Lets Critique this photo

[David Whatley]

Back a few hundred years ago I was in the PPA and entered a print in competition and am looking at doing it again. Below is the image I am thinking of entering, so please critique away. ESPECIALLY if you have judged competition before. Everyone is welcome to comment, but I am hoping to get input from those with judging experience. This is the SOOF image.

[IMG] IMG_0964 by David Whatley, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Redneck]

I haven't judged competion before but if you don't mind I'll tell what I think of this image.

1. It could use a little more light from the back. Hair and the black feathers (?) need more separation from the background. Especially the feathers are barely recognizable.

2. To me face and shoulders look a little bit distorted (too wide stretched) which makes the upper part of her body look masculine and strong and her neck appears pretty short. A longer focal length might help.

3. I'm missing a totally clear focus on her eyeball. Maybe brightening up her pupils might do the trick already.


Despite the points mentioned above I really like the image.

[KenJulio]

David - for critiques of photos, please post them in the showcase section. Thanks.

[bryanlindsey]

I might bring up the darks a little. FWIW

[brad]

Its a perfectly fine photo... but as a competition piece, not so much. The things that judges will ding you on (based on what I've seen - I am not a judge):

1. The catchlights are in the wrong place... the nose shadow goes directly left instead of down and left.. both are indications of improper light placement

2. Its broadly lit and fairly even.. no drama

3. The pose and expression are rather stiff

4. You cropped at her left elbow

5. The corset strap on camera left is bunched oddly

6. The skin needs cleanup under her camera right arm

7. There is a dark line in the backdrop on camera left that is distracting

I could go on.

As I said, its a perfectly fine photograph... one that a client would purchase - and green merits are better than other kinds of paper merits... but as a competition print, it has to be more than your regular studio work if you want it to do well. It has to be above and beyond. Remember the "merit" score of 80 is defined as deserving of merit and scores in the mid to upper 70s are "above average." In my opinion, this would score around a 76 in print competition... just solely based on my observations.

Also check out:
12 Elements of a Merit Image | Professional Photographers of America

[ngoduyviet]

Shiny! her face compared to her body that is :-)

[texxter]

David, I know nothing about judging competitions, so take this feedback with a lot of salt.

What I like about the image is the beautiful color palette, the attention paid to the hair and makeup, and of course, the beauty of your model and her corse. I like how you've used the background with a light on it to create separation and space between the model and the background plane. It's a well executed portrait.

Three suggestions for improvement - one, I agree with the comment above about her torso looking short and her figure not very feminine. Second, I'd want to see some expression and and feeling coming out of the model - what story are we telling here? Finally, I think the pose is a bit static. It's like a regular headshot but with a red corse.

The idea of a Old West bar girl (I think this is what the image is about, right?) has a lot of creative possibilities!

[BenE]

[quote=David Whatley;1358300]Back a few hundred years ago I was in the PPA and entered a print in competition and am looking at doing it again. Below is the image I am thinking of entering, so please critique away. ESPECIALLY if you have judged competition before. Everyone is welcome to comment, but I am hoping to get input from those with judging experience. This is the SOOF image.



David,

First of all a competition print must have some visual impact that causes a judge to take their finger off the 76 buttons. I say that because many judges start there and hardly move unless a print has some extraordinary quality, then they might score up, or just the opposite; if is has some big negative that makes them score down.

On an average print, their score is usually determined in the first 5 to 10 seconds. If a judge sees something that causes them to want to get off the 76 mark, they might take a little longer. Unfortunately many prints pass though with no comments at all. It is usually the prints that are close to the 80 score that might get comments.

I am just giving some insight to how many judges seem to think.

When this print is first viewed, there is no impact; nothing that might make the judge take their fingers off the 74 to 76 score. If by chance it did get a 78 or even 79, it would probably get challenged, and then the critique would start. The pros and cons would be discussed.

A judge would discuss the fact that is it a static pose, not cropped correctly, the lighting is not "competition" quality. There is a hard shadow on her cheek, there is not enough smoothing under her eyes, her armpit needs work.

All these things draw attention, and in a negative way for a competition print. The main thing is there is nothing to make this print more than an average print. No dramatic posing, lighting, or story telling.

As far as judging experience, I was a PPA portrait/wedding judge for several years. If I were judging, I would score this about 75.

