What makes a good photo...

[Jim Galli]

1000 people, 1000 answers. To a grandma, a good photograph is one of her grandbaby. We usually make a photograph to convey whatever emotions we were feeling about the subject. We want to tell that story to somebody else. But then we discover there's a little more to it and we begin climbing the steep slope of quality and light. We pay a portraitist a lot of money to take our kids senior pictures because he has the right kind of outfit to get beautiful results. A high quality camera and 100% control of the light. Beyond that it is 100% subjective. One man's junk is another man's gold. I like to take pictures of rusting abandoned farm trucks. They strike a chord in me. I don't need to know why, they just do. But surprisingly (not really) hardly anybody else wants to look at them. Quality probably isn't the reason. Subject, subject, subject.

[Conrad Hoffman]

Grandma may be happy with any picture of her rusty truck, but it will be a better picture if the truck isn't a flyspeck in the dead center of an uninteresting frame. Teach 'em to decide what the subject is and what kind of mood they want to impart. Get close enough. For me, balance is important. I can't describe it, but if you look at a collection of good art of any kind, there will be a visual balance regarding the "mass" of objects. I think seeing can be taught and learned, but some initial aptitude helps. A lot! There are no rules of composition, but there sure are guidelines. Some people reject them entirely, but knowing them can't hurt. Shoot however you want, but you'll find that images that work typically follow the same rules that have worked for centuries.

[James Driscoll]

What makes a great photograph??? One that moves the viewer.....

In 50 minutes....about all you can say without confusion.....is that what makes a photograph great is conveying whatever feeling you have towards the subject into the photograph.

Technique....be it the lack of or abundance of can get in the way....stress that technique and equipment are there to help you in obtaining your objective but will not do the work for you. Prevent people from "buying everything" because they think it will help.

Also...the only way to take great pictures....is to take pictures. In 50 minutes...all I could do is tell people to shoot lots of film...look at the results....and see where the problems lay. Show resources that people can utilize if they want to learn more (books,classes,websites,etc). Ask people what they feel they would like to shoot....and how they would go about it. Stress that just because a subject matter doesn't fall into a "normal" catagory that it is not wrong (eg. Jim Galli's rusty Chevies). Let people realize that THEY control the CAMERA....fuzzy, sharp, blurry, etc. Get it through there heads....that more depends on the photographer....not the equipment. People need to realize that getting an F5 is not going to make them a press photographer....and that getting a Leica is not going to make them Bresson.... nor is an 8x10 going to make them Ansel....

I wish you good luck....50 minutes is kinda nerve racking!!!

[Mark_3632]

As a teacher who teaches 50 minute classes I can definately tell you that you are setting your self up for a head ache. I would focus on one part of a good photograph. line for example, and spend time discussing and showing examples of good applications and bad of each type of line. Ask the students if they can identify the bad uses and the good uses of that one item. By getting them to focus on that one item they become more cognesant of it in their own photography. 50 minutes is a blink of an eye when your teaching, especially if you get on a role. If your subject is too big, and it is, you will not do an adequate job of conveying your point.

For me a good photo has strong appropriate lines that lead the eye into and around the photograph.

[Graeme Hird]

As a teacher who teaches 50
minute (ambiguous) classes I can <s>definately</s> definitely tell you that you are
setting <s>your self</s> yourself up for a <s>head ache</s> headache.
I would focus on one part of a good <span style='color:#FF6600'>photograph.
line for example</span>, (punctuation, Mark) and spend time discussing
and showing examples of good applications and bad of each type of line (Sentence
too long). Ask the students if they can identify the bad uses and the good
uses of that one item. By getting them to focus on that one item they become
more <s>cognesant</s> cognisant of it in their own photography. 50
minutes is a blink of an eye when <s>your</s> you’re teaching,
especially if you get on a <s>role</s> roll. If your subject is too big,
and it is, you will not do an adequate job of conveying your point.



For me a good photo has
strong appropriate lines that lead the eye into and around the photograph.



I'm really sorry Mark - I've been holding that in since I was at school. I've always wanted to correct a teacher's work. Please take it in the spirit of fun that was meant. :-)

Your thoughts are spot-on,Graeme

[Mark_3632]

Never question the teacher! Go sit in the corner and spit that gum out on the way!!!! (under breath) Upitty pain in the ass.

No problem Graeme, I can't spell. My kids love correcting me. On the net I admit my grammar goes in the dumpster too. As the week goes on the spelling and grammar get worse. I guess my grammar drags just like my ass Since I teach science and reading, not language arts, neither of these problems has caused me any grief.

[Conrad Hoffman]

Interesting parallel here. The message was clear enough that the spelling and grammer didn't bother me. Beyond a certain level of competence, a strong image beats technique every time. OTOH, I feel technique is the icing on the cake. I can't spell either, but through the miracle of spell-checkers, I can fake it. It's tough to fake ideas- where can I get autofocus for my brain?

[ronald lamarsh]

To the point that you can't teach vision: true it is difficult to teach but I feel its not a matter of being born with it either. I prefer Bruce Barnbaums approach that it is a thought process that is developed over time. He relates his vision to having studied music,poetry and other forms of enlightenment which create a change in perception of those things which are around us. I personally have studied and practiced Eastern philosophy's along music and poetry and after 20yrs am begining to develope what I feel is my personal vision. I might add that the greek root of the word educate literally translated means to "bring out" as in point the way. So it can't be taught per se with a formula but a student can be lead discover to his or her own path.

[Eric_4086]

let them bring their own good and bad photos and ask them why they feels they are good or bad. Please insist on the technics, since you are teaching photography and not art, stay on the specific aspects of taking photos. see what happens, most likely a consensus will emerge and you can complete the meeting by a review of the different opinions and introduce the already mentionned subjects to fit into the opinnions of the students. Good luke. Eric

[Ed Eubanks]

Just a follow-up: here is what eventually transpired. I began by asking them to fill in the answer to the question, 'what makes a good photo?' Their answers were, not surprisingly, on par with what I would say, and opened the door to the aspects of technical photography that I wanted to cover. Then, I began my 'lecture' of sorts, starting with the disclaimer that, in large measure, what makes a good photo is that you like it. (I also disclaimed that I was assuming that they were generally interested in people photography, which they affirmed was correct.) Then I offered them a foundation in the form of one question: what is it that I want to capture in this photograph-- emotion, an event, a person? Then we discussed in broad terms these four aspects of the technical side: light/shadow, color/monochrome, background/setting, composition/point-of-view. I had sample images for each aspect, and I pointed out things that I thought made them good photos. They had lots of questions and interacted very well about all of it. They also had questions about what lab to take photos to, the pros and cons of digital, and what kind of camera did they 'need' to get good photos; I think I was able to dispell a few myths and guide them towards being more thoughtful about taking the photos that they do-- which is all I really wanted to do.