Helpful Critiques #1

Fearless Photographers founder Huy Nguyen and Tyler Wirken share their thoughts on anonymous work submitted by photographers in the Fearless community.

[ Huy ] Now we get even closer which is good. Being close is good but it's also so hard to handle. Now we have to really be careful where we crop. 



[ Tyler ] 
This is a powerful moment. There's no doubt about it. It's very emotional. It's very beautiful. The photographer, in my opinion, should have just taken the camera and move it to the left just a little bit to get the edge of the fingers of the bride. So less boob, more fingers. The grandma needs more real estate. The grandma needs to be seen more. The edge of the frame on the right can come just past the bride's jawline. And then you have just that little bit of the bride's mouth and that wonderful strand of hair, which is just such a nice little delicate shape coming off her chin there.

You need more grandma but we can't do it cause it's not there. But if at the very least we need those fingertips. I like throwing the bride's face like that right up in that corner. It is just a hundred percent all about the emotion and not about anything else. 



[ Huy ] I think you need even more emotion. Not that you can dictate what happens we shooting a real moment so we can't tell them what to do. But we need to wait for it and we need to make sure we shoot it when it happens.

The touch is great, but there needs to be more. She needs to lean in more. I wish they were closer. Maybe connection is not necessary the best, but maybe the faces can be even closer and the bride's mouth could show more care, more love, more connection. We're picky. We want you to do better. We want you to look for a better moment all the time. This is a case where a better moment is needed.



[ Tyler ] And what's interesting about this is it might not have happened, right? This might've been all she did there for a split second. And that in that photographer would say that to us that didn't happen. And what we say is the critique is not about this photo. This is about next time. This discussion is about the next time this happens. That's what we're going to be looking for. That's what we're going to be hoping for. Once you're hoping for those things, you might be more aware of when it does happen as opposed to being focused on something that's wrong.

The final question I have for you is: Do you think this would be a stronger picture if grandma was looking up at her or do you think it has the strength because of the way that she is not connected?

[ Huy ] I don't want to impose my value on what grandma should be like. What does the grandma do? I don't want to say that grandma should love her back and grandma should be happy to see her and grandma should smile at her. I don't want to say what grandma should be doing or feeling. So being grandma, so she could have a face like that. 

But what is the bride doing? The bright is caring for her. No, bride is celebrating with her. The bride wants to give grandma love or the bride wants to touch grandma. It's more important for me to capture what the bride is doing to the grandma. You see what I mean? I'm not scripting the scene to the way that I expect her grandma to be like my grandma or grandma's I've seen before.

I don't wish that she's any different. If that's her mood at that moment and that's her demeanor, then I'm okay with that. I accept the way she looks and the way she wants to be. I just want to get the best picture I can with what the bride is doing with her.

[ Tyler ] It's just an interesting thing because it's hard to teach this to a point you want the eyes open. Then there's a picture of the eyes closed and it works on that one. That's why I asked that question.



[ Huy ] Absolutely. Is there an interpretation of why the grandma's eyes should be closed? Maybe she's not completely in the moment. Maybe she's not recognizing, I don't know. So her eyes are that way. I can see where it makes sense for her eyes to be that way. 
But if I have a couple walking along the road, holding hands and they both have eyes looking down...well, there's gotta be a time when they look up together, right? That moment doesn't make sense to have eyes looking down. So it depends on what the moment is. 


[ Tyler ] 
It depends on something else. Yeah. A hundred percent awesome, man. That was good. 



[ Huy ] 
You think this picture is too close? What do we get out of being so close? We get a more detailed look at the faces and the hands and the dress and the lips and the hair. But is that what we want? Why can't we back out just a little bit and get both of them interacting with each other? Do we really need to be so intimate in this photo? 



[ Tyler ] I don't know. Compositionally, I find it interesting. I like the little bit of that mystery of not having the whole bride's face. And as soon as you go out and get the whole bride's face, you start introducing more elements and potential distractions around them. 
But I can see where you're coming from. The background looks clean enough so it doesn't seem like that's going to be an issue. How much more do we need? The bride's eyes? There might be an expression in her eyes. That might actually help take the interpretation of the story and the feeling of this story higher. It would be absolutely incredible if there was a tear rolling down the bride's cheek right. Why do we need more space? Do we need more information. Is that what you're saying? 



[ Huy ] What I'm saying is: why do we need to see this so close? 



[ Tyler ] My question would be: why do you need to not be close? Why do you want it looser? 


[ Huy ] 
Well, because we don't automatically shoot this close for every scene. So why in this scene that we are close? Because we can? Do we do things just because we can or do we do things with a purpose? So why did we pick this scene to be close? So I guess we should always think about why we get close. What is our reason for being close other than "Hey, there's no one in front of us. Why don't we just get really up close?"

[ Tyler ] I want to get this close because I want to bring that emotion from grandma's face. Maybe it's her lips that I want to see. And if I'm further away, I don't see that as much. I love it close. It's much more effective this close. That's a good discussion in terms of how to be deliberate and shoot with intent. So that way you are thinking that stuff through more.

Watch the original unedited session:

May 29 Fearless Critiques Double Shot from Fearless Photographers on Vimeo.

Also check out: