I haven’t done a photography post in awhile. I have been doing a little nerd bashing (not that I think I am not a nerd, more segmented nerd bashing) and I thought I would take a break for some positive and uplifting thoughts on photography.
If you don’t look at flickr regularly, you should. Their blog RSS feed is usually a highlight of my feed reading when it updates. I am an amateur photographer, although not nearly as motivated as I once was. These days I live my photography vicariously through my friends Scott, John and Steve. They all three use flickr as well as other communities to share their photographs, but that’s not what I want to talk about today. I do suggest you follow their links and check them out after you finish reading this…
Formal thoughts
Of course when I look at a photo, the first thing I am impacted by is the image, which I will talk about next. After I get an initial impression, I start to notice more subtle things like quality of focus, depth of field, color balance, the quality of the exposure, and the composition itself. All of these are ingredients that make up a fantastic photo. Of course there are no hard rules, if a soft focus is part of your idea, then hopefully it works. I know a lot of times I will intentionally under or over-expose a photograph for a specific effect. That being said, each of these ingredients should be considered and you should spend some time, if you are a newbie, getting familiar with the fine arts of exposure, focus, depth of field and last but not least truly understanding the mechanical and technical aspects of your camera.
Impact
Impact is what you feel when you first look at a photo. It could be something suggested from the photo or even an emotion or memory it stirs within you for some esoterically connected thought. It really doesn’t matter. The odds are that if the image in question stirs emotions in you, it will with some segment of the people who view it also.
That’s the beauty of photography. It’s really not something you can quantify either. A picture of a coffee cup, smashed on the ground near a gutter might be ugly to you. To someone else it could stir an emotion because they lost their job at a coffee house during the recession. The connections aren’t always obvious or even known to the photographer when the work is published. When you are out looking for that perfect image, leave the formal thoughts we discussed on a shelf at first, look at the world thought your view finder. When you see something that moves you, then carefully consider the options that you have, and construct a photograph.
The other advice I would give is do not only construct one. There are infinite angles, many choices that you can make technically that will eventually set the tone for the image. Capture all of those that you can. Don’t ever think, “I can just do that in Photoshop later.” If you want a shallow depth of field, shoot it that way. If you are dying for a solar flare, get one.
Art, Inspiration and Heart
That’s what it comes down to really. To make something truly artistic, it requires some thought and some diligence to explore all of the options that you have. I am terribly guilty of getting only a few shots of something, and I can tell you when I get home, and start looking through the images I captured that day, I am eventually disappointed that I didn’t change that one little thing.
Fern photo by Steve Handy, Bird photo by John M. Setzler
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Jason,
I thought I’d add a good example of a powerful and warm photograph that I ran across the other day.
It’s can be found here: http://ti-jean.deviantart.com/art/Protection-76198885#
Viewers will want to click on the image to see the larger version of it.
This photo blows me away every time I see it. The photographer has some other great shots in her gallery.
Later,
Shawn
Hi Jason,
a great photo is everything you mention and none of them at the same time. As you also said, it’s in the mind and the handsof the photographer and the eyes and the heart of the one that sees it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am an amateur (or rather aspiring) photographer myself. And I’m really thankful that people like you are there to share what you know.