How to Use Self-Critique to Improve Your Photography

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Self-critique plays an important role in our lives, whether it’s our relationships, careers, or photography. However, learning why, when, and how to best critique ourselves can be challenging for photographers. That’s where we come in!

In this article, we aim to teach you how to harness the power of self-critique to improve your photography. We’ll discuss the importance of self-critique, developing a critical eye toward your work, goal setting in photography, embracing and learning from your mistakes, and more. Additionally, we’ll share one of our favorite tools for self-critique.

Now, without further ado, who's ready to dive in and discover the value of self-critique and how it can make you a better photographer?!?

If you struggle with self-critique, watch the video above by Tedx Talks to learn three ways to tame your self-criticism.

Understand the Importance of Self-Critique
How to Develop a Critical Eye (But Not Too Critical)
Setting Clear Goals for Improvement After Self-Critique
Self-Critique is About Learning from Mistakes (and Successes!)
Learning Never Stops!
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Understand the Importance of Self-Critique

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Learning to self-critique your photos is essential to being the best photographer you can be. It helps us grow and develop as artists in various ways that external feedback can’t. For example, it teaches us to look at our work critically, reinforces our photography knowledge, and builds self-confidence.

Furthermore, self-critique can help in all three stages of the photography process: pre-production, production, and post-production. When we properly self-reflect on our work and are self-aware of what we need to do, we can make better plans, increase our productivity and workflow speed during photoshoots, and be more efficient when editing.

Since the results and objectives of self-critique and external feedback differ, you should incorporate both into your photography. Self-critique can be done on your own, anytime, and is ideal for assessing our performance compared to our original goals. Alternatively, external feedback relies on others and provides outside perspectives and insights we might not notice.

How to Develop a Critical Eye (But Not Too Critical)

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Even though most photographers wouldn’t consider themselves experts, they must learn to develop a critical eye toward their photos. The best way to do this is to have a strong knowledge of basic photography principles such as composition, lighting, colors, etc. By understanding these core concepts, you can start evaluating your images fairly.

Other tips on how to train yourself to critique your work objectively include not being biased, approaching your photography as if you were an outside evaluator, and developing clear and concise criteria about what you are looking for. Also, analyzing technical aspects (exposure, focus, etc.) and artistic elements (composition, storytelling, etc.) in your photos is crucial.

Finally, don’t get caught in the trap of only focusing on the negatives. During self-critique, you should always identify both strengths and weaknesses in your photography. Otherwise, you will kill your motivation and self-confidence.

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Setting Clear Goals for Improvement After Self-Critique

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You should set clear goals for your photography projects before and after self-critique. The goals you set for yourself beforehand are points you can use to measure your photos during the self-critique process. On the other hand, the new goals you set afterward are what you want to improve upon moving forward.

One piece of advice for photographers is to set realistic and attainable goals. If all of your objectives are too difficult and you consistently struggle to achieve them, once again, your motivation and self-confidence will waver. However, by achieving your goals, you are giving yourself a shot of confidence that will propel your photography skills forward!

Here is a list of common photography goals you can use to assist you in your next goal-setting session.

Print more photos
Master a new photography technique (long exposure, shallow depth of field, motion blur, etc.)
Refine a particular style of photography (portrait, landscape, travel, etc.)
Learn to shoot in manual mode
Share your work on social media

Self-Critique is About Learning from Mistakes (and Successes!)

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Another thing to remember as a photographer is that mistakes happen to the best of us. Even professional, award-winning photographers consistently make mistakes. With that in mind, what matters most isn’t not making mistakes but embracing those mistakes as learning opportunities for growth.

By approaching your self-critique sessions with this attitude, you will grow your self-confidence and slowly turn your weaknesses into strengths! We also encourage you to reflect on what worked well in your images and how you can consistently replicate or build upon those successes in the future.

Ultimately, whether you deem a photo a success or one that could be approved, you should walk away from every photo with something in mind. Strategies for learning from successful and unsuccessful photographs include celebrating achievements (not just results), controlling your emotions, and remaining open-minded.

Learning Never Stops!

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Two things that make humans unique are our constant curiosity and never-ending desire to learn. Self-critique goes hand in hand with those traits, as it’s an ongoing process that pushes us to learn and adapt. After we’ve identified areas for improvement, we can learn and develop our photography skills through workshops, online courses, photography communities, etc.

Lastly, we highly recommend printing your best photos from time to time. High-quality physical prints help with the self-critique process in both the short and long term. In the short term, you can analyze each new print more closely. In the long term, you can see how your photography skills have developed and improved over time by comparing them against older prints.

One resource we love is Shiny Prints, an online printing company specializing in luxury, high-definition metal prints of all shapes and sizes. Its beautiful prints let you get up close and personal with your images to better critique them. Moreover, it gives you creative control over your images by allowing you to customize the surface and mount of your metal print.

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