Photo Project Grading Rubrics
Part I. EXAMPLES
SHARPNESS, TONAL RANGE & CONTRAST ... (click on the letter grade to see other criteria required to earn that grade.)
VERY SHARP
(Click on the image
to see a larger version.)(Click on the image to see a larger example of A+ tonal range.)
An "A+" image would have a tonal range that is so realistic looking that the objects look as if you could lift them off the page.
A photo that demonstrates "A" quality tonal range is one that has at LEAST 10 clearly distinguishable shades of gray including a very pure black and a very pure white tone.
SHARP
(Click on the image
to see a larger version.)
A photo that demonstrates "B+" quality tonal range is one that looks slightly "dull" because it has fewer than 10 clearly distinguishable shades of gray. The "white" areas look grayish but the black areas are still pure black.
- A photo that demonstrates "B" quality tonal range is one that looks "dull" because it has a very limited range of clearly distinguishable shades of gray. The "white" areas look light gray & the black areas are really just very dark gray.
MOTION BLUR
(Click on the image
to see a larger version.)
"C+" tonal range looks "muddy" because it has relatively few clearly distinguishable shades of gray - many elements in the photo appear to be almost the same tone. "Whites" are medium gray and "blacks" are dark gray.
"C" tonal range looks very "muddy" because it has very few clearly distinguishable shades of gray - too many elements in the photo appear to be almost the same tone. "Whites" are gray and "blacks" are dark gray.
NOTE: Photographs can be dark and muddy or light and muddy. The "muddiness" refers to the limited range of shades of gray and to the fact that details of objects begin to fade into each other.
VERY BLURRY
(Click on the image
to see a larger version.)
"D" tonal range looks extremely "muddy" because the shades of gray are barely distinguishable from one another and because some parts of the image appear to be just blocks of tone in which it is difficult or even impossible to see object details.
- As with the C+ / C images - D quality photos may appear either dark and muddy or light and muddy.
Failure
Note: No student will earn a failing grade for any project, marking period nor earn a failure for the year because of the quality of work submitted. The ONLY way that a student will fail is if he or she does not submit the required photo projects at all.
Part II. - Image Quality Descriptions
Highly Skilled Technique ( 95 100 / A + )
Composition:
The image demonstrates clear understanding of how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is perfectly sharp in all key areas (no distracting blurriness anywhere in the photo)
Details: Fine details are clearly visible. Edges are very defined and distinct there is at least one distinguishable tone of difference between the edge and the surrounding area.
Tonal Range (see above): Super realistic, clearly distinguishable shades of gray are visible, including purest black and purest white
Contrast: The photograph looks natural to the eye as though you were looking at the scene through an open window.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are very small almost unnoticeable
Spots: There are no spots or smudges that ruin the clarity of any area Large tonal areas are clean and clear looking.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates an especially imaginative and resourceful use of the techniques taught in this project unit.
Criteria:
The image meets the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer followed the instructions given for this project.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated the ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing and to articulately discuss both the entire technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Advanced Skills Demonstrated (89.5 94 / A)
Composition:
The image demonstrates clear understanding of how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is very sharp in all key areas (no distracting blurriness anywhere in the photo)
Details: Fine details are visible. Edges are clearly defined and distinguishable from the surrounding area.
Tonal Range (see above): Very realistic & clearly distinguishable shades of gray are visible, including purest black and purest white
Contrast: The photograph looks natural to the eye as though you were looking at the scene through a clean glass window.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are very small almost unnoticeable
Spots: There are no spots or smudges that ruin the clarity of any area Large tonal areas are clean and clear looking.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates an imaginative and resourceful use of the techniques taught in this project unit..
Criteria:
The image meets the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer followed the instructions given for this project.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated the ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing and to cogently discuss both the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Proficient Skills Demonstrated (85 89 / B+)
Composition:
The image demonstrates a good understanding of how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is sharp in all key areas (no distracting blurriness anywhere in the photo)
Details: Fine details are visible. Edges are clear and perceivably distinct from the surrounding area.
Tonal Range (see above): Several distinguishable shades of gray are clearly visible, including tones that are almost pure black & pure white, but because the range of gray tones is more limited than in the above categories, the photo seems somewhat flat in appearance.
Contrast: The photograph looks natural to the eye as though you were looking at the scene through a thick Plexiglas window.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are very small almost unnoticeable
Spots: There are no spots or smudges that ruin the clarity of any area Large tonal areas are clean and clear looking.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates a successful use of the techniques taught in this project unit..
