Self Critique
Paul Malley • 25 July 2022
When we sit at a Club evening, listening to a Judge pass comment on our images, we remember that it is THEIR opinion, comment or critique which is being put forward. Our personal and LPS standards mean that we, hopefully, have self-assessed and critiqued our own images before we submit them for somebody else to talk about. In the PDI world, it's not too bad as there is no cost incurred, but why would anyone produce a print, at cost, mounted, and submit it if they themselves were not happy with the hard copy image?
Over the years I have submitted some work which, looking back, I would review again - either using additional post production work (maybe the advances in software were not available at the time), or simply discarded as sub-optimal. When covering Weddings and Social Functions, it is imperative that high quality returns are given, otherwise you will not find yourself in demand, - your bookings are based upon reputation, work standard and often word of mouth.
Here is an image I took of a 'Maid of Honour' at a friend's wedding; it sits unused in my files, not included in the final cut as I consider it needs too much work to improve. I don't throw many images away because I have seen tragically, losses to family members and absolutely any image incorporating them becomes precious. This is where my self-critique (or 'after the shot') review comes into play.
At first glance, it is a pleasing image; our subject is well placed, beautifully presented in hair, makeup, nails, etc. She is undoubtedly very pretty, the pose is comfortable and there appears to be a good rapport between photographer and subject. The lighting is well managed considering the backlight function and the front is not washed out or lacking contrast. So, why did I not present the image?
I can sum the rejection up in one word 'SHADOWS.' In this instance those beautiful green eyes sit in a very dark recess. I did use a Flash Unit, set at 1/64 power level against the ambient light, but as fill, it simply wasn't strong enough. I could have closed the aperture to offer slightly more Depth of Field, which would have had more focus on the bouquet; this reduced aperture would have meant the flash power ratio going from 1/64 to either 1/32 or 1/16 - this action would have helped to remove those darkened eye sockets and permitted the eye colour to shine.
It's simple yet constructive self-critique like this, which places us apart from other people with a camera. As we learn how to manage light, even using a simple reflector in this instance, we improve - and, surely, that's what we strive to do, isn't it? ...In passing, the girl loved this shot on a personal level and she sent a copy to mum and dad and dear gran!
Why not email Derek one of your images, with a short comment or self-critique for publishing in a blog post.
Louth Photographic Society
Our speaker last night was our very own member Tony Gaskins, who gave an excellent presentation "Coast 3" with some stunning visual images. Tony specialises in capturing long exposure coastal scenes, he related how beginning several years ago with a long exposure view of Whitby Pier he got the "bug" for long exposure photography. Much of his photography takes place along the Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire east coast, often arising in the early hours to catch a sunrise. Weather conditions dictate a lot of how the final image looks, and the long exposure style often creates a sense of calmness, and serenity, with pastel coloured skies, and milky seas. When the weather turns wild, the long exposure image presents a very dramatic scene with foreboding clouds. He recently travelled to Lewis & Harris island in the Outer Hebrides and took many images there, sometimes at sunny white sand beaches, and at other times moody bleak images as the weather closed in. Tony's technique requires a lot of patience, often spending hours at a location, with the camera mounted on a study tripod, and the ND filters on the camera permitting an exposure time of several minutes. Many thanks Tony for a very informative talk, well presented, and with some beautiful imagery.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held a Local Nature and Open PDI competition, members Dave Turner and Steve Chapman kindly offered to judge the competition, thank you to you both, it was a good night and the entries were of a high standard giving you both quite a task. The results are on our website, but the two winners on the night were, Local Nature Tony Gaskins and Open Harry Kerman. This week, Wednesday 8th April, Tony Gaskins, one of our members is showing us Coast 3, a PDI presentation. Tony is an excellent photographer and spends many hours photographing our coastline. Aprils Print competition, Circles and Open is fast approaching, you can send your titles to Dave Turner when your ready and bring your prints in the week before the competition. Regards Graham
It was no April fools, when we held our PDI (Projected Digital Image) competition last night. The images submitted into this competition were off the highest quality. Dave Turner judged the Open category, which I think is always one of the hardest categories to judge, pitting landscapes, against nature, and still life, but Dave did a magnificent job, offering well founded critique of the images submitted. After the break, Steve Chapman judged the Local Nature category, (nature images taken within a 25 mile radius of St. James' church, Louth) Steve "held back" 10 out of the 18 submitted images, and gave those 10 images very careful consideration until he finally arrived at the 3 highest placed images. Steve commented that the submitted images were indeed of high quality, and he took his time to evaluate the submitted images and offered useful critique on each one. The competition made for a very interesting evening, and all members deserve praise for the quality of the submitted images. The website Competition page has been updated with the full results, and the top three images from each category. On this post is 1st placed Sedge Warbler, Cleethorpes by Tony Gaskins, in the Local Nature category, and 1st placed Hudson Bay Wolf, (Lincoln Zoo) by Harry Kerman, in the Open category.
