Atlanta based editorial music photographer, Zack Arias.

Critique :: Episode 01
Tue , March 10th, 2009
Posted by zack
under Critique

I really tried to keep each critique to 5 minutes. “Tried” is the key word. This episode is 24 minutes long.

For Episode 01 here I went through the sites of Terrence, Mary Beth, and Nicolas. I’m not linking to their sites nor am I using their full name. I do this so google will not index their names and sites associated with this critique. This is a public critique though so hats off to all of you wanting critique. I hope that we all can learn from seeing the work of other photographers.

I’m going to try to get a few more done this week. For now though, I’m head deep in post production so it is back to work for me.

Let me know what you think of this first episode. Is it helpful? Critique my critique! 

If you would rather watch it on YouTube, you can do so here.

Cheers,
Zack 

ETA – If you are a professional photographer or an aspiring pro photographer and you want to get on the ever growing list of work to critique please email your web site, blog, or flickr page to me > critique [@] zackarias [dot] com. Since ya’ll like this, I will be doing this on a regular basis.

Comments 133

133 Responses to “Critique :: Episode 01”

  1. Ed Z, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:14 pm Said:

    I love it. I think your vidcast format is so much better than a “link to images and critique” type of thing.

    Even watching you talk about other peoples sites, I picked up a few little things that should re-evaluate/tweak in my own site/port.

  2. Tak, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:26 pm Said:

    Very entertaining & helpful Zack!

  3. Glyn Dewis, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:31 pm Said:

    Hi Zack,

    Love it!!! Even though you’re not critiquing my work at this stage, hearing you critique others is so incredibly helpful. Areas where others need guidance overlap into all our work I’m sure … mine certainly so listening to what you said has made me get to work on sorting out images in my portfolio.

    Really like the straight talking without the need for ‘spitting nails’ too :o )

    In short, love this. Great idea so BIG thanks,

    Glyn

  4. Luis, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:31 pm Said:

    WOW ZACK!

    Great honest feedback. I’m always weary of people knocking down my work just cause I’m barely starting out or just because they are ‘hating’. I’m gonna do a few more shoots and then I’ll send you my link for your critique. RIGHT NOW I’m in the moment that every time I click the shutter I’m making a better image than the one before, I don’t want to let that go right now.

    -luis

  5. Jonathan Reich, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:34 pm Said:

    I love seeing what people like and what they don’t. You were able to point out things that I, do on a regular basis. I feel like I got a little critique from watching others.

    Thanks! Thanks for going out of the way to help others improve their work.

  6. Carly, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm Said:

    Zack- LOOOOVED this, thanks so much. It’s really interesting to see how the critique to other photographers can cross-over for me and my work as well.
    You’re the man-
    Carly

  7. Brandon Tompkins, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:41 pm Said:

    Hi Zack,
    I love this idea. It makes photographers do what they should have been doing all along….such as look at other photographer’s work and learn. Good Job.. we will all benefit from this and become a stronger community.

  8. Terrence, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:41 pm Said:

    That was tough to watch but I’m glad I did. I have a lot farther to go than I thought, but that’s OK. I learned a helluva lot about my work in 5 minutes and am grateful for the critique.

    I love the video format and agree it blows away a written narrative. Excellent analysis and delivery.

  9. WasabiNoise, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:42 pm Said:

    I’m by the 6 minute and I think that it will be nice for me.
    Trying to not get in the same errors than other is a nice way to learn. Right now, I have a more specific photoblog but I want to make a portfolio website with my “name domain” lluisgerard.com. I will take care about that… thank you Zack for share your knowledge with us, I appreciate it.

  10. joseph tutlo, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:44 pm Said:

    these are going to be a great help to a lot of people. so often we are unable to tell what separates our work and presentation from that of professionals and your doing a great job to point out some of the lesser obvious, yet common, flaws in the work of budding photographers.

    cheers to you zack. i have no doubt that this will come back to you ten fold in a karmic sense.

  11. Ben, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:52 pm Said:

    Thank you!

    I’ve learned quite a bit, just from watching these critiques. Can’t wait for the next ones.

  12. matt s., on March 10th, 2009 at 12:52 pm Said:

    wow.

    If I had to, I would gladly trade the knowledge I gained while earning my BFA for what I’ve learned from the OneLight stuff and your ctitiques.

    Seriously, that was a lot of wasted time sitting in art history classes compared to this.

