How to Evaluate Your Own Photography: Culling, Editing, Critique, and Growth
- Michael Rung
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read
Reviewing images after a trip, choosing the strongest photos, using critique well, finishing edits, printing, and measuring creative progress.
In episode 30 of Shutter Nonsense, we dig into one of the less glamorous but more important parts of photography: figuring out whether an image actually works. We talk about how we review files after a trip, what we look for during culling, when outside feedback helps, and how we decide whether an edit is finished enough to share, publish, or print.
This episode also gets into the longer arc of growth. A single image can be hard enough to judge, but evaluating a body of work over months or years is a different challenge. We talk about hit rate, portfolio updates, printing, perfectionism, and the strange balance between trusting your gut and staying open to critique.
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Evaluating Your Photography
Evaluating photographs is one of those parts of photography that sounds simple until you’re actually staring at a screen full of raw files. Some images are obvious rejects. Some are obvious keepers. Most of the hard decisions live somewhere in the middle, where sharpness, composition, light, mood, memory, and personal taste all start arguing with each other.
In episode 30 of Shutter Nonsense, we talk through how we evaluate our own photography after a trip, from the first Lightroom pass to final edits, critique, printing, and long-term portfolio growth. We don’t have one perfect system, and honestly, that’s part of the point. Evaluating photography is part technical process, part creative judgment, and part learning to trust yourself without becoming closed off to useful feedback.
Photo Culling Workflow: Reviewing Images After a Photography Trip
We handle the first review a little differently. Jeffrey tends to let his files sit for a while after a trip. He’ll back up the cards, import everything into Lightroom, and often wait weeks before doing a serious review unless a video deadline forces his hand. That delay gives him some distance from the experience, which can make it easier to judge the images on their own terms.
Michael usually likes to do an initial pass sooner, while the trip is still fresh. That doesn’t mean every decision is final, but he wants to mark the images that stood out before the memory of the field experience starts to fade. Later passes can still be more detached and critical.
Both approaches have tradeoffs. Reviewing too fast can make the emotions of the trip louder than the photograph itself. Waiting too long can make the work feel heavier, especially if the files start piling up behind other business, podcast, workshop, or video responsibilities.
How to Choose the Best Photos from a Shoot
Once we’re actually culling, the first layer is usually technical. Soft files, missed focus, badly blown highlights, or images where the composition clearly never came together are easy enough to remove. After that, the process gets more subjective.
Jeffrey looks for the compositions that feel strongest and different enough to stand on their own. In the episode, he talks about photographing Devil’s Golf Course in Death Valley and coming home with several possible compositions, then narrowing those down based on light, structure, and whether the images offered something meaningfully different from each other.
Michael often checks sharpness early, especially with woodland photography where wind can quietly ruin a frame. He also pays close attention to edge distractions, awkward balance, and whether a composition still feels good once it’s no longer tied to the excitement of being in the field.
A useful culling process isn’t only about finding the best image. Sometimes it’s also about keeping an experimental frame long enough to learn from it. An image may not make the final portfolio, but it can still show what worked, what didn’t, and what to try next time.
Photography Critique: When to Ask for Feedback and Who to Trust
Outside feedback can be helpful, but we’re both careful about where it comes from. We don’t usually send raw files out for someone else to pick winners, though we both admitted that it might have helped earlier in our photography journeys. Sitting down with someone experienced and talking through a set of raw files could teach a newer photographer a lot about composition, light, technical choices, and what to leave behind.
For finished or nearly finished edits, the key is choosing people whose work and judgment you respect. Michael talks about getting feedback from photographers like Matt Payne and Alex Noriega. Sometimes the advice gets used. Sometimes it gets tested and rejected. The point isn’t to obey every suggestion; it’s to be open enough to try the advice before deciding whether it fits the image.
Group critique can be useful too, but it gets noisy fast. In a trusted community, multiple viewpoints can reveal things you missed. In a broad public space, the feedback may be timid, contradictory, or disconnected from what you were trying to do. If five people all point out the same issue, that’s probably worth paying attention to. If everyone wants a different crop, color balance, or mood, you still have to come back to your own intent.
How to Know When a Photo Edit Is Finished
Knowing when an edit is done is another place where experience matters. Jeffrey doesn’t tend to agonize over tiny changes. Part of that may come from his background in portrait and event photography, where deadlines forced him to make good decisions and move on. He wants the image to look strong, but he doesn’t feel the need to chase every last pixel forever.
Michael has struggled with that more in the past. There was a point where he’d sit on finished edits for weeks or months, revisiting them over and over. Eventually, that became less about improving the photograph and more about delaying the decision to call it done.
At some point, good enough really does have to mean done. That doesn’t mean careless editing. It means recognizing when another tiny mask, brush stroke, or local adjustment won’t materially change the image. If the photograph works as a whole, it’s probably time to stop fiddling and let it exist.
