Image Reviews
Chris Weston
Lesson Info
31. Image Reviews
Lessons
Class Introduction - Three Steps To Creative Photography
03:48 2Firing The Creative Mind - Part 1: The Camera Points Both Ways
03:10 3Firing The Creative Mind - Part 2: Letting Go Of Judgement
06:53 4Firing The Creative Mind - Part 3: Detaching From Outcomes
04:12 5Practicing Mindfulness In Photography
02:43 6Finding The Visual Narrative
02:39 7Behind-the-scenes: Naples
07:52 8Seeing Beneath The Surface Of Things
02:30Finding Inspiration
03:19 10Slowing Down
03:57 11Three Reasons To Shoot RAW
02:29 12Choosing the Right Frame Format
03:52 13Don’t Be Limited By The Shape Of Your Camera
05:07 14WYSIWYG
04:15 15Choosing Lenses
05:02 16Perspective
02:44 17Considering Foreground And Background
03:10 18Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad But Three Into Two Is Better
03:43 19Separate And Isolate
02:32 20The Art Of Creative Exposure
06:38 21Focus On The Story
04:20 22The Passage Of Time
03:00 23Creating A Visual Sense Of Mood
04:24 24Color vs. Black & White
03:09 25The Decisive Moment
03:00 26Using Color As A Cohesive Tools
01:51 27Photography Is A Two-Part Process
06:55 28Case Study: Recreating The Art of Sumi-e
07:04 29Case Study: Making Something Out of Nothing
04:32 30Case Study: Moody Blues
03:29 31Image Reviews
03:02 32Image Review: The “Thinking Man”
01:55 33Image Review: The Golf Course
02:32 34Image Review: Dreamstate
02:38 35Image Review: Gone Fishing
02:24 36Image Review: Promenade
01:47 37Image Review: Sky and Reflections
01:57 38Image Review: Grass and Field
02:20 39Final Word: Show Me What The World Looks Like To You
04:44Lesson Info
Image Reviews
before I kick off this module, let me set the scene and some ground rules for me. Image reviews are not about making judgments on other photographers work. There is no intention to say this image is good or this one's bad. Every critique sets out to answer a simple question. Does the photograph tell the story? The photographer wanted to tell. If it does, I'll explain how. And if it doesn't, I'll make suggestions about what I would change to get a closer match between image and intent. And remember, they're just ideas, and you may have a different view. So I encourage you to participate, give it your own thought and come up with your own suggestions. What comes out of sessions like these is always positive. So that said, Let's kick off with the very first image. So this is a portrait of a zebra. We have a loan face staring to camera saw an obvious main subject, and the herd provides context in a sense of place. It's a good observation and important. I think there's only one pair of eyes...
visible. It makes it clear, unambiguous visual statement now technically well executed, well exposed and the focus point is in the right place on the I. Now, while there's an exception to every rule, focusing on the eye is one rule that should rarely be broken. We are visual creatures at heart. We communicate through eye contact, and so if the eyes are blurred, you lose that connection with the subject. Also, nice catch lights, which add life to what would otherwise be a bit of a black hole. Now there are some tweaks I would suggest, firstly, the positioning. Now the subject has been placed using the rule of thirds, but I don't think it works here. When the subject is placed on an intersection of the thirds lines, what we call the polar point, it forces the eye to radiate away from the subject in this instance, towards the bottom right corner, where we find the butt of another zebra. Because this is a portrait, really, we want the subject to hold our attention so I would go with a square crop to center the main subject. Then there's the obtrusive body of the zebra in the foreground, which is so imposing and it's acting as a barrier. Visually, you get to the broadside, and you're visually blocked from going beyond it now. A simple solution would be to reframe the image as part of the crop that would also have the advantage of getting rid of this distracting twig, which is a small point I know. But often it's the little details that can make or break an image. So here's my suggested crop, and I'm going to add one small post capture tweak, which is to add a dark vignette. Now this is going to help lead the eye into the center of the frame and hold it there on the subject before and after you decide.
Ratings and Reviews
Gary Hook
Wow, what a wonderful journey. I love the concept of telling a story with one's photos and as I go through past images, I'm seeing them in a much different perspective. That's the good news, The bad? The lost opportunities I never 'saw' before; however that is a good thing. There is so much to internalize with the material so that it can get out of the head and into the 'heart'. I also found the concept really helps me with composition, both in camera and post. Biggest take away, as Chris underscored in his closing, is to slooooow down, take the time and feel it. Don't be so quick to leave one scene as there remain other aspects, yet to be discovered. A great experience that I truly enjoyed Thank you
Glenda
I loved this course - in particular the latter part of it in which he demonstrated how post processing lets you really tell the story of the image. Another fabulous course. Thanks Chris & thanks Creative Live.
Abdullah Alahmari
Thanks a lot to mr. Chris Weston This course is great and It is a 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 course for me. Beside the other course ( mastering photographic composition and visual storytelling) both courses are Complementing to each other and highly recommended.