  13. Kevan Wallace, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:53 pm Said:

    Great comments Zack! I know you probably already have more than want to do for free — but if not, sign me up!!! Love that you are very straight about everything.

  14. Cat, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:54 pm Said:

    Great job! Notes made and now I want to go fix my site/s, but I’m afraid that it could be one you’re working on. Maybe you could announce who you’re working on prior so that your notes match what you see when you go back for filming?

  15. Stuart Allen, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:55 pm Said:

    Awesome job, can’t wait for more!!!

    I know you weren’t trying to be funny, but some of the stuff you said was flat out funny. Great job inserting humor while still being professional.

  16. jason, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:55 pm Said:

    Ok first edit:

    Prune photos!

  17. wes, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:55 pm Said:

    this is awesome. entertaining, educational, slightly humurous.

    sign me up.

    wessumnerphoto.com

  18. Brad, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:56 pm Said:

    Zack,
    I dig it. Very entertaining, funny, accurate, and legitimate criticism.

    Now lay it on me.

    http://www.imotichey.com

    Respectfully,
    Brad

  19. Gary Chartier, on March 10th, 2009 at 12:59 pm Said:

    Zack,
    That was awesome!!!!

  20. Matt Ayers, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm Said:

    Zack,

    Thanks for taking time out of your day to do critiques! Having just launched my website about 2 weeks ago, I found your video to be especially insightful; I’m already going to be making some changes based on your advice.

    Thanks again for your willingness to help others!

    Matt

  21. Justin, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:02 pm Said:

    These are amazing Zack. You’re not critiquing 3 people, you’re critiquing thousands by sharing, and I hope to see more of these.

  22. WasabiNoise, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:08 pm Said:

    Amazing, I hope to see more too :) Thank you again!

  23. zack, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm Said:

    I’m glad you all are enjoying this. I am too!

    Cheers,
    Zack

  24. Stacey D, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:16 pm Said:

    What an excellent critique, Zack.

    Thank you for taking the time to do this, and to share with everyone like this.

    Also thanks to the 3 brave souls that put their site out there for the critique.

    I love that even tho you are going through at a quick pace, your thoughts + suggestions are not flippant or fluff.

    Excellent, can’t wait to see future installment.

  25. zack, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:18 pm Said:

    @Cat – You said…

    “Maybe you could announce who you’re working on prior so that your notes match what you see when you go back for filming?”

    Oh no! That would be let people clean house before guests were coming! I’m just randomly picking from the list and “dropping by.” :)

    Cheers,
    Zack

  26. Ben Sassani, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm Said:

    Great critique Zack. I don’t think its being too harsh or too soft. You said what you needed to be said and gave them great pointers to improve.

    Maybe after a couple of episodes, I’ll post mine up and put on my big boy pants for some honest critiquing.

    Ben Sassani

  27. Matt, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm Said:

    Wow this was really informative even though it’s not even my own website! Love the video critique, very cool stuff.

    Make sure when you’re ready to do another round on the blog to post it up so I can submit my own site, I’m curious! :0) Btw I’m a 10 on the crtique scale it hurts…but it’s worth it.

    Thanks Zack, Keep bringing the awesome every day!

  28. Chad Pennington, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:20 pm Said:

    Man O Man I can’t wait to hear about my site. Like I said yesterday, “I feel like I am in trouble” but for good reason.
    _______________________________

    You Dude are one of the funniest guys next to Scott Kelby your humor is serious yet tactful.
    ___________________________
    What if you sold a DVD with just critiques because I am sure others and certainly I have learned a ton by watching others getting their
    site looked at by you. It could be Big I know I would pay $100.00 Watching you do it in your style.
    ____________________________

    http://www.sobitartphotography.com
    ____________________________

    I love what you and Meg have going on. It’s makes me love my wife even harder. THANKS SO MUCH

  29. Earl, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:24 pm Said:

    Great feedback and very useful for all of us watching. I caught some of my own mistakes and will be rethinking how I present my work and myself.

    Very nice job!

  30. Colin, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:26 pm Said:

    I’ll watch for as long as you make them!

    Only one thing, for lack of a better word, “bothered” me in watching it was the site design vs. photography critique. I know presentation is important for a portfolio and that feedback is good, but perhaps a video on portfolio design is in order that you could reference to (maybe after several critiques so you have some material) and make quick 5 second remarks after that so you don’t have to explain things each time. I guess I’d rather hear/watch your time spent on photography critique than thumbnails vs. full res pics, use of blog templates, web usability, etc. Maybe that would help get the time down to 5 minutes?

