Remember that this article does not provide any universal truth, but instead tries to give you some keys that I have used myself to assess my work before posting it on my site, or before sharing it on the forum. The rational behind self assessing your work prior to posting is that you will be able to progress more rapidly by getting feedback on the shots that truly are your bests. And you are also more likely to be viewed as a good photographer if you only show your best shots - after all, keepers are rare, even for excellent photographers!

Ok, so the shot is in front of you, and you really like it! But is it good enough to be shared, or can you discard it on some rational basis? To assess my shots, I usually go through a list of semi-objective observations. The list below is not exhaustive, and as ever in photography, no rule is cast in stone, so use your own judgment! The things that I look in my shots:

Clearly defined subject: what is a photographic subject? Put simply, the subject must be a clearly defined theme/object that pops directly into the viewer's eye/mind. This implies that your shot must be simple in its message, and convey a clear theme. Before you press the shutter release, or when you review the shot, you must be able to word the subject distinctly and in as few words as possible. Taking a shot of "the forest" or of "people in a park" is no good because it is too vague of a subject. The other extreme, taking a shot of "a guy on his skate in the park passing in front of an old grandma, with the nice baroque fountain in the background" doesn't work either. The frame would be clustered with different object, the viewer would not know what your image conveys, and would quickly forget it. If you can't word your subject easily, then the shot is probably not a keeper. I feel strongly that a clearly defined subject is critical for the shot to be successful.

Focus and DOF: Check if your focus is correct. It should be on the eye of your subject for portrait or wildlife photography, or it should convey the viewer's eye to the main point of interest of your shot and underline your subject. Is your depth of field (a.k.a "DOF") appropriate? Remember that the DOF can be too narrow (not showing all you wanted to) or too large (i.e. putting too much of the background into focus, thus clustering the shot with too much information). A portrait with soft eyes (or a picture of a bird) will not attract many praises, and I immediately discard it as a non-keeper.

Exposure: Is the shot too dark, or on the other hand are their any bright spots of burned highlights in the shot? Do colors look washed out? These are all indication of improper exposure, unless you are specifically looking for this effect. If improper exposure happens by accident, chances are that people will notice and critic your shot… If you shoot in RAW format and the picture is underexposed, try applying exposure compensation before converting the file again. If you have burned highlight in a significant portion of the shot, discard it or crop the burned portion.

Composition: Is your composition harmonious? If you are unsure about composition, a good way is to follow the "rule of thirds". This rule states that if you divide your frame with 2 equidistant lines on each side of the frame, the 4 intersection points defined by these lines are "compositional strong points". Ideally, you want to place your main center of interest on these points because the viewer's eye will be attracted to these spots. Using this rule generally results in a harmonious composition, but it is not the only option. I found out that a good way of knowing whether my composition was good or not was that a good composition would induce my gaze to sweep on the shot and freeze on the main subject, before looking again at the surroundings. As a general rule, avoid centering your subject in the middle of the frame (too static), unless you know exactly what you are after… Orrin Edwards posted an in-depth article on composition that [url="http://www.phototakers.com/articles/articles/29.html"] you can read here[/url]. Good composition is absolutely vital for a successful shot, but there is no unique solution for composition, so you will have to explore. You will likely find that to a certain degree, it is a question of personal taste. However, the common guidelines expressed here and in the above-mentioned article are usually providing composition that most people will find pleasing.

Light: How is the light in your shot? Is it pleasing, with colors that add to the mood of the shot? Or on the other hand, is light out of control, too harsh, with unpleasant shadows? Light adds a lot in a shot, you could even say that it is everything because light is what your camera captures. Harsh light usually gives unpleasant results, at least in landscape photography, and I would avoid it…

Special added interest: Is there something truly exceptional in the shot that attracts your attention? It could be anything exceptional, for instance something ironic, something exceptionally rare or beautiful, of historical importance, etc… If this is the case, then even a shot with technical shortcomings could make a great picture. To quote a line in "perfect exposure: from theory to practice" by Roger Hicks and Frances Shultz, "no editor in his right mind would discard a shot of alien lending on time square solely because it is underexposed…". Remember though that an exceptional subject is a plus, but that good composition, appropriate light and exposure and an interesting view angle will make fantastic shots of common subjects. So it is not a critical point.

There are many solutions to all of the photographic "problems" out there. It is always worth posting your best shots in the critic section of the forum, because you are likely to receive interesting feedback. This in turn will help you define your own style and taking harmonious, well balanced and perfectly exposed shots!!!