Critique the Community with Mike Kelley - Submit Your Architectural Photos

Critique the Community with Mike Kelley - Submit Your Architectural Photos

The Fstoppers team has been working on a new project with Mike Kelley. While we're with him, we wanted to give some of our readers the chance to have their architectural images critiqued by one of the best in the field. Join us for our next episode of Critique the community by submitting some of your pictures below in the comments. We will be selecting a total of 20 images to give feedback to. See the instructions below to submit your images correctly. 

To submit a photo you must:

1. Have an active Fstoppers account.

2. Upload an Architectural Photo to your Fstoppers profile page.

3. Paste the URL of the image in the comments below.

We look forward to seeing some of your favorite pictures! If you would like take advantage of our newest project with Mike and get some incredible educational content, sign up for this email list and we'll keep you in the loop.

 

 
 
 
 

The Internet can be a cruel and cutthroat place for photographers. For some reason, photographers are often extremely negative and cynical when looking at the work of their peers.  Most photographers overwhelmingly say that they would like others to "C&C" their work, yet the conversation can often become less than inspiring and often downright depressing.  Our hope with this segment, Critique the Community, is that the Fstoppers team can offer fair, yet encouraging commentary on some of the images found in the Fstoppers Community.

The Fstoppers Community Rating System

If you have an Fstoppers account, you are able to create your own profile and portfolio directly within the Fstoppers Community.  Once you have a portfolio uploaded, you can browse images in the community and rate the photos of your peers.  Even though art is usually a fairly subjective matter, we wanted to create a rating system that was as objective and unbiased as possible.  This way, if one of your images has been rated 50 times and has received an average rating of two stars, you could feel confident that maybe that particular image is not up to par.  Below is a simple chart explaining the Fstoppers Community Rating System. 

One Star: The Snapshot

One-star ratings are limited to snapshots only. Snapshots are usually taken to document a time or location, but little to no thought has gone into the creation of the image. If an image has been "lit" with external light (besides a direct on-camera flash), it is at least a  two-star picture. The majority of one-star images have had no post production work done to them, but do often have an "Instagram style" filter added to them. The average person these days snaps one-star images every single day with their smartphone. Most one-star images that pop up on sites like ours are images of flowers, pets, landscapes, sunsets, objects around a house, etc. If you read Fstoppers, you should not be sharing one-star images for any reason. 

Two Stars: Needs Work

All images, besides maybe five-star images, always have room for improvement, but two-star images "need work" before they should be included in your portfolio. As photographers, we are snapping thousands of images per year, but only a few of those images should ever be shared or put into our portfolio. A photographer who has taken a two-star image has put some thought into the composition, exposure, and post production, but for some reason has missed the mark. Two-star images should not be in the portfolio of a full-time professional photographer and amateur photographers should strive for something better. Even complete amateurs who don't understand photography at all are capable of taking two-star images from time to time. 

Three Stars: Solid

A three-star image is an all-around good image. The photographer has a solid understanding of the basics: composition, color, focus, subject matter, and post production. A three-star image is good, but it's not great. Most part-time professional photographers have mostly three-star images in their portfolios. Usually, a level three image would have been rated four stars if it had been shot in a better location, or with a better model showing a better expression, or there had been better post-production. A photographer capable of taking a three-star image is capable of taking four and five-star images if they would simply pay more attention to the details. 

Four Stars: Excellent

Four-star images are fantastic. In most cases, four-star images have a certain style to them that links them directly to their creator. Four-star images usually require planning and attention to extreme detail. It's almost impossible to shoot a four-star image by getting lucky. Four-star images have almost flawless conception, composition, lighting, subject matter, and post-production. If you have any four-star images in your portfolio, you should be very proud of yourself.

Five Stars: World-Class

Five-star images are flawless and unforgettable. The amount of time, energy, and talent that goes into the average five-star image is staggering. In many cases, these pictures require a team to produce, including a professional retoucher. The concept, lighting, subject, location, and post-production on these images has to be perfect. In some cases, the jump from four to five stars may be as simple as changing the unknown model in the picture with a celebrity or bringing in a set designer or stylist to make the image slightly better. Although there are always exceptions, most five-star images take days, if not weeks or months to produce.

Strengthening Your Own Portfolio

Even with our objective rating system, people are going to disagree over what they like, because ultimately, art is still a matter of opinion.  However, I believe once an image has been rated over 25 times, it will have a rating that is pretty fair and honest (we hope to deter trolls by giving negative Karma Points when a vote is more than one star away from the community average).  If one of the images in your own portfolio is rated lower than what you personally feel it should be rated, I'd urge you to try to look at the image from an unbiased angle.  Step back, erase your memory of the photoshoot itself, and try to imagine an art buyer, stock agency, potential client, or local gallery as they decided if they wanted to invest in your services.  Would your image make the cut?

Lee and I are not the greatest photographers in the world.  There are many many genres of photography that we have not been successful in or in many cases, have not even attempted in our careers.  However, I believe we have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't in terms of commercial viability.  Not every image is meant to sell or book you work and that is okay!  Snapshots and sentimental images are great and most definitely have a purpose.  Hopefully, our insight and critiques can help you decide what is and isn't worth putting in your public portfolio.  I hope these video critiques can help you see beyond the technical and personal elements that make up an image and begin looking at your own work in a new light.

David Strauss's picture

David Strauss is a wedding photographer based in Charleston, SC.

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170 Comments

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Can't hurt to get involved

https://fstoppers.com/photo/127372

Nice idea

Please let me know of your thoughts on my portfolio photos. Thanks. Avishek https://fstoppers.com/photo/127390

One more. Hope you guys don't mind.

https://fstoppers.com/photo/127411

It's also some of my design work.

https://fstoppers.com/photo/127418

https://fstoppers.com/photo/127427

I have not used any speedlight or HDR in this photo.
Only the camera and a tripod. Some touches in Lightroom.
I don't know if this picture is worthy of being judged, but no harm in trying.
Cheers.

You forgot to add the link.

I did! Does not appear to you?

https://fstoppers.com/photo/127427

Now it does. Fantastic photo.

Thank's a lot! I appreciate that.

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Grand Foyer. Three light set up captured in camera in one shot. Thanks Mike you really helped me get started in real estate photography. Big soft Brush :)
https://fstoppers.com/photo/127430

Mood without flamboyancy. Love it! I'm sure Neutra would as well ;-)

The Ellwood House was built as a private home by barbed wire entrepreneur Isaac Ellwood in 1879.

It has to be in your Fstoppers portfolio.

This shot was made before i bought Mike's last tutorial set. So, no light painting involved.
https://fstoppers.com/photo/127482

Hey Chris, this is a great shot, and honestly I don't think it would've needed any light painting. It's a cool technique, but not always appropriate or necessary.

Thanks Adam, I agree. However hindsight is 20 20 and when I look at this shot now and think how I might have improved it I think throwing a couple of flashes into the interior areas left and right might have helped draw the eye into the shot.

I made this shot using techniques learned watching Mike's tutorials. About a dozen PS layers.
https://fstoppers.com/photo/127483

Here's a shoot I did using Mike Kelleys technique.

https://fstoppers.com/photo/83681

Think both of yours are among the best posted! Really nice quality without making it look over-processed which seems to be preferred by many on here.

Thanks for the feed back both of these are composites using strobes to light individual elements.

I love this

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