  31. Melli, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:27 pm Said:

    I am going to repeat what others have said. Even though it is not my own website you were analyzing, I learned a lot from your critiques. Keep up the good work.

  32. Nicolas, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:28 pm Said:

    Really interesting ! You told me how to focus my work (the portfolio in the third part of the video) and to be carefull with the weak images (and plenty of other things). I’ve learned a lot with that video and can’t wait for more !

    You said I’m from Sweden, this is wrong I’m from SWITZERLAND, this is not the same :-)

    THANKS Zack

  33. Miriam Lovell Dyer, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:30 pm Said:

    Great ideas- very VERY helpful. Thanks!

  34. Ben, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:33 pm Said:

    Hello,

    I just wanted to echo the voices above and say how informative and helpful this was. I’m sure that it’s a time suck for you but letting this go 25 minutes didn’t matter to me at all. Thanks.

  35. zack, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:39 pm Said:

    @Nicolas – Sweden. Switzerland. Aren’t they all the same? :) JK. Sorry for getting that wrong! I’ll take better notes next time!

    @Colin – SUPER advice! Thank you for that. Critique on the critique noted. Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Zack

  36. SeanR, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:42 pm Said:

    Excellent, more please.

  37. scoutj, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:50 pm Said:

    Love this. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

  38. Chuck, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:52 pm Said:

    That was great to see. Can’t wait for more because by just seeing and hearing your critiques it reminds me of things i need to work on.

  39. Scotty Wade, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:57 pm Said:

    awesome awesome awesome!! love it… thanks so much Zack~!

  40. Alan, on March 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pm Said:

    This is a great idea and nicely executed, I look forward to future episodes and I found it helpful.

    And since you asked, one minor nit on the video, I found the mouse movement, scrolling, dragging and clicking to be a bit too much, esp when watching on a larger monitor. Maybe tone that down a bit, be a little more deliberate in your pointing etc.

    Alan

  41. Christopher, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:13 pm Said:

    I have always said that it is not the big things that help us improve, but the small changes that we can make. What I call 1% changes. As I sit here and try and figure out where I want to go, your insight is helpful and causes me to stop and think. Will I use it all, probably not. but little by little, if I can improve to have work that is striking, I will have found my way.

    Thanks for what you do.

  42. M.D. Welch, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:18 pm Said:

    Zack, this is the kind of info that I cannot get out of local photographers in my area. I show them photos and nothing but, “Yeah, good stuff.” Can we just submit some images on web page, my site is not ready for prime time.

  43. Jakob, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:23 pm Said:

    Zack,

    This is really helpful stuff. Thanks a lot for taking the time to critique. I learnt a lot from your format, and the fact that you critique both the web layout and the photos.

    Thanks.

  44. Gonçalo Cavaleiro, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:30 pm Said:

    Hi Zack!

    I think it’s great of you to take time to help other photographers with this! I’ll be submitting my site as soon as it’s ready.

    I really think the vid thing is the way to go, and by this example, I think you can still make it shorter if you want. But overall, I liked the way you made this, and I agreed with your critiques, although judging my own work might be different…

    Keep it going! Thank you!

  45. matt s., on March 10th, 2009 at 2:47 pm Said:

    Zack,

    What’s your opinion of having a “personal” section of your website that showcases strong images that don’t necessarily relate to business you’ll be getting but show your vision/creativity as a photographer?

  46. Daniel, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:48 pm Said:

    Wow,

    these 20mins spoke to me more then seeing the best of the best on flickr. Tnx for being honest in love ;-)

    Daniel from Croatia
    <

  47. Antonio Correia, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:48 pm Said:

    This is a very interesting approach to criticize the presented work of a photograph.
    Very concise, with clear sound.
    I hope to be able to read more as they come.

    Congratulations for the brilliant idea.
    :)

  48. Kevin, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:49 pm Said:

    How many people checked their iPhone when they heard the text message noise? This was very helpful. I am looking to redo my site and all the critiques help me to realize what should be in it and what should not. I think it will also help me to look at my photos and figure out what works and what does not. I also liked that we get a chance to see other photographers whose work we might not of seen otherwise. Thank you for taking the time and putting this together. I look forward to the next one. I also hope you get sponsors for these critiques.

