How to get the right kind of feedback
Look for insight and direction, not comments and likes
For any toy photographer who seriously wants to improve their work, feedback is crucial. Not just any feedback though, but insightful and actionable (I hate that word) advice from people who you recognize as better than you.
Let me emphasize that last part: seek critique from toy photographers whose skills you wish to have.
That could be technical or creative, but that photographer you’re eyeing doesn’t have to be great at all aspects of photography, just the one you’re looking to improve. Maybe that’s concept, composition, posing, atmospheric effects, motion blur, lighting, editing, or what-have-you.
So how do you get the right kind of feedback?
Be in the right mindset
First and foremost, the purpose of a critique is to improve your toy photography.
A critique is specific, expert, and informed feedback that helps a photographer. It’s different from criticism which is negative feedback that doesn’t help at all— except maybe a terrible reviewer who wants to feel good about themselves by putting others down.
It’s easy to see why a lot of photographers are afraid of critiques: there’s a shitload of people who don’t know the difference and just do more harm than good. I’ll get into that later.
Exposing the flaws in your work to somebody else can also feel scary because you make yourself vulnerable. It sucks, but you have to own your shortcomings and want expert help to deal with them. This is the right mindset for critique.
On the other hand, if you think your work is impeccable and only want to show it off, receive compliments, or get the attention of a photographer you admire, you’re in the wrong mindset for a critique.
A critique is a detailed analysis of a photo, not a judgment of whether or not another photographer likes it or you.
Be in the right position
Getting feedback from better photographers is a fantastic opportunity to improve, but if you haven’t gone through all the other ways yet, you may just waste it.
Here’s a short list of ways to improve your skills that I think every toy photographer should do before asking for a critique:
take lots of photos
understand your equipment
learn and experiment with settings, gear, angles, etc.
look for light and scenes in the everyday
study other photos and visual art forms (e.g., cinema, graphic design, CGI)
These are just some pre-requisites to a critique. Getting feedback from better photographers is something you should consider after you’ve done most, if not all, of the above. It’s in a whole different bracket along with buying new gear— something I also don’t recommend unless you’ve hit a technical or creative wall with what you own.
The reason why you should maximize all the ways to improve your photography first is that come time for a critique, you can actually comprehend and use what the reviewer is saying.
If you haven’t grasped the fundamentals of photography and learned some of the language, you won’t be able to work any of the critique into your photos. Opportunity wasted.
Remember that good feedback is both insightful and applicable— there’s the word I was looking for— so make sure you’re in the right position to receive that insight and put solutions into action.
Ignore family, friends, and followers
This really should go without saying but I’ve seen too many toy photographers say they’ve gotten good feedback on social media and my palm goes flying right to my forehead.
Three fire emojis is not feedback. “Awesome photo” is not feedback. Neither is “great lighting.”
Is any of that insightful? Applicable? Then it’s not good or useful as feedback.
What these toy photographers are mistaking for feedback are just compliments and engagement. That engagement isn’t always for your sake either.
I hate to break it to you, but lots of people on social media just comment on photos to get themselves more visibility. Showing up on lots of posts might get an attention-seeker what they want— a click-through to their own profile. This trick is literally a strategy posted in social media manager playbooks.
(You fell for it. It’s ok, we all did. Now that you know though, don’t give those people free ad space on your post.)
Don’t be deluded into thinking that social media metrics are a good indicator of quality, skill, or talent. What those metrics could help you with is guide your content creation.
However, this is Take Better Toy Photos, not Make More Engaging Content and never the twain shall meet, at least until people become more discerning.
React with a heart on the comment or continue the conversation a bit if you like, but don’t take any social media engagement as feedback on your skills.
Do a self-critique first
Before you reach out to another toy photographer, take a good hard look at your work and describe it to yourself. Here are some questions to guide you:
Why did I choose that subject?
Why did I place the subject that way?
What is happening in the scene? What props and environment did I use to support that concept?
What kind of light is in the scene and why?
What emotion do I want viewers to feel when they see this photo? How might they react?
