Don’t listen to most people. (And not for the reason you think).

I know this is a weird post, but let me give you some background and it will make sense. Recently someone asked me to review his photo portfolio and tell him what I thought about the quality of his work. He is a beginning photographer and is looking to improve.

I went to his Flickr page and looked over his work. Honestly, most of it was OK, but unremarkable. There were a few images that were pretty strong. So, in my review I complemented the good images and told him what I liked about them. He thanked me and asked what I thought about a couple of the weaker images. I told him I thought they were weak and gave him the reasons why I thought so.

He said he was confused because the weaker images got lots of positive comments on his Facebook page. With good reviews from his friends, how could those images not be good?

The ugly truth is that, while most everyone knows what they like, that doesn’t mean they can judge quality. For instance, one photo was of a pretty girl in a dress outside at a park. Someone may look at the photo and see a pretty girl and make a positive comment. Someone else may see the photo and love the dress and like the photo. Yet a third person may love the girl’s shoes and make a comment.

What these people failed to notice is that the sun is casting ugly shadows across the girl’s face and no fill light was used. They also didn’t notice that there is a telephone pole growing from the girl’s head and that the background is really distracting (something that could be fixed by opting for a shallow depth of field or by having the girl move to a different location). These not the things most people will notice, but they really weaken an image.

I know nothing about pottery. However, I can look at a vase and say that I like it because I like the color or the shape. But it doesn’t mean I can judge it’s quality. I can’t tell how much effort went into making it or if it was glazed or fired properly. The potter shouldn’t consider my opinion when assessing his own skills.

I guess what I’m saying is that, having your work critiqued is a very useful exercise, but make sure the person’s opinion you are asking for is capable of judging the quality of your work.

One of the many interesting things about photography is that you never stop learning. You can never know everything about the craft. If you think you do, you’ll never grow and your skills will stagnate.

Thanks for reading!!

-Ken