Photo Critiques

Luke Sharrett

I think this photograph of the president is an example of good photography because of the positioning, angle and contrast between the sharpness of the foreground and the blurring of the background. The human subject, Obama, together with the microphone in the foreground and the bright colors of the flag in the background take up about two-thirds of the photo, while the remaining one-third is just the wall, leaving the perfect ratio where the picture is interesting but not too busy.

 Getty Images

 This photograph of a plane taking off is simple, but I really like it. The plane is off-center just enough to keep the picture interesting. There is an interesting balance of lit-up areas of the picture contrasted with no light in the upper middle and left side, but that creates a nice effect, keeping the eye moving. The sharpness of the image of the plane and the clear definition of the clouds, combined with a good amount of glare, not too much, of the lights brings the picture together.

W Magazine

Even ignoring the strange concept and fact that the model, actress Jennifer Lawrence, does not look like her normally pretty self, this is just a bad picture. Not only is the main subject right in the dead center, if one were to cut vertically right down the middle, there would be one busy picture and one picture with essentially nothing. To improve it, I would first move Lawrence out of the center, probably away from the birds, or at least crop out much of that blank wall. Then I would take it from a lower angle to add more depth. Third, I would either intensify the colors, or mute the colors more, possibly making it black and white, but how it looks now is just dull and not compelling. 

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

This is a bad photograph for several reasons. The quality is poor, as the image is quite fuzzy. Second, the glaring light in the top center makes it difficult to notice anything else. I understand the concept of showing the view from the speaker’s, in this case Mitt Romney’s podium, but I feel like the effect could have been better executed. First, the picture should have been taken from farther back and higher up, which would have actually given the viewer a more realistic perspective. It should also not be taken straight-on, but from a slight angle, and from a position where no one light in glaring into the camera. Third, if the audience was either more in-focus, or even blurred, rather than smudged, it would look a lot nicer and cleaner.