  49. cristina thornburg, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:51 pm Said:

    You are a generous man, Zack! Thanks so much for sharing these critiques. Very helpful stuff and totally easy to watch/listen to.

    I also appreciated the critique including both the images and presentation since “image” is everything and the presentation is part of our brand.

    Keep up the good work! I’ll be watching for as long as you post!

    Ciao!
    Cristina

  50. Tom Marriage, on March 10th, 2009 at 2:55 pm Said:

    Zack,

    It’s really amazing the amount of time you give to help other photographers.

    It is very helpful to listen to the critiques and then store that information away to be used in future shoots. Looking forward to more.

    Thanks,
    Tom

  51. KC, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:02 pm Said:

    Fantastic

  52. Stian, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pm Said:

    This is awesome stuff Zack! Thanks for taking the time to educate all of us. I never knew i could learn so much in just 24 minutes!

    Thanks,
    Stian

  53. Catalina, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:14 pm Said:

    goodness gracious my head is spinning!! that was awesome!

    there was such great information and as many have said, you were not just critiquing 3 websites but speaking to the photography community as a whole.

    I can honestly walk away from this video and already apply SEVERAL things right now to my soon-to-relaunch website as far as imagery.

    THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS ZACK!!!!!!

  54. Kjell, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:26 pm Said:

    Some of the best critique I’ve seen in a while. You’re like my university professor who went over my papers with a fat red pen, striking things out that really didn’t add anything to what I had to say.

    Photography is a lot like writing, i.e., asking yourself what can be removed to make the overall presentation cleaner. You have a great way of explaining what should stay and what should not.

    Would love to hear you critique a wedding photographer’s portfolio.

    Thank you.

  55. Eileen, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pm Said:

    I was hoping to see more critique on lighting, composition, posing…. technique in general. But this was really helpful in the areas that you covered. Thank you for taking the time to do this! You were so gracious (but honest and funny) in your critique. You’re so fun to listen to. Thanks again!

    -Eileen

  56. Steve, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:30 pm Said:

    Great job, Zack.

    Now, I have to go to my site and start dumping pictures before you take a look.

    Learned a lot.

  57. Eric Cote, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:44 pm Said:

    Thanks Zack, I already took some notes of things to change on my website/portfolio. Really interesting (once again)

  58. Ian, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:46 pm Said:

    Brilliant! So informative and eye opening – thank you.

    I do wonder however how a photographer who doesn’t want to pigeon-hole himself into a particular category/genre (such as Perou) can organise his site, perhaps by having more than one site?

    I do now see that it is essential that the message your portfolio exudes is clear and precise. It can’t leave any question in the viewers mind what your specialty is, even if that means ditching perfectly good shots that don’t fit!

    Thanks again!

  59. Bo Boswell, on March 10th, 2009 at 3:52 pm Said:

    Wow, thanks so much for this Zack. I feel like you’ve critiqued my own portfolio because I’ve run into the same pitfalls that these other folks have.

    This has been really helpful, and am looking forward to seeing more!

  60. PJ, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:08 pm Said:

    Thanks Zack. I thought this first installment was great. It was very helpful to have the video. It made it so easy to understand and catch upon things that I know I would like to change already on my own site.

  61. Yazan Abbas, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:12 pm Said:

    I love this Zack. It’s so much fun learning from what other people do wrong!

  62. Jason Grover, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:15 pm Said:

    Very cool Zack. I’m only 10 minutes into it and already appreciate the time your putting into this. I so had to comment on what I was thinking right now. You have already provided some tips that will help me. Down fall is, now I want to go change my site HAHA. I am actually going to leave it as is though and hoping mine will e part of your critique.

    Jason

  63. Mark, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:21 pm Said:

    Great critique, Zack.

    “You want to quit your job and do photography”. – I hope Terrence’s boss doesn’t see this. ;)

  64. Rosie, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:23 pm Said:

    I found myself in every single critique and I love it. Reality check through others work (sometimes) make you look @ your own weakness in a more productive way.
    Thx u, once again! R

  65. Elisabeth, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:52 pm Said:

    Nothing no one else hasn’t said, but this is great. Thank you so much!

  66. Pete, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:58 pm Said:

    Zack,

    Absolutely priceless for a beginner like myself. Please keep these types of posts going forever. I learn so much just listening to you talk about other peoples photography. Thank You!!!!!!

