Recently I was asked to judge a photo competition
for the local camera club. I thought why not, it’ll be a fun evening, gets me out of the place and I’ll be able to the enjoy the company of like minded people.
Well this started me on a train of thought. What does make a good photo? Over the last few years in my career, I have been doing a variety of photographic work, ( like many photographers ) to keep the dollars coming in. But this work was more suited to getting crisp sharp images for the clients. It seems that I lost what taking landscape Photos and photography in general is all about, the creativity.
You might say that I was floating around in “Cyber Space”
for the want of a better way to describe losing your way. I had to sit down over a couple of days and do some serious thinking, around those words!
What makes a good photo. Is it the fantastic equipment that we have available to us these days, camera, lenses, editing software and also lots of other things.
Or is it the simple thing of being able to SEE WITH YOUR MINDS EYE. I think most of us are hung up on being able to buy the best equipment, to create great photos. I must say honestly that for awhile I fell into that category myself, This happened about the time I changed from film to digital. I scoured the internet, reading reviews on equipment, what was the best camera what lens. It was just mind blowing the array of equipment available to today’s photographers.
Well to be honest, it did take few years to come to my senses, that creating a great photo has absolutely nothing to do with the type and quality of the equipment.
It is all how we compose, see the objects and the structure in the scene and how these objects interact with one another and of course what it is that we’re trying to show.
A couple of weeks back a person had seen my sign out the front, came into the studio and asked me about my camera training. Telling me that he had been to a number of courses and was way past the basics ( this is what I offer to get people to understand their camera and functions and to realise that they don't need most of them). He then asked me, what could I offer him, I was a bit taken back and blurted out “well nothing really you just need lots of practice”
Thinking back I could have offered that persons lots. The ability to learn how to be creative, compose, look at the structure of the image. What are you trying to portray. What are the key elements and how do they interact with one another to bring forward a strong photo.
Yes today’s technology is fantastic I love it and use it, but not to the detriment of SEEING WITH YOUR MIND’S EYE. It’s the person behind the camera that has the creativity that is able to produce outstanding photos. Not what’s in the camera.
Ansel Adams said "The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it."
