exactly what makes a great photo?

[Vtec44]

IMHO, great photos suppose to create some sort of emotions and/or tell a story. Knowledge of the technical aspect of photography is suppose to help you to tell stories through photos, but it shouldn't be the primary focus of the photo. If you look at famous photos in the past, they all have a story.

 

[gk fotografie]

how can i be a great photography if i had already learned the foundation.

exposure triangle- iso, shutter, aperture

knowing when to use auto (moving objects). vs manual (moving laterally, mountains, etc)

depth of field (shallow vs deep) how much you want in focus

getting focus (click AF-on) or use lcd or use viewfinder using the internal focus point and then recomposing shots

half press shutter to take a shot



and then getting composition right by angulating your camera to get the shot you want and eliminating distraction (but i do feel photoshop and lightroom can correct that with rules of third and cropping)



and to make the photos more lively we just adjust exposure, saturation sharpening in photoshop, maybe take some stuff out fix some blemishes if taking portrait photography etc



so what am i missing?

what makes a great photographer?

This is the third time you have asked the same kind of question on the TPF forum, but it escapes me why, because "great photographer" isn't a profession you can practice and you can't study for it. A "great photographer" is not only a subjective concept, but also something that has little real value, because what is a "great photographer" to you might be your average photographer taking mediocre photos to me.

You can't simply decide for yourself whether you want to become or that you are a "great photographer", it's at best a qualification that others could give you and especially your photo work - but usually only after you've died, sorry! - so forget about trivial things like this and start photographing, learn everything about the most diverse photo techniques and experiment a lot. Is there ever someone who thinks you're a "great photographer" then that is fantastic, cherish the moment, but leave it for what it is. Good luck!

 

[RVT1K]

I've mentioned this before but I think it is relevant.

There has been something that always stuck in my mind and it was said by an instructor in a digital photography class I took.

One of the very first things he told the class was essentially "...I can teach you how to work your camera but I can't teach you how to be a photographer...".

 

[Jeff15]

In my case its luck........

 

[Space Face]

Perhaps there are no great photographs, only opinions

 

[ph0toe]

In that case, that is just an artistic / creative aspect which is unique to anyone and doesn't require one to be a photographer.

I guess what i'm saying is that technically those who classify. themselves as. "pro" are no different than one who can see what they want capture (again, anyone with a eye and a brain can see what is unique to them) and learning the foundation of photography, no?

Essentially all of this is correct, however the images you have posted in the past have shown a great lack of the fundamentals.
You start threads that are honestly way above your skill level. This time should be taken to master the basics.
Sucks to be blunt but you haven't taken the hints in previous threads you've started.

Learn and practice the basics until you can shoot CONSISTENT quality images. NOTHING else matters until this is done.

What basics? if the technicality is there then what is there to learn? I can turn on a camera, throw in a lens for the setting i want captured, flick it to manual mode and decide my exposure. Position the subject in a nice non-distracting background, use natural light and reflector if necessary to fully lit the face without casting shadow (again if my aim is to get a well light subject). if i want the subject more in focus and block out the background i'll go with a f/2.8 or something like that to get a very shallow depth of field. if i want everything in focus, i'll do the opposite and go with f/22. if i change any settings i'll change the others (shutter and iso). to make sure subject is clear and in focus by using the focus points on the subject or if using manual mode focus on one spot and adjust the focus ring.

iso usually leave it low like < 400 to avoid grainy images. take the best of the bunch of images taken from different angles and put it in photoshop and adjust whatever retouching that needs to be done and done.

nothing complicated about that.

I don't care that you're being harsh i welcome it, but to act as if i don't know my basic off one image that others have even claim isn't bad just tells me YOU cannot give compliments but only criticism to feed your big ego.

 

[zombiesniper]

I agree there's nothing hard about getting a decent photo however from your past threads you have posted one decent photo and about 8 really bad ones and you were still saying you knew all of the fundamentals. Saying you know something and actually knowing something are two different things.

You may have improved since then but you haven't posted anything that would lead me to conclude you've learned anything from your last tirade of threads that were above your skill level.

Here's what I mean.

Some of your photos

You don't understand the basics.

 

[jcdeboever]

Passion
Vision
Obsession

 

[Fred von den Berg]

It's all in the mind.

 

[Jeff15]

The right place at the right time maybe...?

 

[Grandpa Ron]

You become a great photographer, the way you become a great songwriter, artist, composure, rock band or hillbilly singer etc. you work at what you like and study the works of others. Then maybe, just maybe, you will develop a following.

As already mentioned, my personal preference are for pictures that tell a story or hold a person's interest or curiosity. Some prefer abstract or still-life photos or whatever.

Of course a very good rule of thumb is "don't quit you day job".

 

[Onejar]

how can i be a great photography if i had already learned the foundation.

exposure triangle- iso, shutter, aperture

knowing when to use auto (moving objects). vs manual (moving laterally, mountains, etc)

depth of field (shallow vs deep) how much you want in focus

getting focus (click AF-on) or use lcd or use viewfinder using the internal focus point and then recomposing shots

half press shutter to take a shot



and then getting composition right by angulating your camera to get the shot you want and eliminating distraction (but i do feel photoshop and lightroom can correct that with rules of third and cropping)



and to make the photos more lively we just adjust exposure, saturation sharpening in photoshop, maybe take some stuff out fix some blemishes if taking portrait photography etc



so what am i missing?

what makes a great photographer?

Some of my shots that I have been really happy with have involved holding the camera lower or higher than a standard shot. I find half of the wow factor just comes from it being different from the other gazillion standard shots out there. Also I am starting to get more confident with telling people where I want them and really thinking about my backgrounds.

 

[AlanKlein]

how can i be a great photography if i had already learned the foundation.
...
so what am i missing?

what makes a great photographer?

If you want to be told you're a great photographer, ask your mom.

 

[nmoody]

As others have said leaning how to use the camera consistently is very important. I know I spent a long time just trying things out and exploring what works and what doesn't before really asking for feedback on what I was producing publicly. Once I had a good enough grasp on the cameras function I moved onto composition.

For composition I read lots of books. There are tons of great ones out there but here are a few I thought were helpful:
1. Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson
2. The Moment It Clicks by Joe McNally
3. The Photographer’s Eye by Michael Freeman
4. Why Photographs Work by George Barr

I have struggled a lot with trying to understand what makes a good photo. Being someone who is more technical vs creative I have trouble with this aspect of photography the most. I find some of the hardest pictures to get right for me is street photography where you have so many angles, points of interest and lighting challenges. The scene is constantly changing with cars and people moving around and in an instant what you wanted to capture is gone. Its a lot to consider and deal with while still trying to produce something that pleases the eye.

After trying a few different types of photography I primarily like landscapes. Its much less complicated, things are not moving, I just find a nice location and wait till golden hour. Due to the waiting this gives me time to prep, what settings am I using, how is my white balance, is there a better vantage point of what im trying to capture. Its been fantastic for learning because the environment is so static and I can take my time.

I guess what im trying to say is take smaller bites. Work on a singular thing in an environment that you can control. I spent hours in my back yard taking pictures of flows with different settings and comparing the results. You don't always have to produce a good picture to learn from it, my best lessons were from failures. So don't feel you have to produce something great when you go out, learning can be a far better reward than a great picture.

 

[AlanKlein]

If you look at Ansel Adams or any other great photographer, you'll see them showing the same photos over and over again as their "greats". Most of them were not so great. So don't feel bad if most of your shots are so-so. Getting a couple or luckily a few each years is a terrific accomplishment.