Criteria:
The image meets the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer followed the instructions given for this project.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated the ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing and to adequately discuss both the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Strong Skills Demonstrated (79.5 84 / B)
Composition:
The image demonstrates an above average understanding of how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is acceptably sharp in all key areas (no distracting blurriness anywhere in the photo).
Details: Fine details are visible. Edges of shapes do not disappear into the surrounding areas.
Tonal Range (see above): Several distinguishable shades of gray are clearly visible, including tones that are nearly pure black & white.
Contrast: The photograph looks somewhat flat to the eye as though you were looking at the scene through a thick Plexiglas window.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are very small almost unnoticeable
Spots: There are no spots or smudges that ruin the clarity of any area Large tonal areas are clean and clear looking.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates a successful use of the techniques taught in this project unit..
Criteria:
The image meets the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer followed the instructions given for this project.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated the ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing and to discuss with understanding both the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Good Skills Demonstrated (75 79 / C+)
Composition:
The image demonstrates an average understanding of how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is mostly sharp in all key areas (little or no distracting blurriness anywhere in the photo)
Details: Fine details are visible. Edges are mostly defined and distinct.
Tonal Range (see above): Relatively few clearly distinguishable shades of gray are visible. White parts of the image look grayish and black areas are really just a very dark gray rather than pure black. Overall the photograph looks OK to the eye, but the flat blocky tone areas take away from the realism of the image.
Contrast: The photograph looks somewhat "muddy" to the eye.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are very small almost unnoticeable
Spots: There are very few / no spots or smudges that ruin the clarity of any area Large tonal areas are mostly clean and clear looking.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates a successful use of the techniques taught in this project unit..
Criteria:
The image meets the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer followed the instructions given for this project.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated the ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing and to discuss with some understanding both the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Foundation Level Skills Demonstrated (70 74.5 / C)
Composition:
The image demonstrates some degree of understanding regarding how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is mostly sharp (some distracting blurriness is visible in parts of the photo).
Details: Fine details are not clearly visible. Edges of shapes seem to disappear into the surrounding areas.
Tonal Range (see above): Very few clearly distinguishable shades of gray are visible. White parts of the image look grayish and black areas are really just a very dark gray rather than pure black.
Contrast: The photograph looks somewhat "muddy" to the eye. Overall the photograph looks OK to the eye, but the flat blocky tone areas take away from the realism of the image.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are a little too large & affect the overall quality of the image.
Spots: Large tonal areas are mostly clean and clear looking but some spots or smudges are visible in parts of the image & these ruin the clarity of those areas.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates a strong attempt to create a nice image using the techniques taught in this project unit..
Criteria:
The image meets the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer tried as carefully as he or she could to follow the instructions given for this project.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated the ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing and to discuss a little bit both the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Skills Need Practice & Improvement (64.5 - 69 / D)
Composition:
The image demonstrates very little understanding regarding how to use composition guidelines to create an attractive photograph with strong impact.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: The image is mostly blurry.
Details: Fine details are not clearly visible. Edges disappear into the surrounding areas.
Tonal Range: All of the tones of the picture are muddy looking; whites are really medium grays, black are darkish grays instead of pure blacks, the other shades of gray are not clear or precise.
Contrast: The photograph looks more like an old Xerox copy than like a true photograph.
Grain / Pixelation: The dots of grain are a large & affect the overall quality of the image.
Spots: Spots &/or smudges are visible in parts of the image & these ruin the clarity of those areas.
Creativity:
The image demonstrates an attempt to complete the assignment, but little or no effort was made to try to create an image with unique impact.
Criteria:
The image meets some of the criteria for this project; that is, the image demonstrates that the student photographer tried to some degree to follow the instructions given for this project, but the work was not careful or systematic in approach.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated little interest or ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of the image before and after printing or to discuss the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.
Failure (<64 / F)
Note: No student will fail any marking period or earn a failure for the year because of the quality of work submitted. The ONLY way that a student will fail is if he or she does not submit the required photo projects at all.
Listed below is the criteria for a grade of F for any individual photo project / unit.
Composition:
No composition skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Craftsmanship:
Sharpness: No sharpness skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Details: No control of fine detail skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Tonal Range: No tonal range skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Contrast: No contrast control skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Grain / Pixelation: No grain control skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Spots: No spot/smudge control skills were demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Creativity:
No creativity was demonstrated because no image was submitted for grading.
Criteria:
The criteria for this project was not met in any way because no work was submitted for grading.
Critique:
The student photographer demonstrated no interest or ability to log data correctly, to evaluate the technical quality of an image before or after printing or to discuss the technical process and its effect upon the visual impact of the image.