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.