Elements of Good Photography

Anyone can take a picture but not everyone can take the perfect picture. Photography is more than the simple smile, point and shoot affair’. To the artist, photography is a complex technical composition of colors, lines and lighting. However, with a few guidelines on what makes a good picture even a novice can shoot the perfect selfie.

THE MESSAGE

A good picture must have a good story to tell. Whether you use the most expensive photographic equipment in the world or a cheap mobile camera, a perfect picture is always about the perfect moment’. Photography is all about capturing memories and as long as your picture is able to catch people attention and tell an intriguing tale than that’s a great step towards creating 1000 words in still motion.

COMPOSITIONAL ORDER

Lines, colors, shapes and light contrast form the pictures compositional structures and if properly manipulated can produce an award winning photo. Colors elicit certain emotions in us, shapes define our whole planet and contrast brings certain dramatic elements in a picture. These elements provide details and drama that will grab attention and keep it there.

EYE PATH

Even though brightness, sharpness and contrast may naturally attract the eyes, it takes more than color to keep our wandering eyes from wandering off. Just like reading and writing which makes our eyes wander from left to right, a picture should define a certain path for the eye to follow. For example a flowing river shielded by large trees and valleys creates an interesting eye path. Creating depth and using lines, shapes and curves creatively is one of the ways to keep eyes glued to your picture.

LIGHTING

Lighting is everything. It helps us define shapes and colors and creates contrasts that provide drama. A picture can be classic, retro or modern depending on how you use lighting contrasts. You can use lighting to highlight the most important elements of the photograph by lightening or darkening the relevant bits.

PUNCH LINE

Just like movies which have might have a good or intriguing ending, a good image must have a punch line. After your eyes bore holes in an image, they must be able to find something. It could be hidden or simple. For instance, in a group photo of serious judges, the punch line could be an old judge making a face. A more advanced photographer seeks to showcase a double punch line where you have a photo reacting to something else in a photo. For instance in a photo of a lion devouring a gazelle, the punch line could be that of other gazelles running for dear life and the double-punch line that of a hyena looking at them from a distance.

We are yet to see the perfect photo. The complexity and diversity of the world coupled with our own personal preference make the quest of finding the perfect photo a hard one. But photography is not about perfection, it is about the perfect moment and the perfect story. Coupled with the right composition, color, lighting, gestures and punch lines a picture may fail to be perfect but prove to be 1000 words and 1000 memories in still motion.