bad photo

New York Times
Horrible shadows. This picture goes with a story about church. Couldn't the photog have gotten a picture of these guys doing something churchy, like reading the bible or singing at church or praying or something? It's a boring angle of boring subjects that you can barely see because of the shadows.

Good photo

From New York Times
How many times have you seen a photo of a guy playing an instrument? Especially a guitar? Even though this isn't a guitar, I think it's good because it's a different view of something we have all seen before. It's cropped nice and tight and the colors and expression are good.

good photo

I really like the action and expression in this photo. It's got texture and feeling. The only bone I have to pick is the angle, but I still like it.
NY Times

bad photo

I just have to see this guy's face.
Nice angle and what not, but it leaves the viewer unsatisfied not being able to see his face.
CN&R

Bad Photo

From the CN&R. The story was about fixing city streets, but I don't think this picture was great because the street isn't even that bad there. I think there are much bigger pot holes that could have been photographed. I don't think I would have known what the story was about by looking at the picture and I don't like the shadows in the pic.

Good photo

This is from National Geographic. The story is about a guy making pits to burn slaughtered birds. I like it because it shows both the close up of a rooster and the guy making the pit. It has layers. It complements the story well. The red of the rooster's face is a strong focus and it's also a cool angle how the horizon is tilted in the background.

Bad portrait

PHOTO BY MEREDITH J. COOPER
This was from the CN&R and the story was about this year's short story contest. This environmental portrait is bad because it doesn't show this guy doing what he likes to do. I would have no clue what the story was about by looking at this. This guy invented an improvement to the soaker hose. They could have showed him with the hose or at least with his short story. Also, the shadows are harsh and so is his face.