If you end up with answers like “It’s just cool” or “I don’t know” then it means you haven’t really put much thought into your photo. That would be unfair to ask another person to spend their time trying to figure out your intention for you.
Be specific
Pick one, just one, aspect of your photo that you want to improve on. Most beginners want to try and learn everything all at once but that won’t do you much good because it’ll just overwhelm you. Every photo can probably be improved endlessly, no matter what level you’re at.
That one aspect could be about concept, composition, lighting, or editing, but narrow it down to the one thing you think isn’t working in your photo.
You don’t need to get into so many details— a simple “How do I make my subject stand out more?” works fine.
Avoid the general “Is this photo good?” You’ll be ignored by better photographers or get a firehose of criticism from inexperienced ones.
Find relevant photographers
Once you’re able to describe your own photo and identify a singular aspect you want to improve, start researching toy photographers who are good at that particular thing.
If you need help in composition— placing elements in your frame to make a pleasing arrangement— then look for toy photographers who do that well.
It’s pointless to ask a natural light outdoor minifig portrait photographer, for example, what they think about your studio lighting in a brick-built environment because they are two vastly different workflows and styles.
Sure, you may both be interested in LEGO subjects but lighting requirements, composition considerations, reflections on bricks, and capturing details in sets are outside of their interests, not to their tastes, and most importantly, beyond their experience.
What’s more likely going to happen with this kind of mismatch is that you’ll get irrelevant and uninformed advice, or worse, be steered into that photographer’s style.
I’ve seen the latter happen a lot.
Find toy photographers with the skills and talent relevant to what you specifically need help with.
Approaching relevant photographers
When you’re ready to receive a critique, approach one or two of the toy photographers who might help you with your particular problem and ask if they would be willing to look at your photo.
Social media is the easiest way to get in touch since that’s where you probably found the relevant photographers, but don’t just send a DM right away asking for help.
Establish a connection with a few likes or comments on their photos. Flattery gets you everywhere when you’re asking for someone’s time, but it also helps the photographer recognize you in their ever-crowded inbox.
For example, I’ve set up my privacy settings to move all messages from people I don’t follow to a separate “Requests” tab on Instagram. If I don’t recognize your username or profile pic in that tab which I check just once in a while, I ignore the message request and assume you’re a spammer.
Having said all that, I want to point out that social media chat is really the worst place to have this kind of conversation anyway: I often have to keep referring back to the photo when I’m giving feedback and that’s not fun if it’s scrolled away, or I have to keep clicking on it to expand and pinch in to zoom. This is friction.
Social media is where I give my most cursory feedback because, well, that’s what those platforms are anyway— cursory and bite-sized. Frankly, doing anything more is just a pain in the ass and not worth my time.
If I think the photo has potential or if the requester shows me they’ve done their homework, I'll usually tell them to find me on Discord where I can look at the photo on a bigger screen while typing.
But these days, I’m committed to reducing my time spent on Instagram so I’ll actively cut chats short or avoid opening messages at all. I imagine this might be a similar scenario for others as well given the absolute shitshow that platform has become.
So that’s worth noting: where you actually have the feedback conversation plays a big part in what kind of feedback you’re going to get.
My only advice here is to connect on social media and then take the conversation elsewhere, even email.
Start a conversation with why you’re reaching out to the photographer specifically: “Hi [relevant photographer]! I love your work and really admire your [relevant skill] which is something I’m having trouble with. Do you mind taking a look at one of my photos and giving me feedback on the [relevant skill]?”
Some photographers have the energy, time, desire, and ability to critique, but others don’t, so manage your expectations. Lacking any one of those things can result in no response at all.
Keep in mind being a kickass photographer is one thing, but being able to critique well is a whole other talent.
Whatever you do, do not send any photos until they’ve accepted. It’s rude to just spam people with your work like that.
Share everything with the reviewer
If a photographer you approached is open to giving you feedback, be mindful of their time and be direct:
Send them your photo at a higher resolution; don’t send them a link to your Instagram. Those are basically thumbnails.
Describe your photo, your intention, and the challenge you’re facing.
