"What's the difference between objective and subjective?"
I admit, I debated putting this question in the 'stupid questions' section. It was queried in regards to a response I made to the last post, in the context of looking at photographs. So I rejected it, thinking I'd move it there, but then thought no, this isn't really a stupid question after all. I don't think people understand the difference between a technical (objective) and a personal (subjective) review, so maybe this will be useful the next time you critique a picture for either yourself or someone else.
I'm going to critique my hydrangea photos. I usually do a pretty harsh critique of most of my photos before releasing them to the public. When I am putting together an album, I scroll through the pictures and automatically pick out the ones that strike that magic chord with me. Then I scroll through and look for ones that are technically interesting. Once I have those picked out, I sleep away from them for a night, and then do the final whittling process. I tend to find about 75% of the pictures I take are usable, but have to limit the number I release to the client in order to be fair. That's the hardest part about my job - taking 200 pictures, whittling them down to 150 favourites, then having to pick only 50 to process and share with the client.
I will give examples of both objective and subjective feedback, which will hopefully illustrate the difference for you.
I'm going to critique my hydrangea photos. I usually do a pretty harsh critique of most of my photos before releasing them to the public. When I am putting together an album, I scroll through the pictures and automatically pick out the ones that strike that magic chord with me. Then I scroll through and look for ones that are technically interesting. Once I have those picked out, I sleep away from them for a night, and then do the final whittling process. I tend to find about 75% of the pictures I take are usable, but have to limit the number I release to the client in order to be fair. That's the hardest part about my job - taking 200 pictures, whittling them down to 150 favourites, then having to pick only 50 to process and share with the client.
I will give examples of both objective and subjective feedback, which will hopefully illustrate the difference for you.
OBJECTIVE
poor colour saturation
uninteresting/predictable application of depth of field
awkward composition
difficult to identify the focal point
poor exposure balance
this picture could be improved with cropping
SUBJECTIVE
I find this picture evokes no emotional response and actually borders on boring. I suppose it's OK as far as recording evidence that I saw a pink hydrangea once, but it's not even all that objectively or technically interesting and I'll forget I ever took it.
poor colour saturation
uninteresting/predictable application of depth of field
awkward composition
difficult to identify the focal point
poor exposure balance
this picture could be improved with cropping
SUBJECTIVE
I find this picture evokes no emotional response and actually borders on boring. I suppose it's OK as far as recording evidence that I saw a pink hydrangea once, but it's not even all that objectively or technically interesting and I'll forget I ever took it.
OBJECTIVE
good use of natural light
interesting compositional balance
depth of field may be a little on the narrow side
focal point difficult to identify
good colour saturation
this picture could have been improved by increasing the depth of field
good use of natural light
interesting compositional balance
depth of field may be a little on the narrow side
focal point difficult to identify
good colour saturation
this picture could have been improved by increasing the depth of field
SUBJECTIVE
I really like blue hydrangeas. I like that this is a picture of a partially-blooming hydrangea - the blossoms are beautiful and it's something you don't see photographed often enough. This picture feels very intimate and inviting.
I really like blue hydrangeas. I like that this is a picture of a partially-blooming hydrangea - the blossoms are beautiful and it's something you don't see photographed often enough. This picture feels very intimate and inviting.
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