What Elements Make a Good Photograph?
Digital cameras allow amateur photographers to take professional looking photographs due to their ability to immediately display the photograph, so the photographer has the chance to correct position or lighting in the photo. While other hobbies often take months or years for results to become passable, photographers can produce decent shots soon after clicking the shutter. What constitutes a good photograph is hard to define, but generally three elements are regarded as essential: composition, lighting and storytelling.
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Composition
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Simply put, good composition involves self-editing or learning how to see the world through the camera's viewfinder. Well-composed photos have lines, patterns and symmetry that draw attention to the subject. Depth of field, meaning how the background middle ground and foreground are used, can dramatically alter a photo's focus. Placement, or the rule of thirds, where the subject is located one-third of the way into the shot, is another way to draw interest.
Lighting
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Effective use of lighting and exposure is essential because a photograph that is too light or too dark will lose many details. Learning how to use light, particularly sunlight, can make the difference between a good and a great photograph. Midday sun produces the harshest light, while the low angles of sunrise or sunset produce the most variations. Sidelighting is the most flattering while backlighting is considered the most interesting, even though it is difficult to accomplish.
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Storytelling
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When properly captured, this element can often transcend mediocre composition and lighting. Good photographs convey a mood or sense of a moment in time. Look for intensity of emotion in people and situations that tell something about life itself.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
