Chapter 31 — Quiz

Twenty-five self-check questions on reading and critiquing photographs: slow looking, the four-stage vocabulary, craft versus taste, intent versus effect, and giving and receiving critique. A mix of multiple choice, true/false (with justification), short answer, and "what's wrong with this critique?" seeing questions. Answer everything before opening the key at the bottom, and for the justification questions, write the reason — a right answer with a wrong reason still counts as not yet understood.

Multiple choice

Q1. Slow looking is best described as: - A) Using a slow shutter speed to convey motion - B) Examining an image deliberately and at length before forming any judgment - C) Editing an image slowly and carefully - D) Looking at many images quickly to find the best one

Q2. In the slow-looking route, the chapter insists you visit all four edges and corners because: - A) Edges are where the most expensive lenses show their quality - B) The rule of thirds lives at the edges - C) Most fixable mistakes (distractions, awkward crops, lines leading the eye out) hide there - D) The center of the frame doesn't matter

Q3. The four stages of critique, in their correct order, are: - A) Judgment → interpretation → analysis → description - B) Description → analysis → interpretation → judgment - C) Analysis → description → judgment → interpretation - D) Interpretation → judgment → description → analysis

Q4. Which stage of critique is the objective inventory of what is literally in the frame, with no opinion? - A) Analysis - B) Interpretation - C) Description - D) Judgment

Q5. "The diagonal of the railing leads the eye to the figure, which sits on the upper-left power point, but the bright window behind competes for attention." This sentence is an example of: - A) Description - B) Analysis - C) Interpretation - D) Judgment

Q6. A craft problem, as the chapter defines it, is one that: - A) Only a professional would ever notice - B) Works against what the photograph is clearly trying to do, and is fixable - C) Is purely a matter of personal preference - D) Can only be solved with better equipment

Q7. The single test for sorting a craft issue from a taste issue is: - A) "Does it cost money to fix?" - B) "Would most people on social media agree?" - C) "Could a skilled photographer disagree with me and still be right?" - D) "Is it in focus?"

Q8. Taste laundering is: - A) Cleaning up the color grade of an image - B) Dressing a personal preference as an objective rule (often with "never" or "always") - C) Asking the photographer what they intended - D) Removing distractions from the edges of a frame

Q9. In the chapter's terms, a critique judges the photograph's _, not the photographer's _. - A) intent; effect - B) effect; intent - C) equipment; skill - D) popularity; sincerity

Q10. The most powerful single tool for critiquing your own work honestly is: - A) A more expensive monitor - B) Putting time between yourself and the image - C) Showing it to as many people as possible immediately - D) Comparing it to a famous photograph

Q11. When you receive a critique you disagree with, the chapter's advice is: - A) Always act on it — the critic knows best - B) Ignore it entirely — only your vision matters - C) Weigh it; you are the final editor (listen to all, obey none), but heed any note several viewers give - D) Explain in detail what you actually meant

Q12. Which of these is the best (most useful) critique note? - A) "The background is distracting." - B) "Nice shot!" - C) "The bright window at top-left pulls the eye off the face — clone it down or recompose to exclude it." - D) "I don't really like it."

Q13. Visual literacy is: - A) Knowing the names of all camera brands - B) The ability to read images critically and articulate how they construct meaning - C) Having good eyesight - D) The number of photographs you've taken

Q14. Why does the chapter insist you write critiques down rather than just think them? - A) To create a portfolio of writing for clients - B) Because writing forces vague seeing into specific language, where the learning happens - C) Because instructors require it - D) Writing is faster than looking

True / False — and say why

For each, mark True or False and write one sentence of justification.

Q15. Your first, four-second impression of a photograph is reliable information about the photograph's quality.

Q16. Interpretation is allowed to be opinion, as long as the opinion is anchored to concrete evidence in the frame.

Q17. A centered subject is always a beginner's mistake.

Q18. When several independent viewers, separately, report the same unintended effect from your image, that is a signal worth heeding regardless of your intent.

Q19. Receiving critique well means rebuilding your image to satisfy each piece of feedback you're given.

Q20. Self-flagellation ("it's all garbage") is a more honest form of self-critique than defensiveness.

Short answer

Q21. In two or three sentences, explain the difference between intent and effect, and state which one a critique should judge and why.

Q22. Name the six steps of the slow-looking route from Figure 31.1, in order.

Q23. Give one reason that "ask a question" beats "explain what you meant" when you're on the receiving end of a critique.

What's wrong with this critique? (Seeing questions)

Q24. A workshop participant reads an image and says, in full: "Yeah, it's good. I like it. The colors are nice. Eight out of ten." Using the chapter's framework, explain precisely what is wrong with this as a critique — name what's missing and why it's useless to the photographer.

Q25. Read this Described Photograph, then answer below it.

FIGURE Q31.1 — "Kitchen still life"      [constructed teaching example]
  THE FRAME    A white bowl of lemons sits center-frame on a wooden table; behind it, a cluttered counter
               with a dish rack, a roll of paper towels, and a bright window blown to pure white. A bottle
               at the right edge is cut in half by the frame. The lemons are sharp; the background is also
               fairly sharp.
  THE LIGHT    Hard late-morning sun straight through the window behind the bowl, backlighting the scene;
               the front of the lemons falls into shadow; the window is the brightest thing by far.
  THE MOMENT   Static still life; no action.
  THE CHOICES  Shot straight-on at table height; small aperture keeping most of the scene in focus; bowl
               centered; nothing moved or removed before shooting.
  THE EFFECT   The eye is pulled to the blown-white window, not the lemons; the cluttered counter and the
               half-cut bottle compete for attention; the lemons themselves are underlit and flat.

The photographer's stated intent was "a clean, glowing study of lemons in beautiful light." Write a brief four-stage critique (a sentence or two per stage), and in your judgment, name the two most fixable craft problems and prescribe a re-shoot for each. Then identify one thing in your critique that would be taste, not craft.

Answer Key

Topics to review by question