Concert photography critique for Paul
Put B/W on your facebook, you asked if I could submit here. B/w was took in bar and colour pics in a night club. I work as a bathroom Installer, but hope some day to become a photographer. Couple of years ago I started taking pics at marathon events and selling on internet when I wasn’t running myself. My dream would be to make a living in Benidorm Spain taking pics of night clubers and holiday makers.
A friend has already asked me to do her wedding in September 2014 as she says she likes the pics I take. I’m slowly working through your videos which are all really interesting.
All the best and Happy New Year. Paul
Paul
thank you for your submission. I will apply my
Tudor Rating system directly to your photos and so should you.
Girl at the bar in black and white
Content – 1 out of 10 – this is not even a subject but an accident. I am not sure if you really want to show people backs.
Composition 2 out of 10 – i do not see any intent or arranging anything. the only quality in terms of composition is that the subject is well proportioned in the frame, but that is hardly a quality item in this context
Image quality – 3 out of 10. Image is dark, underexposed, and having in in black and white does not make it an artistic shot
Overall TRS mark is 2 out of 10.
Singers on stage
Content 5 out of 10. what is so special about singers on stage? I guess concerts are more interesting than people on the street and this is just me. if you have a connection with this band, please give yourself another mark
Composition 2 out of 10. Who is the subject? the left one,. the right one both? This arrangements suggests that the subject is the banner at the back occupying the central and most visible space in the picture
Image quality 5 out of 10 – Image is well exposed nice colour tones, I am suspecting your camera was on automatic?
Overall TRS Mark – 4
Paul
I appreciate taking the time and submitting these photos, and I understand you have an interest in photography. please see other people, take other photos, apply this rating system and think about it. I would be interested to see 3 more pictures from you after you take 1000 photos in between
pleas reate them yourself and send them back only if you are confident they are above 5 TRS mark
Hope you do not take this other than an encouragement
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Paul,
Christian made a true and honest critique hoping you will take the advise as constructive criticism and build upon that to achieve better results as time passes by. So many things you have to do in order to get those special photographs. Study, take photos, look at other people’s work, get familiar with lightroom/photoshop, practice, practice, practice.
Kevin
Much of your advice to Paul was very good but I have to totally disagree with your harsh assessment of his B&W photo in the bar. It seems like you completely missed the mark on what is actually quite a good photograph. First of all, there are many excellent photos of people from behind- I just did some quick research and found several by renowned photographer Jay Maisel, just as one example. One photo is even of a man from behind who is completely silhouetted (frankly, a common and very moving way of shooting people from behind). More importantly, however, is the fact that this is NOT a shot of a person from behind- but rather, of a boy looking right at us! The main subject- the young woman whose physical posture is so expressive and a credit to Paul for noticing that, appears blitzed and “out of it” and the little boy who is looking at us, are both right smack in the middle of the picture, so in at least that sense it is good composition- we know what the subject of the pic is, unlike in a couple of his other pics as you so rightly pointed out. Further, this is clearly a picture that ‘works’ as B&W so not sure why you criticized his choice there. It may not be a masterpiece, but he deserves a lot of credit for 1) seeing a fantastic moment that tells a story and moves us 2) creating a perfectly good composition and 3) using B&W to capture a disturbing moment that from a composition perspective is all about dark and light, with the boys face coming out of the shadow.
Bravo
the idea is that everyone can assign a rating and the reality is always somewhere in the middle. Paul accepted my assessment and agreed to it.
My critique is mine only and I accept that other people can assign other marks…it should be like a jury…and the final mark should be the average number. Of course my critique is subjective….my rating system at least is trying to eliminate some of that. If someone else rates this image 10 out of 10, it should be added to the mix.
If I have missed the subject as a viewer, who’s fault is that? me as the viewer, or the photographer’s who is in control of the message.
if the message does not get across that means there is a problem somewhere. I am pretty sure if I ask many people what is the subject, a lot of them will fail to recognise the kid looking in the camera as the subject ..which by the way! what is so interesting about that?. if you point the camera anywhere towards people, they will react and look back at you. is this the story? would you rent a movie with this subject? would you hang this in your living room? is this story really moves you and brings emotion?
having a silhouette is a different story…and perhaps a different execution
We all have our own perception of what is interesting and what is not, and what i find interesting differs than what you see as exciting. that is why the rating system is split in content, composition, execution, and the rating provides a measurable (with a degree of subjectivity) tool.
On a scale from 1 (the most average image you can see….. to 10 the most extraordinary event, where does this sit?
I am actually happy other people disagree, as it measures where I could be wrong…and that is fair!
could you justify why the black and white works here?
what expresses the girl; posture?
why is this a perfect composition?
Hi,
I will add my constructive criticism to the mix and we all have to agree not everyone has the same eye for detail. We each have different opinions on what is considered good and bad, and that’s normal.
In the B&W to me it’s just an ordinary pic taken with no thought on the composition. My eye keeps drawing me back to the girl and not the little boy. One rule of thumb I always practice in any painting or photograph is to never position your center of interest directly in the center of the picture. I would have cropped out the highlight at the top of the picture also, it’s distracting. Overall it’s a bit underexposed for my taste, but that might be the mood the photographer wanted. If it was composed a little different and the boy was in the rule of thirds with a different reaction on his face I believe this photograph would be completely different.
The singers on stage photograph, both singers are looking out of the picture which leads your eye out of the photograph. There isn’t anything that keeps flowing and making your eye come back to the center of interest. I believe there needs to be lines or other forms of movement that helps lead the “eye” back to the center of interest.
These are just my opinions on how I think the original photographer can improve here and in the future. I see so many photographers and artists these days always place the center of interest in the direct center of the image. For some reason people think it’s best to always place the focal point directly in the center, but it’s just too boring for the most part for my taste.
Kevin
Kevin
thank you. I will be starting to use the Tudor Rating System from now on…did you see this method?
Hi Christian,
I did see the Tudor Rating System you implemented on the past critiques. I think it’s an excellent rating system. It breaks it down enough to inform the photographer what he/she may need to work on instead of just saying what’s wrong within the post. After all everyone that submits their work to you is wanting a professional opinion on their work!
Keep up the good work Christian.
Kevin
I think the same. On top of That I will improve it with a small “Quality Guide” document and assign an example for each rating. Also I am thinking to separate different fields separately as you cannot compare portraiture with street photography and say one is more interesting than the other . they will be separated!
Thanks for the feedback.would you be interested to be a judge for this section? I am thinking establishing a judging panel and have 3-5 separate photographers assigning ratings, and this way, Academy of Photography system will gain trust, prestige and it will attract more people to participate.
This should be better than in most of the photo forums where I constantly see attitude and aggressive behaviours towards the beginners. this system will give everyone a fair say.
Once the panel is established, ever member will get an account and also can promote himself as a judge, and that adds value and authority to them!
I will create an invitation and expression of interest request soon, so, let me know your thoughts.
Hi Christian,
The quality guide will be a nice addition. Separating the fields seems like a logical choice also. There are many really good portrait or street photographers, but when it comes to landscapes they are lacking in that section. So yeah, separating the fields I think is a positive thing!
It would be an honor to be part of the academy of photography judging panel if you decide to send an invitation this way!
I too have seen many beginners get hammered for asking a simple question online. What some people don’t realize is questions have to be asked on how to improve and it’s our job to help them achieve that.
The judging panel will also let the photographer see how more than 1 judge rates their submission. In the grand scheme of things I believe the photographer should be able to come away with some valuable information to help them in the future.
Kevin