How I Critique a Photograph
Over at the Digital Photography School fora, I critique a fair amount of photographs. But for some reason, I got to thinking about the way I do it and comparing it to the way it seems that other people are critiquing. So for those who are interested, here is the process I go through when I critique.
- What is my initial reaction? Even if the photograph is meant to be confusing or super artistic with a message (think Malevich’s Black Square), there is still an initial reaction. This includes things that just jump out at me as being good or bad.
- Where do my eyes go? It doesn’t matter if you have the coolest looking thing ever on the right side of your frame if my eyes keep going to the left.
- How is the lighting? This is where the mandatory Photoshop work comes in. On 95% of the photographs that I critique, I copy and paste them into Photoshop, open up the curves tool, and see how it looks when I hit Auto. The automatic setting is surprisingly on, so it’s a good judge to go by.
- How are the colors? A lot of the time the colors could use some boosting. A brightness/contrast adjustment layer might not be the best choice for doing final work but it works great for this.
- What post processing techniques would look good? Blurring the background, making it look like a painting, this is the catch all stage for stuff like that. I don’t do it, I just say what comes to mind.
- What final thoughts do I have? Since I type the critique while I’m doing stuff, I might have some more thoughts that would be helpful. I add those to the end.
And there you have my process for critiquing a photograph.
The Times, They Are a Changin’
Thank God for Bob Dylan, who has given me yet another title. I don’t think he ever fails me, and I don’t plan on stopping to turn to him for inspiration.
This blog has taken many different directions. It’s been a holding place for my CD list, a personal blog a few times, and a failed tech blog.
And now, I’m just tired of trying to box it in. When I tried the tech blog thing I kept thinking of posts that would have been great if I was still doing a personal blog. When I did personal I thought of nothing but tech stuff.
All that over thinking is now (hopefully) done. From now on, I post what I want. If it’s tech stuff, then it’s tech stuff. If it’s how I think about something, then I’ll post that. If it’s this weird dream where I, along with a group of other people, have to fight these dragon/shadow things similar to at the end of Link’s Awakening but I can’t get my powers unless I have some sort of slushie, then I’ll post that.
By the way, that dream actually happened. It was freaky, and yet didn’t feel weird at all while I was having it. Go figure….
Anyway, I’m going to post things, and hopefully somebody will read it. And if nobody does, then at least I have an outlet for my thoughts. And there isn’t much as dangerous as a trapped thought.
So be on the lookout for stuff. I’m not sure what yet exactly, but if you ask me that’s part of the fun.
6 Ways To Effectively Use Wall Space
There are countless articles and blogs that will tell you how to organize a room. And I’m not saying that they’re bad. Even I’ve done it, so it would be a bit fishy if I said it was a bad idea. But something that I see neglected a lot of the time in these articles is using wall space effectively. After the jump, check out 6 tips that you can use to get more use out of your walls.
Furniture Hacks
If you’re living in a tight space then you should know that furniture came sometimes take up more room than it’s worth. But how can you get around having that large recliner or the furniture that comes with the dorm room? After the jump, I’ll tell you about a few simple furniture hacks that can make life a lot easier. Some are common sense, but I hope that there are at least a few that you haven’t thought of before.
Read more
TimeBridge: Solving Almost All Of Your Scheduling Problems
If you’ve ever tried to set up a meeting with people then you know know how messy it can become. People don’t know their schedules and have to get back to you later. People think they know they’re schedules and that perfect meeting time is down the toilet because of previous commitments. You almost have to plan a meeting just to figure out when to have the real meeting. Who wants to do all of that. After the jump, we’ll take a look at TimeBridge, an online application (or web app if you don’t feel like typing all of that out) that attempts to take care of that for you.
Stay Organized to Stay Sane
I’m not exactly the most organized person in the world, so you can either take this advice as hypocritical or lessons learned from failure. Really, the lesson to learn here is that organization greatly reduces anxiety. After the jump, read a more detailed explanation.
Force Yourself Into Action To Get Things Done
Sometimes you just have to get something done. Long term projects, tomorrow’s homework, dinner, chores, anything. Almost anyone would agree that these things need to get done eventually. The question is, how do you manage to get them done now? One solution, put yourself in a position where you simply have to complete the task. The idea is a simple one: if the task absolutely has to get done then you’re more likely to actually do it.
More theory and some examples after the jump below.