Photography feedback from industry experts
Continually improve your photography skills at any level with critique that has all the development benefits of entering photo competitions but without the pressure. The only person you're competing with is yourself!
Example Critiques
*Please note: The amount of feedback, as well as the balance between positive and constructive feedback, will depend greatly on the submitted images.
Thank you for submitting this beautiful image of the Seceda Ridgeline in the Italian Dolomites. I can see the effort you put into this image through the planning of being in this location during snow at night, as well as the use of a very long exposure to capture the Earth's rotation through star trails.
Placing the ridgeline in the centre on the lower third line gives the rock formations strength, which helps them hold against the power of the sky above. With the snow acting as a diffuser, the light is beautifully gentle on the landscape, and the exposure is spot on.
Although your image is polished, there are a few areas where we could look to improve it. The first is that the image has a strong vignette. With the corner in the bottom right containing snow and the sky being clear, this is quite noticeable and isn't needed due to the strength of the central subject. This vignette is also darkening down the lower-left corner's forest, which loses definition as it transitions into black.
While it is difficult to manage, when shooting this kind of scene you could take a separate exposure for the snow being illuminated by the Refugio in the lower right, as this is causing the highlights on the snow to be lost. You could also potentially address this in post-production by using a healing brush tool, or if you don't intend to enter it into any competitions, you could potentially use generative fill in photoshop if you have the program. It is very good at filling in these kind of areas.
The image represents excellent quality professional work. It is engaging, has strong visual impact and it is processed with subtlety allowing the subject matter to sing.
7/10 Highly Commended
(Excellent professional work - High technical quality, refined style)
Thank you for your submission. There is a lot of technique that's being applied to this image including the use of flash to freeze motion at the end of the fighter's movement, and the use of gels and a longer exposure to create the blended and blurred movement and colour transition towards that final move.
The final stance of the fighter is quite strong with them throwing a right hook to the body which can be a highly effective strike. From an image perspective the creative liberty in the expression of the fighter in this pose sells the idea of action and aggression. The final pose also shows that the fighter is protecting their chin which is authentic and important with image depicting experts of any kind. However having the glove just a touch lower would allow the viewer to see the full mouth of the fighter which would improve it a little. It could also be worth considering removing the blur of the glove in front of the fighter's face if you want a cleaner shape, although it could also read as a 'roar' from the fighter being visualised.
The starting position of the fighter is a touch passive, which could be part of the communication of the image. The fighter is not protecting their chin in this instance and that communicates a sense of being less engaged. This may not be a bad thing given how the image concludes, but could potentially be more dynamic. This technique applied to a more engaged fighter throwing a strike could work well, whereas this fighter is shifting stance at least once transitioning into the strike.
That middle step creates distance and some lovely flowing shapes, but also adds a little visual confusion to the center area. The blob of skin within the flowing lines could be darkened down so the viewer's attention is not caught by it and instead follows the flowing blur into the final strike.
The lighting is well executed with clean light for the final strike freezing the motion of the fighter over the long exposure. However the flash is creating some cyan colour casts on the skin and gloves which could be warmed a little, or the final flash can also be gelled to either create a greater contrast, or for a clean final shot, could be slightly warmed to be more congruent with the rest of the image. It could be worth investigating a transition from cool tones and passive stance to fiery tones with the final strike as well, to better combine the colour communication with the posing.
As some extra minor details, consider pulling back the highlight on the leg on the far right as it is quite bright which draws the eye. And the floor works in terms of its texture, which is created by the many footsteps on it. However be aware of it, as if it had been earlier in the shoot with only a few footsteps visible then it would be worth removing them as they could be distracting if too visible in isolation.
Overall it's well crafted image with lighting techniques worth further exploration and well suited to the subject matter.
(You can request to receive feedback without a score on any given submission)
TESTIMONIALS
What they said...
I couldn't be happier with how my images were critiqued. It enabled me to develop my skills quickly etc.
Name
I couldn't be happier with how my images were critiqued. It enabled me to develop my skills quickly etc.
Name
I couldn't be happier with how my images were critiqued. It enabled me to develop my skills quickly etc.
Name
The Process
Create a free account and access critiques on demand. No subscriptions, ongoing fees, or long waits for critique! Just pay for what you want to use.
It's easy to sign up, requires no payment information, and you can be inside our site in minutes.
Submit images or even folios in a wide variety of genres. You can even submit projects, exhibitions, books or a website. You can see an example of type and genre of critique when logged in.
Receive extensive feedback from our genre experts on what you're doing well, and modifications to consider.
As you can see above there can also be a scoring component to better understand how your image may be perceived, but you can opt out of this.
Achieve certificates, trophies, and long-term titles as recognition for your high quality photography as it meets our scoring criteria. Just like awards, but focused on you, and with no competition with others.
Your scores are also private, it's your choice whether to and how to share your successes.
The Scoring Range
The scoring range is intended to provide further feedback and information on how a submitted image is perceived, and also allow for the tracking of general improvement for photographers across multiple submissions.
The scoring of art or photography is ultimately subjective, however this is a very brief example of how scoring may be assessed. The scores are out of 10 and do not follow traditional or usually perceived number rankings. For example scoring a 3 out of 10 could be a great result for a new photographer and a great platform for their future development.