Critique is an important part of the learning process, especially in the beginning while you are building a foundation of which to learn upon. The Merirriam-Webster online dictionary defines critique as a careful judgment in which you give your opinion about the good and bad parts of something (such as a piece of writing or a work of art).

But, art is so subjective, right? And personal. Sometimes it can be hard to take off the mommy goggles and just look at an image objectively. Fortunately, while the art of photography is subjective, there are rules that apple that most people will agree upon, of which are the technical skills (such as exposure, focus, white balance, and basic composition). When beginning, it is important to have a firm grasp of those skills, so that later, as your skill level increases. And accepting as well as giving feedback can help hone those skills. Then you can really begin to decide if the rules should be broken for your voice to be heard through your art. Breaking the rules is where all of the fun is, right?

During Ultimate Intro to Photography, we focus on helping students build a strong foundation for their photography by offering video feedback. Each student receives video feedback on their assignment images by two professional photographer mentors.

Thank you to two of the Ultimate Intro to Photography spring course students (you know who you are!) for these two gorgeous images and allowing others to learn! I really appreciate your willing to help a girl out!

The following is a simple guideline of how I critique an image technically. You can use these to more subjectively look at your own images or as a way to critique other’s images. Learning to see what is correct (and why) is a tool to becoming a better photographer. And of course after learning the rules, it is always fun to break them too :)