What makes a picture good, to you?

Trenton Romulox · Dec 30, 2007

I'm not even sure what my own answer would be to this, but I'm just interested to see what everyone out there on the ol' internet thinks. What makes a picture good, to you personally? And you can specify it as a specific type of shot (i.e. landscape, portrait, sports, etc.) if you want to. I'll think about this as I check up on the thread and see what everyone else thinks.

ScottS · Dec 30, 2007

Something that i don't see a million of. Something unique.

Trenton Romulox · Dec 31, 2007

ScottS said:
Something that i don't see a million of. Something unique.

I totally agree. Although, that's not to say a picture of a sunset we've all seen a thousand times can't be good. But, at the same time, something unique is definitely good to see, I think we can all agree on that. In fact, a decent shot I've never seen is usually better in my mind than a great shot I've seen done a hundred times, just because it's breaking new ground, doing something new or something old in a new way. Portraiture and landscapes is where you can see something really good, but really stale, a lot. A lot.

ScottS · Dec 31, 2007

Trenton Romulox said:
I totally agree. Although, that's not to say a picture of a sunset we've all seen a thousand times can't be good. But, at the same time, something unique is definitely good to see, I think we can all agree on that. In fact, a decent shot I've never seen is usually better in my mind than a great shot I've seen done a hundred times, just because it's breaking new ground, doing something new or something old in a new way. Portraiture and landscapes is where you can see something really good, but really stale, a lot. A lot.

Very true!

molsen · Dec 31, 2007

personally, i like images to be sharp #1. in rare circumstances, being out of focus works, but this rarely works for most people.

SCHNOOBS · Dec 31, 2007

in my opinion, there is no specific topic that would be better than any other, however photogrpahers are the composers of a wonderingful symphony of colors, light and ummph! taking the film-frame/sensor envolope to the -nth degree.

VTMurphy · Jan 1, 2008

The most interesting shots to me are the ones that show a familiar subject in a new perspective . Make me think of the subject in a new way and you've captured my attention .

dpolston · Jan 1, 2008

emotion.

I have seen photos that have made me instantly happy, sad, enraged, envious and dozens of other emotions.

Some photos I have taken and only what I call "David Photos" because I am probably the only one on the planet that likes it. But the situation to which it was shot (even though by most critiques it would be a horribly technical print) or the back story if the person or thing depicted instantly tells the entire story.

2 quick examples:

This is my wifes favorite baby photo of my oldest daughter (now 15)

This is one of my all time favorite photo of my youngest daughters (2004)

emotion.

Alpha · Jan 1, 2008

To me, a good photo has a definite subject or subjects which are generally in focus.

LaFoto · Jan 1, 2008

Uniqueness in itself is good.
I doubt, though, that with the millions, or is it BILLIONS?, of photos being taken every day today it is still possible to come up with something unique.

What makes a good photo for me is a clear subject (preferably close-up, or even macro), good light (backlight is something I will always love to see!), no clutter (i.e. an eye for background elements, too), and often the effect a wide open lens can give, i.e. the subject dissolved from its background by blurring that out. (I am not sure "dissolved" is the correct word here :scratch:

).

This was more spoken with nature photos in mind.

When it comes to man-made things (houses, roads, factories, whatever), I like clear lines, vanishing points, repetition, good contrasts, heavy play of light and shadow, geometrical forms.

With people I like candid shots which make them look their best. I love to take people photos with the telephoto lens. (Which also nicely blurs out the backgrounds, back to what I like about photography - for our eyes can NOT blur out backgrounds like that!)

Big Bully · Jan 1, 2008

When taking pictures of people I like to catch them being natural. I hate posed pictures they are too fake. Some of the best wedding pictures I have seen or taken have been when the subjects are getting ready to pose and the camera was quickly clicked. I think then you show the honesty of the situation, rather than having a posed smile.
Sunsets in my mind are always a good subject, just because I like sunsets. But if the sunset could have a person, building or other object as a sillouette that makes the pictures even better.
Here are two of my all time favorite pictures of my son and my nephew, that I took for a college class.

Joves · Jan 1, 2008

Well I have to say a picture I like has to have content. I see so many pics where there is absolutely no content. This is especially true of landscapes. Also it has to be well composed. I cant define a certain thing just that I know when I like it, no matter what it is.

Becky · Jan 1, 2008

Anything that moves me.

Antithesis · Jan 2, 2008

I tend to look for visual appeal. Sharp lines and good contrast mean a lot to me. It depends on an individual photograph, but good composure tends to mean more to me than subject matter. This will probably change as I get older, but for now I like good technical and compositional decisions rather than spur of the moment emotion.