  67. Dorothy, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:58 pm Said:

    Thank you so much for this, very helpful.

  68. Janine, on March 10th, 2009 at 4:59 pm Said:

    …that was great Zack! Lots of very useful hints and tips on how to present our work to the world.

    Look forward to the next one :)

  69. Bruce, on March 10th, 2009 at 5:12 pm Said:

    Awesome. Your feedback is honest without being judgemental. It’s nice to see things through someone else’s eyes. I really appreciate the time you put into helping out the rest of us.

  70. Amanda S, on March 10th, 2009 at 5:18 pm Said:

    Very interesting! Can’t wait for more.

  71. Cat Norman, on March 10th, 2009 at 5:51 pm Said:

    Love the video – it’s not exactly what I expected but turns out to be so much better. I though you were just after a critique of work/images, but love that you talk about the functionality and continuity of each website as well as giving pointers on a few photos. So perfect, seeing from comments on your previous post that most of us really crave help with the business side of our businesses…

    And it looks like there’s another ‘Cat’ on here too – cool.

  72. Mary Beth, on March 10th, 2009 at 5:58 pm Said:

    Again, thank you. I really appreciated that you gave manageable steps to improvement. I’m excited about making some changes in my site presentation and in the technical aspects (i.e. focus and color) in shooting. Thanks for being willing to share your time, insight, and experience~

  73. David Burke, on March 10th, 2009 at 6:03 pm Said:

    well done! extremely insightful. i am staring at my pile of suck and starting to weed it. thanks.

  74. deb schwedhelm, on March 10th, 2009 at 6:09 pm Said:

    love your honesty. as i’ve said before, i think you’re fucking brilliant! not sure how i missed the submission for this…bummed that i did. thanks again for keeping things real and for your willingness to share with all of us.

  75. Lewicka, on March 10th, 2009 at 6:27 pm Said:

    ha! that was awesome! now i regret i haven’t sent mine website in for critique too!

    I think we are all going to learn a lot.

    what i would add maybe to your words, is that we all have to really start caring about usability of our websites, so far photographers do not do well on that.

  76. TB, on March 10th, 2009 at 6:44 pm Said:

    Zack,
    Thank you!
    I know this takes a ton of time, but it was like sitting with you and getting an honest critique of work-even if it wasn’t mine, I appreciate the insight.

    TB

  77. Mike Jeide, on March 10th, 2009 at 6:51 pm Said:

    Thanks Zack! It was very informative.

  78. Dylan, on March 10th, 2009 at 6:54 pm Said:

    Awesome work here, Zack! It’s great to hear some critique from someone who has already made it! Thanks!

  79. Rob, on March 10th, 2009 at 7:35 pm Said:

    I’m not aspiring to be any sort of Pro, but I love to critique and be critiqued (though not by you perhaps, I am not in the class of being critiqued by class critiques)

    Your points are on point and one has to smile. Harsh but fair analysis.

    Love it, I am back for more!!

    Cheers
    Rob

  80. Broderick, on March 10th, 2009 at 7:39 pm Said:

    Wow! I learned a lot from this. I planned on submitting my photos for review and I realize I’ve got a lot to work on, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m actually surprised this was 24 minutes because it actually breezed right on by. Keep them comin’!

  81. Marcus Maschwitz Photography, on March 10th, 2009 at 7:55 pm Said:

    Love this. Been following your work for a while and apart from being a really inspiring photographer, I find it pleasing that you come across so humble and that you try to help other photographers. Sorry about your father, he is in a better place with no more suffering and pain. Keep up the good work, Marcus

  82. Ryan, on March 10th, 2009 at 8:19 pm Said:

    I enjoyed the hell out of this. More!

  83. Tanya Plonka, on March 10th, 2009 at 8:52 pm Said:

    I love the point about Flickr; it’s such an overlooked tool (I’m guilty of it myself) and GREAT for getting feedback from other photographers. I think the blog can sometimes be a good place to dump all those photos too, as long as you’re careful about what you throw in there.

    Exactly what I needed to hear about concert photography, and getting your target/message narrowed down. This is extremely helpful, and I look forward to the next installment! This gives me so many ideas on what I need to work on – even on topics you hadn’t mentioned in here.