Share what gear and settings you used, as well as the kind of environment and time of day you took the photo in.
When the reviewer knows what you tried to do and what you had to work with, they can offer solutions that you can use for your next photos or recommend other photographers who can help you better.
For example, you don’t want a reviewer to suggest that you open your aperture if you’re using a phone camera. Phone cameras have no aperture control so that feedback would be useless to you. The reviewer needs to know what your gear was so they can give you advice you can actually apply.
Absorb actively
Read with rapt attention what the reviewer comments, repeat their proposed solutions in your own words, and ask questions if anything’s not clear.
But remember that the critique is a one-off session, not a class. This isn’t the time or place for a whole lesson about depth of field nor is it an ongoing commitment.
You only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow this opportunity comes once in a lifetime. (And now you’re singing it too.)
Thank the reviewer for their time and effort, then get to work.
Take the advice and implement it
This may seem obvious as a next step but use the feedback that you were given and try it on your next shot. The only way to learn is to do. Your photography will be changed forever by just trying out new things.
You can decide later if the advice given works for you or not, but at least put in the effort.
If you think you did particularly well, you might want to send a message to the reviewer showing how you worked their critique into your shot. It’s really rewarding for me when I see someone take what I recommended and pull it off. That’s the best thanks I can get, really.
If you’re going to share the photo, ask if they’d like to be mentioned.
Practice self-critique all the time
While it’s a good idea to get feedback every once in a while, don’t rely extensively on other toy photographers to evaluate your work. That’s a surefire way of never feeling confident or finding your own style.
Practice self-critique in each phase of the photography workflow from planning to editing.
As I shoot, I tweak my composition, settings, and lighting a lot because I’m constantly doing small assessments of my work as I go. I “chimp” every toy photo since nothing’s moving and nobody’s going to complain anyway.
And when I edit on my computer, I evaluate those choices again and see where I could have done better. Just looking at my photos on a larger screen really helps and I’ll often go back to the camera to reshoot rather than retouch what I captured. I wrote more about using editing as a self-critique technique on my blog.
There’s always an opportunity to get a critique, and it can come from within or without. Just remember the real goal— to improve your skills as a photographer— and you’ll usually know when it’s time for one or the other.
Wait, There’s Homework Now?
In a word, yes. It’s totally optional but for your own damn good. You’re here to Take Better Toy Photos, right? Prove it.
I’ve cleaned my old Discord server of spiderwebs and lurking monsters so we can get back to doing exercises together, sharing some photos with each other, and discussing these essays among other things.
There are three assignments already up and— surprise, surprise— one is “Edit an Oldie”, the self-critique technique I described in my essay earlier. Just dig up an old photo you took at least over a year ago (we gotta see some change) and edit it with the photography knowledge you have now.
I’ve set up the assignments as a forum so it’s much more organized than before when they were just text channels. And now the assignments will be drawn from my Substack, YouTube, and blog.
Assignments and exercises are important because it’s easy to just read or watch someone else do it and think you’ve got it, but you really don’t until you do it yourself.
The guidelines are up on the Four Bricks Tall Community Discord server which you can join for free here: https://discord.gg/Pjzbv3f8sA
Toy Photography Tips and Tutorials
Need a light? You got one. Check out my you-have-no-excuses-now video about lighting with a phone flashlight. If you know how to see light and shape it, you can work with any kind of light.
As a twofer for Substack subscribers, the second assignment on Discord is “Lit by Phone LED”. So watch the video first and then head over to Discord to submit your work.
Toy Photography Features
The Iron Giant is a favorite character of mine and such a great subject for toy photography. There’s a brick-built MOC version I took a photo of outdoors along with some cool photos of him I found on Instagram— and yikes, what a chore that was with the annoying hashtag update.
If you have photos of the Iron Giant too, share them on Discord! I’ll pick a few to share on Instagram as well (after asking permission privately, of course).
This is a great article. I think a lot more people should read it. It addresses unpleasant facts and I also feel caught out. Unfortunately, that's exactly how it works on Instagram. Plus below is a photo of my Iron Giant. Thank you again