Tips for better reference photos

Your critique is only as accurate as the reference photo it’s compared against. A few habits make a big difference.

Shoot straight-on

Position the camera perpendicular to your subject. Even a slight angle introduces perspective distortion that plzxplain will read as a proportion error that isn’t really there.

Use even, diffuse light

Avoid direct sun or a single hard light source — it exaggerates contrast and can blow out highlights, skewing the value comparison.

Fill the frame

Crop the reference so your subject fills most of the frame, with minimal background. Less background means more of the image is signal, not noise.

Keep the camera steady

A slightly blurred reference photo can be flagged by plzxplain’s quality gate before it’s even compared — use a stand or steady surface if you can.