  84. Darren, on March 10th, 2009 at 9:09 pm Said:

    Good work! It reminded me of being in crit 20 years ago. I am in the process of going live on my new site which was intended to showcase a new direction in my work. After watching the 1st and 3rd crit, I realized that my online book contains too many images not relating to my completely new emphasis. Its just out of place with the rest of the site. Now I must reconsider and restructure. Thanks for keeping me from an obvious but overlooked error.

    -DP

  85. Matthias, on March 10th, 2009 at 9:09 pm Said:

    Hi Zack, really great reviews! Your comments are clear, simple and very constructive. Not the usual ‘I love it’. Your recommendations easy to implement not only in to the pages you review also other can benefit and transfer this to any photographic focused web page. Please continue this way… Thanks!

  86. Craig Ferguson, on March 10th, 2009 at 10:14 pm Said:

    This is great. I picked up a few things I need to check on my own site from this first critique. Keep it up.

  87. Keith Slagerman, on March 10th, 2009 at 10:16 pm Said:

    This is awesome! Thoroughly enjoyable and informative and thoughtful critiquing going on here. I wonder, how do you get in the queue for a critique??

  88. Julia, on March 10th, 2009 at 10:36 pm Said:

    Zack, This is such an enjoyable episode! I really enjoy listening to your comments. You’re a pro in front of the camera as well as behind it!

  89. DB, on March 10th, 2009 at 11:06 pm Said:

    Very enjoyable, I would love to see more.

  90. James, on March 10th, 2009 at 11:24 pm Said:

    Is the photo of the scary/freaky musician Dr John? He puts a human skull on his piano when he plays. Amazing blues.

    And your feedback was great. Like to see you do more – perhaps a weekly? Fingers crossed.

  91. Tilman, on March 10th, 2009 at 11:46 pm Said:

    Great initial critique! I like your honest opinion. This is very helpful. I’m looking forward to the next one.

  92. George, on March 11th, 2009 at 1:17 am Said:

    Great stuff, this is very helpful. Can you critique my work, please, in this way I will learn more. Thank you,
    George

  93. Eli, on March 11th, 2009 at 1:22 am Said:

    Great stuff…. Thanks for taking the time to teach us and critique our work….

  94. Max, on March 11th, 2009 at 2:47 am Said:

    Zack, I would say there’s a lot of good sense in your posts and your work.
    Thanks for that.

    The character you see with the guitar on the chair is Zucchero Fornaciari a very famous italian blues (as he says…) singer.

  95. Stu, on March 11th, 2009 at 3:07 am Said:

    Really informative critique Zack, great stuff.

    Even though you were not looking at my own portfolio, it made me aware of HOW you look at a portfolio, and this I found very insightful, as im sure many others did. I was able to take away quite a lot from your critique and apply it to my own site which I assume is what you were trying to achieve with this.

    I have not seen anyone else doing this on the web and I think it’s an incredibly unique thing you are doing. I will be watching every critique you do for sure!

    Cheers

    Stu

  96. Christina Montemurro, on March 11th, 2009 at 3:28 am Said:

    Zack –

    Very helpful and entertaining (the fly on the kid’s face bugs you? I giggled.)

    I had the same thought as Colin in comment 30 – I would also prefer to hear more photography critique and less website critique. Some really brief website comments are helpful, but what I really want to hear from you is your wealth of photography knowledge. I thought you did this more with the third critique than the first two.

    Great work though – I hope you can find time to keep this going. You are doing such great things for eager learners – thank you so much for generously giving your time to help others.

    Christina

  97. Ian, on March 11th, 2009 at 4:20 am Said:

    Fantastic Zack. Extremely informative, honest, constructive critique. I’m really going to enjoy following these!

  98. daniel, on March 11th, 2009 at 4:48 am Said:

    keep it coming! great

  99. zack, on March 11th, 2009 at 5:43 am Said:

    I’m glad everyone is enjoying this. I’m uploading Episode 2 right now.

    Cheers,
    Zack

  100. Ty Fischer, on March 11th, 2009 at 5:52 am Said:

    Really interesting to view. I feel anyone can take feedback from watching these critiques and apply it to their own work. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

  101. Hoddo, on March 11th, 2009 at 6:53 am Said:

    Hi Zack

    Like you I dump a load of images onto flickr and so thought instead of looking at a website, perhaps you could offer some advice on my eclectic mixture of images on flickr.

    http://www.flickriver.com/photos/hoddo1812/

    My preference is to shoot people but the flickr mixture really covers anything I find interesting.

    Again, thank you.

