the photographic eye powerpoint

1. The Photographic Eye
by Sibley O’Brien
Critical vs. Creative
Critiquing

2. To critique a photograph look at its:
QUALITY
Focus
Colors
Contrast
Composition

3. COMPOSTION
Framing: what’s in or out of the frame?
What is the eye drawn to?

4. EMOTIONAL APPEAL
Can the viewer connect with the photograph?
Does it evoke emotion? Or not?
Does it tell a story?

5. Other Elements:
EXPOSURE: is the image over/underexposed?
FOCUS: is the image clear or blurry? Is this
intentional?
COMPOSTION: are there elements in the
frame that take away from the image?

6. STORY TELLING ABILITY: does the image act
like a small part of a larger story?
EMOTIONAL IMPACT: does the image evoke
emotions from the viewer? Are they positive
or negative?

7. EXAMPLES

8. Critique:
o The subject is not in the center of the frame,
but since he is only slightly off-center, I don’t
know if this was intentional or not.
o I don’t like the way that his head is cropped
out of the frame because it puts my focus on
that one aspect.
o The image shows that the subject is standing
in a casual and confident stance.

10. Critique
o The lighting in this photo is strong enough
that the viewer can clearly see the shadow
from the fence, but not so strong that it blurs
out the image.
o The image has good value
o The photo doesn’t communicate a story to the
viewer

12. Critique
o The viewer’s eye is automatically drawn to the
flower, it gives the image a good focal point
o The colors are clear and bright
o I think the photograph would be more
effective if there was more use of depth of
field and the leaves in the background were
blurred

13. Sources:
http://www.silberstudios.tv/blog/2014/10/how-to-
critique-photographs-a-key-ayp-club-feature/
http://www.photocritique.net/g/s?0cKeFn
http://www.academia.edu/6975439/The_Photo
graphttp://www.photocritique.net/g/s?0cLIGn
hic_Eye