William brought up a neat point in the bee thread: he said he'd benefitted a whole lot from being part of a photo critiqueing forum. That it made him a better photographer, more mindful, etc. (I'm surely putting words in his mouth.)
Then dirt said we should have one here. So I said I'd start one. And here it is.
Prerequisites
I've been thinking a lot about this, though, and if I'm going to be driving this (short) bus, I want to set some guidelines. Specifically:
Critique and criticize are not synonyms. Critique means to evaluate or analyze in a thorough way. Criticize means...well, you know. So when we're looking at photos that people are brave enough to post, you don't need to go into full shred mode. Nor should you feel the need to say nice things about elements of the photo that are undeserving. Be straight up and honest in your analysis. That's your job should you decide to post a critique (detailed evaluation/analysis).
The flipside of this...and this might be harder...is that if you are brave enough to post a pic for critique, there's only one rule: you 100000pct agree not to get your feelings hurt by your friends' and colleagues' analysis. This is actually a LOT harder than it might sound. And might even require a little work on your part to separate yourself emotionally from the photo enough to take a straight-up critique. That's kind of a skill. But it's a good one to have. And not just for photography.
How-to
There's a lot to a photo - and beauty is in the eye and a rose by any other name and all of that stuff. But there's a reason that Shakespeare is around after so many centuries...and good art seems to resonate. I guess an overarching point here is don't dismiss the the emotional - how it feels - for the purely technical. Don't dismiss whatever human factors about the photo that push your buttons.
That said, some of the things that distinguish a good photo from a bad one are:
-focus
-composition
-lighting
-post-processing (darkroom stuff - or now digital darkroom stuff)
-color
-the way the shot is set up (to quote Ansel Adams, "A good photograph is knowing where to stand")
I'll edit this thread and add more to the list, but it's a start. Don't feel like you have to include all of those elements in your critique...or even know what they all mean (in terms of photography). I encourage everyone to participate here irrespective of experience or skill level. You know what moves you...what works for you. And you can probably even say why. So do it.
Random thoughts
Describe both what you like and what you don't like. What you think was done well and what you think could have been done better. And do it in your own way. I am a little leery of this thread for a variety of reasons - but I have a gut sense that it will develop its own rhythm and ethos and it will be really, really useful (both for the participants and those who just browse it) after it gets rolling.
I'll start:
