All photos by the author – Stuart Blower
Most Judges generally use a three category format of awarding points to your images. Both CAPA and OC3 use slightly different titles for their categories, but essentially they are:
- First Impression
- Artistic Merit
- Technical Ability
Producing “WOW” images does take some work. There really is no short cut to taking better images where all the elements come together and contribute to the overall effect. Experience and confidence in producing impressive images comes from taking literally thousands of images, checking the boxes and most important, learning how to evaluate your own efforts.
Here are 10 things you need to pay attention to:
A) First Impression
1) All elements of Technique and Art work together
2) Points of interest and leading visual lines compliment the image
3) The Story and Mood are obvious to the viewer
The first impression relies on all the other parts working together. Lighting is always a big factor, quality, direction and even colour can have drastic effects. If you shoot in “RAW”, you have the post processing choice to experiment with how the colour shift can influence the mood.
Nailing the composition, by using “The Rule of Thirds” is a good start, but a strict adherence to the geometry is not always a necessity and can be modified with more experience.
If you haven’t already examined your images for dust spots or bad sensor spots, do that now. Make sure you go around the edge of your image and “Burn In” “Dodge” or soften any minor annoyances that will distract from the images.
B) Artistic Stuff
4) Centre of interest
5) Set A mood Or Tell A Story
6) Pay attention to cropping your image
The rule of thirds an take you a long way in composition, but here are many other options such as: multiple images or lines of sight that direct the eye over the canvas, various curves and ovals, X patterns.
Ask yourself what and how did I feel when I was on location taking the images and can I see any sense of that feeling now, when I look at my results. If the answer is no, then the record you made is not working.
Cropping is one of the easiest and often overlooked things you really need to do to your image. We don’t always shoot the perfect ration rectangle all the time. Commercial photographers often leave extra space around their main elements in order to allow the images to fit different size requirements of printing or social media needs.
If you have a size in mind, especially for judging submissions, then do yourself a favour and crop out unnecessary areas that can cloud your message or interference with the main subject. Having said that, it is also advisable to leave “Breathing Room” for your subject. An example would be leaving space for a race car or bird in flight to move into.
C) Technical Stuff
7) Important elements must be in focus
8) The exposure needs to be accurate
9) Use camera “Basic Tools” to enhance the subject
It goes without saying, that if it is not in focus, it won’t work. Your camera should be doing most of the auto focusing work, so this is often a no brainer the is taken for granted. Please do not get too sentimentally attached to a poorly focused image, you may like it, but the judges won’t. Learn how to use your light meter, even when you use auto settings, make sure you understand what the meter is doing. Lighting is very important a bad exposure can seriously hurt your images quality and it can be very noticeable.
Now is the time to think about a the “Basic Tool Kit” of shutter selection and aperture settings. Ask yourself will changing the shutter speed help me explain my story, or will changing the aperture bring more attention to my subject by isolating it from the background, for example.
D) Self Evaluation
10) Be ruthless in your image evaluation. Recognize your mistakes. It is the only way you will learn and get better.
This is one of the hardest things to do, which is why it is a good idea to participate in constructive critiques, that provide insight into how to improve your images. Ask for advice and learn how to incorporate the suggestions into your photo work flow. It may seem like work at the beginning, but when you get used to thinking about a larger variety of imaging options, you will be able to tell more effective stories, with your images, and it will become fun again.