    Paul

  102. Sissel Byington, on March 11th, 2009 at 7:04 am Said:

    Wow!
    This was very interesting and helpful.
    I loved it. And just in the nick of time since I am going to begin building a website. Finally. Thank you.
    Also, just to let you know, I keep a quote from in my mind all the time when I don’t feel like I may be progressing fast enough. “Good things grow slowly”.
    This keeps me sane.

  103. Dima Z, on March 11th, 2009 at 9:22 am Said:

    Awesome, priceless!!!

  104. Become a better photo marketer « The Journey Blog, on March 11th, 2009 at 12:00 pm Said:

    [...] working to correct them right now. Then maybe I’ll get up the courage. Until then, check out episode one and episode two here. I promise these will help you be a better photo [...]

  105. Eileen Davis, on March 11th, 2009 at 12:58 pm Said:

    You are a very generous person for taking time to critique website. This was pack full of information even though it was not for my own site. Honestly and straight forward! Thanks!

  106. » Blog Archive » Critique de… moââ, on March 11th, 2009 at 1:42 pm Said:

    [...] ce premier volet de critiques, il présente trois sites dont le mien (à voir ici. Pour ceux qui veulent seulement savoir ce qui est nul chez moi, ma partie commence à 11min50). Il [...]

  107. Darryl, on March 11th, 2009 at 2:34 pm Said:

    This critique stuff is great…

    Recently I had the good fortune of witnessing a photo shoot produced by a 30 year photography veteran.

    He noticed I had the same camera as he and later commented that people think that they can go out and get a digital camera an become photographers.. I thought about it awhile and it makes a lot of sense.

  108. Dave, on March 11th, 2009 at 4:34 pm Said:

    Great video Zack, although, I have no problem with it being as long as you need it to be. 24 minutes for one website would be just as good, (if not better), than 24 minutes for 3. Why the time constraints?…

    Love your work.

  109. Mike C, on March 11th, 2009 at 5:37 pm Said:

    Great critique, Zach. Made me go back and re-evaluate my portfolio site. I think I’ll submit in my current form to see if my notes and your notes match.

    Love the format.

  110. carrie scruggs, on March 11th, 2009 at 6:12 pm Said:

    I really LOVED this! Loved seeing your critiques, felt they were well done, told me a lot of what a site should say about the artist and makes me want to run off and check my own site! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  111. Zack Arias does photo critiques — Meandering Passage, on March 11th, 2009 at 7:15 pm Said:

    [...] links to the first and second [...]

  112. jon, on March 11th, 2009 at 8:10 pm Said:

    Hi Zack,

    I love this.
    I really like how you dive right in and don’t pull punches.
    Like others here, I saw a lot of my own mistakes without having my actual work critiqued.

    I am in favor of you critiquing the sites as well.
    It fits with your theory of a bad picture bringing down a good one.
    Great pictures with a bad website is really unfortunate.

    I also appreciate you keeping
    each down to five minutes.

    Keep up the good work!

    Jon

  113. Liss Sterling, on March 11th, 2009 at 9:54 pm Said:

    fantastico, Zach…I learned so much in this exercise!

  114. Jo Reynolds, on March 12th, 2009 at 2:27 am Said:

    Just chiming in with everyone else to say thank you for the amazing effort and generosity you are showing here. It doesn’t need to be your own site/work being critiqued to learn a lot.

    Personally I LOVE that you have included some web / design critique and I enjoyed all the mouse waggling and scrolling that someone complained about. Technical and design flaws with a website really impact on the content.

  115. Profesjonelle Olympus fotografer | André Berg, on March 12th, 2009 at 4:30 am Said:

    [...] “utfordring” til de spesielt interessert; se gjennom de til nå utgitte episodene (1 & 2) av Zacks bedømming av fem tilfeldig utvalgte fotografer og anvend kunnskapen på for [...]

  116. J'fer, on March 12th, 2009 at 10:26 am Said:

    Zach,

    Great feedback. Brutal but honest and sincere. More power to you and to the photogs that you’ve critiqued.

  117. Sree, on March 12th, 2009 at 10:29 am Said:

    I enjoyed this. I found the critiques to be honest, yet kind. And it made me look at my own portfolio/website as well and now I need to restructure!

