What Makes a Great Picture?
Memorable pictures always have an emotional impact on the viewer — they express feelings and tell truths. Through such factors as good lighting and composition, they clearly express their meaning as well as the intent of their creators.
Meaning and intent are conveyed by how well you use elements such as color, contrast, shapes, lines, perspective, light, and texture in your pictures. In a good picture, these elements work together to tell your story, your ideas, and your emotions. When they are not in balance, you can't tell what the picture is supposed to convey. When a picture has a mistake in its composition, looking at it is very much like listening to a sentence in which the speaker accents the wrong syllables, misplaces punctuation, mispronounces words, or stops abruptly. You may not be able to instantly identify what's wrong, but you can tell immediately that something is not right.
Learning the techniques behind the creation of good pictures expands your creativity and expressiveness. Think of it as learning a new language that gives you the tools to say exactly what you want to say and express who you are and what you think — through the lens of your camera. What Oscar Wilde said about painting also holds true for photography: “Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”
There is never only one way to take a picture. Learning to express your-self as a photographer means experimenting with all aspects of picture taking. You can choose to use good technique or deliberately abandon it.
Composition is the arrangement of shapes and lines within a two-dimensional image. If you're taking a picture of a lamp you want to sell on eBay, you'll want to use the simplest composition possible. You're not trying to communicate how you feel about the lamp; you're just presenting information. You center that lamp right in the middle of your frame. This type of composition is static: It doesn't move, nor does it coax the viewer to look at it or explore it. It is strictly factual and conveys a view of the subject that is totally objective and uninfluenced by sentiment. This sort of composition is seldom particularly pleasing.
Good composition makes photographs more attractive and compels others to look at your pictures. Get to know the basics of good composition thoroughly and you'll automatically use them every time you look through your viewfinder.
