Photo Analysis Guidelines

I am an amateur photographer; currently taking photos for hobby only. I have an online photo gallery where I post any photos that I like and think are of a reasonable quality. I have to admit that mostly am influenced by my emotions, my liking.

To take it to the next level of selecting photos, I was wondering if there are any photo analysis guidelines? This would help me move away from "i like it therefore other would as well" and be unbiased and obective in selecting photos.

How do you folks select your photos for greatest impact to others?

There's more but I'll throw out the big fish first....Composition.

How are they composed, are they balanced, are there unnescacary elements in the photo.

Just something I do, I only look at a photo for a second or two on first viewing, then look away or move on to the next. If it takes more than a glance to get a hook into a viewer, it might not ever get a bite. If I can't see the subject, the art, the hook, the meaning, the point in a quick glance, I have to think a viewer won't either, and it will have to be an exceptional shot to get any more interest. I guess thats composition, I was taught the technique by an old newsie, but have seen variations of the same thing used by other pro photogs. What do you think?

birdfromboat, the approach makes sense. I usually end up some time on each photo and try to justify to myself why a photo is good. The technique you are describing may help me break that 'emotional tie' with the photos I take and approach it in a more unbiased way.

I have always been a perfectionist in my work and I edit ruthlessly! If something is off compositionally, exposure-wise or other elements I trash the shot.

My work represents me and how good I am; I refuse to have my work exclaim "Oh, by the way, I took a picture".

When I was first starting out many, many, years ago I went to the local library and sifted through all kinds of photographic books examining in detail each published photo while asking:
"Why was this published?"
"Where is the light coming from in that image?"
"What time of day does this image appear to have been shot?"
"What lens appears to have been used based upon field of view and background compression?"
"Was a slow shuter speed used to convey motion, or a wide aperture used to put shallow depth of field and emphasis on the subject?"
"What emotion is the image trying to convey"

I find it interesting that you used the phrase that mostly you are "influenced by your emotions". I believe that bringing out emotions is what separates a good photograph from an outstanding one. It is the trait that allows the two dimensional medium of photography to transcend all languages and when that happens you have a broader audience.

csondagar wrote in post #6090052
birdfromboat, the approach makes sense. I usually end up some time on each photo and try to justify to myself why a photo is good. The technique you are describing may help me break that 'emotional tie' with the photos I take and approach it in a more unbiased way.

As a fellow amateur with no deadlines, something that is helping me a little is to take the shots, download them to the computer and then just leave them there. Come back a week later and decide which ones are worth spending time to PP. Mind you, this means I'm throwing away more than I used to. But I've had a couple shots that I didn't think much of at first but when I revisited them they were the ones to jump out at me when looking at a page full of thumbnails.