  118. Live Data, Analytics for Flash and More « Tutvid News, on March 12th, 2009 at 12:24 pm Said:

    [...] Zack Arias Critique: I love giving honest critiques and love recieving it too! I actually got my first start by basically getting my teeth kicked in by a group of designers NOT hiring me because my work was “crap”. I saved that rejected portfolio I had made and honestly I am so glad they told me off and I realized I had to raise my game and get better to get hired. Honest Well-Meaning Criticism while being hard to take, it is the best thing for a maturing (or mature!) designer, developer, or photographer. Critique is exactly what Zack Arias has started doing on his blog and you can submit your site for review! I have posted the link to the first one and there are a few more episodes by now, but check them out, maybe submit your site and learn from yours and others work! Click here to view! [...]

  119. Stephan Cremer, on March 12th, 2009 at 2:33 pm Said:

    well that’s cool, I enjoyed the show
    think I might try and be part of this in a year or two :)

  120. Drew, on March 12th, 2009 at 6:52 pm Said:

    I know alot of people are writing in, loving your critique, and i agree, it is VERY useful and very honest and i admire that. I’m not sure if anyone has wrote this in a comment i honestly don’t have time to read all 119 of them but as for your critique on the portrait section of Nicholas did you take into consideration that maybe they may not all fit together and flow but instead show different skills? I mean flow is important to some extent and you need to be consistent but also showing a variety of different skills either post production or lighting could land you the job as well. As for for the goats…who knows, maybe its extremely difficult to get a picture of those goats however i agree it should be dropped or atleast in a different section. anywho thats just my shpeel other then that i love this whole idea. and good work! some awesome feedback in there.

  121. Critique, on March 13th, 2009 at 9:55 am Said:

    [...] are deocamdata 3 episoade (1, 2, 3…to be continued) si poate deveni un “serial” de succes indreptat spre [...]

  122. Eugene, on March 13th, 2009 at 12:57 pm Said:

    Thanks Zack. I learned a lot from this video.

    You tell it like it is. I think you were honest about the critiques without coming across as too harsh. I will definitely will check out upcoming posts!

  123. Shane LaFever, on March 13th, 2009 at 1:55 pm Said:

    Greatest power cord ever.

  124. Jerome T, on March 13th, 2009 at 9:00 pm Said:

    That was great! I learned a great deal from your comments. Very thoughtful yet straight to the point…

  125. Brent Clarke, on March 14th, 2009 at 9:57 am Said:

    How good was this?? Well I’m about ready to retool my entire website!! Thank you so much for the time and effort Zach. There is much to be said when others give back, it makes a difference. Thanks for giving back.

  126. atldoc, on March 14th, 2009 at 10:37 am Said:

    Thanks Zack and a big thank you to the photographers that are stepping up and letting us all see their work. It’s a great help!

  127. deny, on March 14th, 2009 at 7:22 pm Said:

    Zacharias, new to your website, but I enjoy the critiques so far,
    Question: who said you have to do shorter critiques! I under stand the “but I digress” ….. however all the blather is educational.
    thx for all u dooo.
    d

  128. i.n.galbraith, on March 15th, 2009 at 1:45 pm Said:

    i like that you said ‘old timey’

  129. PhotoWalkPro » Zack Arias Reviews Photo Websites, on March 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 pm Said:

    [...] reviewed about 15 so far.  You can check out the series starting with the first round of critiques here.  Even if you don’t submit your own site for review, you can still learn a lot from those [...]

  130. Richard, on March 29th, 2009 at 11:58 pm Said:

    Honest to God, if I was any one of those photographers, I would thank you.

    Beautifully put.
    I learned quite a bit about my own port, and accepted some things I knew deep down but didn’t necessarily want to.

    I think this is such a constructive way for ANY photographer to gauge his/her work. An honest, STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS critique of other people’s collections.

    I heart U Zack…

  131. Cyberward.net » Blog Archive » So you want a Critique by Zack Arias eh?, on March 30th, 2009 at 7:46 am Said:

    [...] been doing some critiques of people pictures and web sites since March 10. Here is the link to the first one. He has 8 of them as of this morning, I have seen 4 so far. They are really worth the time to [...]

  132. Ali SHepherd, on April 7th, 2009 at 11:15 am Said:

    Critique please if you may…

  133. Linda, on April 5th, 2010 at 7:47 am Said:

    WOW – a year late to find this page, can’t wait to get through all of them … echoing what others said I’m racing to my site now to find the weak images and chuck’em! Thank you for your time which you are “giving” to all of us …

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