A Good Photo
I hadn't thought about this until a few weeks ago when I met the critique professor I'll have for next semester.
What really makes a good photo?
Its quite a cliche question, but for a photographer, a very valid one.
I realized that a pretty/beautiful/lovely photo isn't necessarily a good photo. The problem is, for a photographer, its easy to take a pretty picture. Its easy to make a pretty picture in Photoshop too. What's hard to make is an interesting photo. Even harder, a unique photo. Something that you can be sure of nobody else could have done in the way you did. An approach never seen before, a subject never seen that way, something like that. Getting a 'Wow' from an audience isn't enough sometimes. Pushing for a photo which they can stare at for a while and think about, to me that's getting at what a good photo is all about.
From thinking I had hundreds of good photos, I see that I really only have a handful. And its not something to be saddened by. I then had to accept that producing a good photo is going to take a lot of work, time and of course, error. But realizing and accepting this is important for a photographer. This starts with being able to objectively judge your own work so that you can spot the good ones in the first place (something I'm still not very good at)
Sadly there are simply too many photographers out there. Sadder still, a lot of them could duplicate the same photo you just created and possibly do it better than you could have thought possible. Unless you really bring something different to the table. Why should someone hire you? Quite a tough question to face, especially when your salary is riding on the answer.
