critique for hire?

back alley

back alley

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is there a service that will look at one's photos and offer a critique?

i have lost all insight on my images...some days i think i am a happy amateur, some days a gifted talent and other days i am ready to sell it all and reinvest in my home theatre!

and yes, it's snowing again (still), too damn cold to comfortably go out shooting and i can't find anything interesting to listen to on the stereo either!
 
you are the first line of defense, then get someone you know, trust, and whose talents you admire to provide feedback.
 
i think so

i think so

Several years ago in Rangefinder magazine, there was an article of review services. One did online reviewing, and was done by humans, and from what I recall fairly reasonably priced.

You would point them to your online galleries, and their editing service would select the best 20 or so images, and then do some basic processing on two of them.

I've asked for feedback (or even the name/article, can't find) on here, and a couple of other forums since seeing that ad, and never got any responses.


back alley said:
is there a service that will look at one's photos and offer a critique?

i have lost all insight on my images...some days i think i am a happy amateur, some days a gifted talent and other days i am ready to sell it all and reinvest in my home theatre!

and yes, it's snowing again (still), too damn cold to comfortably go out shooting and i can't find anything interesting to listen to on the stereo either!
Click to expand...
 
PowerHouse books does one every year at about this time. Visura (an online magazine) also offers this service. I have not had my work reviewed in this manner; however, I signed up for the first PowerHouse session a few years ago but a snow storm prevented me from attending and I lost the money.
 
Portfolio reviews are available at places like the Santa Fe Workshops and Houston Photofest, and like Damaso mentioned, you can also pay an individual photographer for private instruction and critique. If you find someone whose work you respect, that is maybe the best, though at organized portfolio reviews like the ones I mentioned, there is often the chance to get your work looked at by several people, each giving his/her opinions on your work. Prices for these portfolio reviews are often high, a couple hundred dollars or more!
 
I think that critique is going to be hit or miss. What are the odds that some genius in Santa Fe is going to be better at selecting "my best images" over the collective wisdom of the average of flickr viewers?

That being an assumption, what's the cheapest online human critique service? (or an editor willing to receive a TB drive of JPGs, and send back the best 100 images out of 100,000?)
 
James Nachtwey said that is his work improved dramatically after he received critique from the magazine for which he was starting to work for. He has had multi-year relationship with the mag but I cant recall its name. [see the movie War Photographer]
 
was it...

was it...

Soldier of Fortune?? :angel:

35mmdelux said:
James Nachtwey said that is his work improved dramatically after he received critique from the magazine for which he was starting to work for. He has had multi-year relationship with the mag but I cant recall its name. [see the movie War Photographer]
Click to expand...
 
Join 1x.com. They'll critique your work in the "critique" area. A warning. I find the stuff that actually gets published there to be technically and often artistically excellent, but there is a definite look. I think most submitters are working pros, generally not photojournalists. Much of the work is not available light, and if it is, it's "magic hour" only. I also think lots of the images get considerable tweaking in Photoshop. All that having been said, they do represent a forum with definite standards, and I've never seen a photo that I would consider bad there.
 
I think that it's much better to deal with someone in person, instead of online. Ideally crit should be something like therapy, there needs to be trust and mutual understanding. Hard to get that without being in the same room.

Why not do research on who is teaching photography at colleges in your area? If you find someone whose work interests you, contact them and offer to hire them for review/critique/tutorial. If they are teaching at college, they should know how to give good crit.
 
What do you want to do with your photography that a critique would help? I would imagine anyone who is taking 100's, or however many dollars from you, is going to place emphasis on the positives they see in your work, but not necessarily useful if you want an honest appraisal. BTW I'm not being judgmental of your work, I just think paying for a critique alters the dynamic.
 
good question...what would i want from from a critique?

i'd like some questions that i would have to answer.
i think one of the things that makes art art is does it answer the right questions and i don't think i know what those questions are.

i'd like to know if my images 'say' anything to others. i have a pretty limited area of interest when it comes to photographing. i like many styles of others but have no desire to emulate them.

i'm a simple shooter, i could easily live with 2 lenses, a wide and a normal, i process simply and prefer a slightly dark and contrasty look to my images.
does this work with the content of my images?

i'm sure there is more but i can't think of it just now.
 
I'm with Frank ... I think you're a teriffic photographer.

PM to follow with paypal details:

:angel:
 
Who cares what anyone else thinks? :)

That's one reason I post very few of my photos.

PM me for my paypal addy. ;)
 
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