Criteria
1. Impact
A) Does the image have impact and excite the viewer?
B) What feelings does the image evoke?
C) Is there a strong subject?
D) How does light and color or its absence affect the impact?
E) Does the image have visual power, and/or sing with beauty?
2. Composition
A) Is the image well composed? Are the compositional techniques well applied?
B) Is the image well framed with clean borders?
C) Are there distracting elements?
D) Where does your eye go? Where is the center of interest?
E) Do the content and its arrangement contribute to the composition?
F) Are the composition techniques effective and work with the subject?
G) Is there a three dimension aspect to the photograph?
H) Do all the elements and substance contribute to the whole?
I) Remove the uninteresting elements within a photo, then, review and remove more uninteresting elements again. (From Michael Frye’s blog post: What’s The Least Interesting Part of the Photograph)
J) Consider the composition from the point of view of the whole. What’s this photo about? Then, remove distracting elements based on what doesn’t contribute to the subject or story of the image. (Based on a blog post by Rob Sheppard: Visual Elements and Composition)
3. Concept
A) What does the image say? Does it tell a story?
B) Does the elements of the image reinforce and contribute to its message?
C) What have you learn from the image? Does it teach viewer to see differently?
4. Technical Merit
A) Is the image well exposed?
B) Focused, where it needs to be?
C) Is the post capture processing appropriate?
D) For Prints, is the image well presented?
E) Does the image have exceptional lighting?
F) Does the technical aspects used (lens choice, filter use, depth of field, etc) strengthen the composition and the image.
5. Style
A) Is the image evocative?
B) Does the image stir feeling and passions of the viewer?
C) Is the content and its arrangement recognizable?
D) Does the image convey spirituality?
E) Is the image haunting (stir the subconscious), and does it draw the viewer back, and stay in the mind of the audience?
F) Upon a second look does the viewer see more or different elements from the first viewing?
G) Does the photography bear a resemblance to art? Does the photograph look like a painting?
H) For a body of work, is there a theme?
I) Is the image like good music; does it have flow, melody, or rhythm?
6. Critic/Viewer
A) Does the reviewer have any personal bias?
B) Is this something that you would try to replicate? Why? Why not?
C) Do you know how the image was made? Is that important?
D) Does the image teach to see in a new way?
E) What lessons could be applied to your own work?
F) Would you like to claim the image as your own or hang it on your own wall?
Contact me:
E-mail: bruce@dreamcatcherimages.net
Blog: http://www.brucefinocchio.wordpress.com
Some of the information above came from Peninsula Camera Clubs Judging Postcard