

Finally how do you teach yourself to ignore all your friends and family who tell you that you take great photos?

My general workflow goes something like:
1. All gets loaded into Adobe Bridge
2. Backup
3. Quick run through to delete out of focus, camera shake, person walking into frame, or any other technical major cock up
4. Then tag with relevant tags
5. Sort by tag and then go through 1 by 1. Delete when not convinced shot can be redeemed
6. Develop & process the ones that really pop out as good, then go to the less good etc, save to new folder on the drive
7. For similar shots or where I have taken a vertical and a horizonatl of the same image, I have them up side by side in Bridge and look at them on screen. It's very rare that one is not "better" than the other quite quickly. e.g. Of a series of a waterfall, one shutetr speed just makes the water look right for that particular shot. I generally don't delete the others but will work on the best one only until I am completely happy.
8. Go back after a week or so and look at the not so good and see what can be done. Some of the poor ones get worked on if they are the only shot I have of a particular place / item
9. Revisit after a good long time and if still nothing doing then delete

I think I've still got quite a few that need to be culled, especially from recent trips

In terms of ignoring family, that's easy they are pretty harsh critics but I do have a photogrpahy friend who I show stuff to occasionally. If I get a thumbs up from him then I'm happy that I've got a good one as he has high standards for himself and others.

[AndWhyNot]

I force my wife to watch a slideshow of images. Any images she strongly dislikes are instant keepers.

[andy-xr]

I roughly know when I've taken a shot that I'm going to be happy with it, and want to see it on a big screen fairly soon after. I dont do a massive amount to my photos in terms of PP, but I often have an idea of the processing that I'll apply to it when I'm shooting it.

I usually want to have the shoot processed within a week, longer than that and I get distracted and start having problems remembering what I wanted to do and why I was doing it

I never delete, other than the odd one or two of like doors and random crap. Thats usually in camera anyway