ESFotoClix Blog

Examining what makes a great photograph may often seem tantamount to asking “What is the meaning of life?” There are so many seemingly valid ways to judge a photograph, that one can really get lost in the question, or simply punt with an answer of “it depends.” We might also take the approach that it doesn’t matter, or that entertaining the question is not a useful exercise. Alternatively, you could take the opposite approach and fastidiously evaluate photos based on how well they are exposed, how sharp or detailed are their contents, or how well it follows this or that other rule of composition.

And if you did any of that, you might well miss the point.

Good photographs, in addition to being technically sound — though I can think of some notable examples — exhibit one of two traits. These traits are, in no particular order, (1) precise timing and (2) emotional impact. Great photographs pack them both in complementary and generous doses.

Precise timing goes hand in hand with the photographic medium, which by definition captures and freezes instants in time. Capturing what has been called the “decisive moment” at just the right instant is obviously critical in many situations where the action is fast-moving. It is also critical even when shooting “slow action,” like a sunset, where the emotional impact of tranquility or romance may well be lessened if one does not press the shutter at the moment when the light is most ideal. Even in a scenario laden with emotional content, such as a wedding ceremony, the lack of timing can diminish emotional impact, as for instance when the photo of the “you may kiss the bride” moment comes a second too late.

Timing alone often makes a good image, such as in sporting events or wild life. Catching a grass-hopper just before before it jumps may be interesting in many ways, but shots like that often lack emotional impact. How exactly is the viewer to relate or somehow connect to the image? Aside from the temporary novelty, what is to keep the viewer interested in the subject matter? A bird catching the grasshopper in its beak or a wolf bringing down a young deer might bear a different impact due to the feelings of peril and survival it may elicit on the viewer.

Typically, I like to show photos that demonstrate the principles I’m discussing, but unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to take photos of wolves bringing down Bambi. I need to get out more. In the meantime, let’s settle for the following sequence.

One of these images combines good timing with emotional impact, though for the latter you be the judge as to which emotion is more important, the sense of peril or the humor in the situation. If you agree with this assessment, you may start seeing how good timing and situations that evoke emotional impact combine to make attention-grabbing images. Get a few of those, and you might be onto something.

A great deal has been said and written on whether to frame a composition vertically or horizontally. As a result I have practised the advice to compose an image both ways, along the way asking myself why one works better than the other.

As it turns out, even with Landscapes, the Portrait frame may work best, as in this next image. Yes, the horizontal composition is nice, but it is the vertical composition that gives the most depth and really tells a more compelling story, taking the viewer on a journey from the foreground to the background along the curves and lines formed by the shoreline.

Next time you’re out, don’t forget to frame a few vertically. As I did initially when I really wanted to learn the benefits of vertical framing, compose each shot both ways. Take a look through the viewfinder and see if you like it. You might be surprised. After a while you will learn to discern which shots work with horizontal vs. vertical framing before you bring the camera to your face.

Along the road to capture good photos, I often found myself cropping them in post-processing, usually feeling I had failed in preserving the original image or succeeded in degrading image quality through the resulting reduction in resolution. In some cases, cropping was acceptable and even necessary, as when the final image demanded frame dimensions other than the 4:3 or 3:2 aspect ratios that come with most digital cameras. More often than not, however, I found myself cropping to remove unwanted distractions, or to more tightly focus attention on the subject, or, if I must admit, to achieve the much-prized rule of thirds.

The feelings of cropping guilt nagged me for years until recently, when I realized that cropping could teach me how to make better framing choices. In quiet reflection in front of my computer monitor I began asking, “if I were taking this shot right now, how would I frame it differently, and why?” Then, I would crop the image as I would want it captured and tell myself, “next time, that’s how you want to frame it with the camera.” This was a process of reprogramming the way I took images. It’s not as easy to reflect in the heat of photographic battle as it is in the quiet post-mortem of post-processing. After repeating this exercise for a few months, however, framing the way I would crop became second nature, and the guilt started to vanish.

Here’s an image from the Paris subway, as originally shot. I don’t go to Paris often, so after I returned home I was somewhat discouraged when I realized this image needed quite a bit of trimming around the top and right. Though not an award winner by any means, the cropped version becomes stronger by avoiding the centered track (bullseye!), along with the do-nothing space up top, and by creating more of a juxtaposition between the staircase and the track. The elimination of the right platform also simplifies the image and focuses the attention more strongly on the commuters on the left and the leading line that the staircase they are taking forms.

The trick is thinking about all the stuff that makes the second, cropped image stronger at the time of framing, then stepping to the left and zooming in to compose it right from the start. Then I would have a stronger composition without the loss in resolution that cropping causes.

Key Tip:
As you use cropping to learn how to frame better, you might realize that you often include more than you want to in your image because of the way you look through your viewfinder. It’s perfectly natural to focus your attention toward the center of the frame, or to be most concerned with your subject. It’s far easier to trace along the frame’s perimeter when sitting in front of a computer monitor, but you can teach yourself to let your eye wander along the edges of the frame while looking through the viewfinder. Doing so will reveal all those unwanted objects, or even whether you have the right amount of spacing between what you want to include in your photo and the edges of the frame.