Snapshop Peeps: March 2016

I don’t like criticism. I’m just being honest. I tend to be a perfectionist and I want it to be perfect NOWI It can be difficult to accept the fact that growth and criticism can be a good thing…to help us grow, change, develop and become!

This is also true with regards to photography. Learning to diagnose and critique our own work, is part of the learning process.

Part of diagnosing an image is being able to objectively determine the good and bad parts…

I “say” objectively, but we also have to consider “ART”…which is subjective as well. And at least for me, it’s personal! Therefore, I have to sort of separate myself from the “feeling” of it and look at the “technical”

Here are a few guidelines that you can run through in order to “diagnose” your own images:

1. SETTINGS:

Exposure: does the image look too bright or too dark? Is it evenly/properly exposed?

Focus: is the subject in focus? Is there too much blur from an action?

Color: is the white balance correct? Are skin tones natural?

Depth of Field: does the image have substance? Does the depth add or take away?

(this image is OVER exposed...I viewed it in camera and recognized that I needed to change somethign immediately if I was going to retain the details)

(this image has major white balance issues...see that "green" skin...I needed to compensate for that IN camera, while in the moment...having to work fast and change my settings so as to NOT lose the moment)

2. LIGHTING:

Do you have shadows or dark places? Is the light distracting or does it add to the image?

3. COMPOSITION

Is it interesting? Are there distracting elements? Does it follow a rule?

(can you see my "problem" with composition here? where is his head? And why am I so far away? the swing set is a distraction...I have to change my position & location in order to get the image I wanted)

4. STORY:

How do I FEEL about the image? Does it capture an emotion? Is there a story element that is displayed in the image? Is there a connection, relationship or personality that speaks to the viewer?

(using depth of field can speak volumes to a viewer...there are 2 "stories" going on in this image...and I used the "blur" technique IN camera to tell them simultaneously!)

So, what do you do with your diagnosis?

First off, if you are doing a quick run down of these guidelines while you are in the midst of shooting, you can take stock right then and there…

For example, if you see that the settings are off, that there are distractions with regards to clarify or lighting…you can shift your body, change position and play with your camera settings.

However, if you are looking at your images on the computer screen after your shoot, you can take note of certain things…

If you find that your exposure was “off”, but you were metering, you might learn/determine that your camera needs to meter a bar or two to the left or right in the future.

If you find the white balance is off, you can choose to correct those types of challenges in photoshop or you can utilize the white balance options IN your camera.

If you discover that your “frame up” in camera wasn’t exactly what you had hoped, you can crop it down when you print.

There are lots of things to think about when using your camera...it can be overwhelming, but I promise, that as you practice, as you become more and more familiar with the workings of the camera, along with starting to figure out your style & niche', it becomes more like 2nd nature and something truly worthwhile & fun!!!

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