Good Morning, All, Last week at the club member Chris Birchmore gave a presentation on MPP cameras which included some of Chris's collection of cameras and prints taken. There is a report on the evening on our blog page. Thank you Chris for an interesting evening. This week, Wednesday 1st April, we are holding a local and open PDI competition the local subject being nature, please if you haven't already, send your entries to Harry before midnight tonight. Members Steve Chapman and Dave Turner have volunteered to judge. Also on the Wednesday 1st April our Louth Photographic Society 70th anniversary exhibition will be open to view at the Louth Museum. Regards Graham
Chris Birchmore gave an informative, and interesting talk and demonstration of his medium format film cameras. at the beginning of the evening Chris gave a potted history of the origins of the MPP cameras he was showing us. The cameras take a 5 x 4" film stock, and looking at the cameras it seems incredible that photographers in the recent past could take excellent photographs with these. The MPP cameras were often used by the British Armed Forcies during the Second World War, and throughout the 1950s, and 60s, and some of these medium format were still being manufactured in the 1970s. The prints that Chris showed taken with these cameras were of excellent quality, with an amazing depth of field. Many thanks Chris for a fascinating evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held a committee meeting, which was very productive, we made the final arrangements for the exhibition, charity night, and studio evening as well as other items on the agenda. We are holding an Exhibition opening night at Louth Museum on Friday 17th April celebrating 70 years of Louth Photographic Society. There will be a small buffet and cold drinks available, if any member would like to donate a bottle of wine to the occasion please hand it to Harry at one of our club nights. This week, Wednesday 25th March, member Chris Birchmore will be giving us a presentation. The following week is a local competition, with the categoriess of "Local Nature" (up to 25 miles radius from St James church) and "Open" (unlimited mileage) please send your entries to Harry before midnight, Sunday 29th March. Members Steve Chapman will judge the Nature category, and Dave Turner the Open category. Regards Graham
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our monthly PDI competition judged by Martyn Wrigg, the standard of entries was very high and well done to Tony Gaskins for a first in the Architectural Detail and Derek Smith for his first place in the Open. All the results are on our website under competitions. This week, Wednesday 18th March we will be holding a Committee meeting, just committee members for this one. The following week Chris Birchmore is the speaker for the night. Harry is now accepting entries for the PDI local competition, with the categories of "Local Nature" and "Open". We judge this competition in house so if you would like to judge one of the subjects please let me know. Regards Graham
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A PDI (Projected Digital Image) competition was held last night with the categories of "Architectural Detail", and "Open". Martyn Wrigg was our judge for the evening, and he competently judged the submitted images, although he diid surprise with some of his choices of placing, but that's a judges perogative. Martyn complemented members on the quality of the images presented, which had made some of his decisions difficult. First placed was "It's a Fixer Upper" in the Architectural Detail section, and "Dervish Musician" in the Open section. Congratulations to Robin Begley, who as one of our newest members submitted some impressive images, achieving a 3rd place in "Architectural Details", and 2nd in the "Open" category. All the results are now posted to our website Competition page.
Good Morning All Last week at the club member Steve Chapman gave us an insight into his life and especially his time at Ilam Park in Derbyshire photographing for the National Trust. Steve showed us many photographs he had taken of the people involved with the trust and the Peak District. The second half was dedicated to Steve's own work, some superb aircraft photography as well as many other subjects. There is a report on the evening on our blog page. This week, Wednesday 11th March we are holding a PDI competition, with the categories of "Architectural Detail " and "Open" to be judged by Martyn Wrigg of Barton. The following week is a committee meeting for the committee members only on that evening. For newer members we have two committee meetings a year. Regards Graham
