Like many photographers I listen watch several of the online shows with Scott Kelby, RC Conception, etc. Kelbys tip to have pro’s review you work is one of those things I have always been scared to do but finally decided to suck it up and try it. On “The Grid” a while back Kelby offered to do some critiques on his show so I submitted these images. Of course he told everyone how horrible they were. Kelby provided some really great feedback about what is good and what is bad in the images as well as how to make them better. His feedback and insight is very valuable. I believe most of the people that were critiqued during that episode understood what Kelby was getting at with his critique and appreciated the feedback he gave.
I was also able to get a few minutes of Andrew Howells (from Aplebox.net) time to review my site. He also provided some valuable insight and restated some things I had already known. I have since cleaned up my site and the images on it per his feedback and feel better about taking another step forward.
My advice to others looking for the same feedback would be:
- Seek out people you trust for feedback. Not friends and family, but others in the photography community that have more than their gut feeling of like or not. This will give you more of the why and why not.
- Take their feedback as it is meant to be given. When you ask for feedback and someone gives you an honest critique of your work it’s not all butterflies and kittens. Sometimes things can sound very harsh, just listen to Kelby provide his critiques. Remember that as harsh as it sounds it is meant to provide you with the information and the push you need to move into the right direction and away from what you are doing poorly.
- Final, but not least…Remember that their feedback is biased with their opinion. With my critique from Kelby I had a laugh a little because an image he trashed during the critique is one I have actually sold some copies. I have not sold hundreds of copies, but many more than you would have thought had you only listened to his critique. I think Andrew said it well in his critique: “I don’t care much for the bright stuff but that’s just me, it’s not my style.” He acknowledged that the work is good, but he prefers one type over another.
I hope that I am able to continue to get these random critiques as time goes on and my skills increase, this information and feedback is very helpful and valuable in my continued development.