So what do YOU say?

So what do YOU say?

How much information do you give on your pictures? I ask because everyone who ever posts in the Critique Gallery has to click past a warning that we need full information about intentions, concerns, processing and so on – yet an awful lot of people fail to provide even complete EXIF data. I’ve seen pictures posted that – on questioning – turned out to have been shot through polarising filters, house windows, or from coaches on the move. EXIF: please ‘Save as’ not ‘Save for web’ – the latter strips out the EXIF.

If you want help and feedback, there are plenty of people who will give it – and you owe it to them to give them a good start: it’s unlikely that you will tell them everything that they need to know, but please do tell them anything that you think is special, good or bad! It’s hard enough to analyse pictures at the best of times, without having to play guessing games, so please help the Critique Team by – at least – not deliberately keeping secrets.



But it’s not only a thing that I notice in the Critique Gallery. In my specialist area, working with models, it feels like a courtesy to other photographers to tell them who the model is, and the name of the studio, if one that is bookable was used… Quite apart from that, if a model is good and you’re pleased with the results, you maybe owe it to her to let people know, so that she can continue to make a living from modelling. So many people don’t give credit where it’s due (and I’ve said before that every studio session with a model is a collaboration…)

So I always aim to tag both model and studio, and anything else that you might want to know if you like the look and want to do something similar – and also let you know if things have changed so that a particular area isn’t available any more – such as the marvellous five-storey fire escape at SS Creative Studios. If there’s not enough, please feel free to ask. I know of one photographer who meticulously tags his captive field mice as such. Something that I particularly appreciate is when photographers who’ve taken images at workshops I’ve run mention this – again, if other members like the results, maybe there’s more business for me…



As they say, if there’s a problem, please tell us first: and if you like what we do, tell your friends…