Printing Photos as an Editing and Quality Check
Printing changes the evaluation process because paper reveals problems differently than a screen. A bright spot that felt harmless on a monitor can suddenly pull too much attention in a print. A color balance that seemed fine can feel too warm or too flat. A shadow area that looked detailed on screen can turn into a heavy block of tone at a smaller print size.
Michael shares a few examples in the episode, including a print that needed a cooler soft-proofing adjustment and a black and white Grand Teton image that looked too heavy as a small test print but worked much better at a larger size. That’s an important reminder: print size matters, paper matters, and a small proof doesn’t always tell the whole story.
Printing can also help with sequencing. For a large gallery, ebook, or collection, small physical prints or contact sheets can make it easier to see how images relate to each other. On screen, everything is trapped in software. On paper, you can move images around, group similar photographs, and notice rhythm in a more tactile way.
How to Measure Growth in Your Photography Over Time
The hardest evaluation isn’t always a single photograph. It’s figuring out whether your work is improving over time.
Jeffrey looks at growth partly through confidence and process. Does he understand editing tools better than he used to? Is he more comfortable with local adjustments and masking? Are the images that make it through culling more likely to turn into finished work he feels good about? Those are all signs of progress, even if they’re harder to measure than likes or comments.
Michael has historically thought about hit rate: how many images from a trip make it through to final publication. A better hit rate can mean stronger field craft, better decision-making, and cleaner execution. But it can also mean you’re playing it safe and not experimenting enough. A high hit rate isn’t automatically a sign of deeper growth.
A better question may be whether your newer work reflects stronger choices. Are you getting closer in camera? Are you seeing more clearly in the field? Are you doing less heavy-handed editing because the photograph was stronger to begin with? Are you still trying things that might fail? That mix of confidence and experimentation is usually a better sign than any single number.
Updating Your Photography Portfolio Without Getting Stuck
Evaluating a full body of work is its own challenge. Both of us have images on our websites that probably need a fresh look from time to time. Some older photos may still hold up. Others may have mattered at the time but no longer represent our current photography.
That doesn’t mean older work is bad. Sometimes it’s just different. It may reflect a heavier editing style, a different use of contrast, a different set of subjects, or a different stage in learning how to see. Looking back can show growth, but it can also reveal patterns worth revisiting.
The goal isn’t to reach some final, finished version of yourself as a photographer. We don’t think that exists, and we’re not sure we’d want it to. The learning, experimenting, refining, and occasional second-guessing are part of what keeps photography interesting. If the work never changes, it’s probably worth asking whether the process has gotten too comfortable.
Listen to the Episode Behind This Article
This article covers the main takeaways, but the full episode gets deeper into our own culling habits, feedback experiences, editing hangups, print proofing stories, and the ongoing challenge of figuring out whether the work is actually getting better.
Related Links
Michael’s PhotoPack Pro app: https://www.photopackpro.com
Photographer’s Guide to Yellowstone and the Tetons: https://amzn.to/3Sw1KVB (Amazon affiliate link)
50 Jackson Hole Photography Hotspots: https://amzn.to/4ezfxC8 (Amazon affiliate link)
Michael’s free Smoky Mountains ebook: https://tinyurl.com/23fkb2cn
Michael’s other free ebooks: https://www.michaelrungphotography.com/free-ebooks
Ben Horne: https://www.benhorne.com
Jeffrey’s presentation offerings: https://jeffreytadlock.com/talks
Michael’s rating and culling process: https://www.michaelrungphotography.com/post/pro-tips-for-using-ratings-color-labels
Rethink Landscape Toolkit: https://www.exploringexposure.com/products/rethink-landscape
Alex Noriega: https://www.alexnoriega.com/
Eric Bennett: https://www.bennettfilm.com/
LPW Discord: https://discord.gg/xqwVXAJw
Nature Photographers Network: https://www.naturephotographers.network/
Gary Randall: https://www.gary-randall.com/
Sarah Marino: https://www.smallscenes.com/
New Mexico Fine Art: https://nmfa.io/
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Michael Rung
Michael is a nature and landscape photographer based in Texas, with a deep appreciation for quiet forests and the unique character of trees. His photography often explores the subtle beauty in overlooked scenes, capturing atmosphere and emotion through careful composition and light. Michael brings thoughtful insight, honest reflections, and a grounded perspective to every episode of Shutter Nonsense.
Jeffrey Tadlock
Jeffrey is a landscape photographer from Ohio who finds inspiration in waterfalls, scenic overlooks, and the ever-changing light of the natural world. He enjoys sharing stories from the field and helping others improve their skills through practical, experience-based tips. With a passion for teaching and a love of the outdoors, Jeffrey brings clarity and encouragement to fellow photographers at all levels.