For what it is worth, if you decide to enter this particular image, here would be my suggested changes. Keeping in mind the print must measure 16x20, but the image does not have to be that size, just the overall size.

In case it is noticed, I removed the shadow next to the bow on her shoulder, but the images was too small to do it properly.



.....edit.. One item about the density of a competition print. They need to be darker than a print you might hang in your studio, because they are judged under very bright lights. In order to get an idea of this, view prints under strong lights in a dark room, and meter the lights so the light reading is 1 second @ f 16, ISO 125 That will be close.

[David Whatley]

Thanks Ben, thats the thing I wanted to hear. The image is SOOC, so i knew it had work to be done in the areas you mentioned. I like your crop also. I did notice your did a mirror of the image, was there a reason?

[BenE]

Originally Posted by David Whatley

Thanks Ben, thats the thing I wanted to hear. The image is SOOC, so i knew it had work to be done in the areas you mentioned. I like your crop also. I did notice your did a mirror of the image, was there a reason?

PPA judges can only look at images from left to right.

Well, seriously people view from left to right, and a person's eyes will focus on the most dominate item. I have flipped the image back to the original way. As you can see, in the original version, your eye will view the face first because it has the most detail and is the dominate part of the image. Then my eye just seems to not want to go back to view anything else, because all the interest is on the right.

On the flipped version my eye looks at the left side, and sees the face and takes all the details into consideration, and then my eye wants to exit the image on the right, but there is nothing there to interest me so I look back to the face.

Anyway, this is what most judges believe is true, and actually I do believe it is in most cases. I added another cropping, which is more square, which seems to work better in my opinion, but the overall mounting would still be 20x16.

I would not have an overlay (mat), just do this all digitally. One item that still bothers me is the rows of beads not being parallel, and that is nitpicking, but remember judging is all about nitpicking.

Good luck with your entries. By the way, the rules have changed a lot in the last few years, and a digital image must be submitted in addition to the print. The deadline for the digital submission is the 22nd, but the prints can be hand delivered. The digital submission must to be sent through the PPA website, I think.

From SWPPA website (fees and rules section)
Competition registration opens on September 1, 2011, and all
entries must be uploaded by 4:00pm (Central Time) 5:00pm
(Eastern Time). on September 22, 2011. ALL ENTRIES MUST
BE UPLOADED ONLINE BY SEPTEMBER 22, EVEN IF YOU
ARE HAND DELIVERING THE CASE!

The hand delivery deadline is Thursday, September 29, 2011
between 2-7pm at Triple Crown Room in the Sheraton Arlington Hotel

...

Image links removed.

Good luck if you enter.

[BenE]

Originally Posted by David Whatley

Back a few hundred years ago I was in the PPA and entered a print in competition and am looking at doing it again. Below is the image I am thinking of entering, so please critique away. ESPECIALLY if you have judged competition before.==========

Did you enter any prints?

[DiskoJoe]

you have any details about the competition? The ideal of what a good print is can vary greatly by what the theme or idea for the contest is.

[BenE]

Originally Posted by DiskoJoe

you have any details about the competition? The ideal of what a good print is can vary greatly by what the theme or idea for the contest is.

For the competition being discussed, there is no actual theme. There are different categories, such as weddings, portraits, commercial, etc.

The competition is not an actual "contest", in that the prints are not competing with each other.

[David Whatley]

Hey Ben, thanks again for all your comments and thoughts. And, no I havent entered anything yet, but wanted to get feedback on that one image in case I did want to enter. Your comments were very enlightening and now I am better prepared to shoot specifically for competition.

[TxTowman]

WOW!!!! This is great info. I am reluctant to comment after the pros weighed in.

But, I feel I must. The 2 things I see as important are that the corset is too high on her for her body type, loose straps and wrinkles on the bodice, and the shiny face draws my attention from the other highlights. this is just my opinion and I am far from an expert.

I have the shiny face myself, it really bothers me, so I may be over thinking it.

My Mom was a seamstress, and I critiqued all manner of custom clothing. I think this may be why I am critical of the way things fit, I spent hours and hours looking at stuff with pins and clips and temporary bindings.

It can be difficult when working with clothes the model brought to the shoot.

With this said. I haven't shot a live model in 20 years.

Gee, maybe I could find some work helping fit the models?

I wish you the best in the contest.

and welcome critique on my critique.

Sid