Taking better pictures - What makes a good picture?

If you want to take better photographs or even create pictures digitally, it is good to know the characteristics of a “good” photograph.  

First and foremost, a good picture is about something.  You don’t just take a picture.  You take a picture of something.  You are capturing a thing, or person or animal or scene or expressing an emotion.  So, if you want anyone to be interested in your photograph you have to decide what the picture is about.  A good photograph tells a story.

Unless you are deliberately making part of a photograph out of focus or using soft focus or making an abstract of blurred lights,  the subject of a photograph should be in sharp focus. (When possible, use a tripod for the sharpest images.)  The photograph should not be too dark or too light.  It should be exposed correctly.  In other words, a good photograph is technically correct. 

Finally,a good photograph is composed in such a way that the subject or theme of the photograph is made clear to the viewer.  The composition of  a photograph is how the story of the picture is told. 

Future articles in this series will all be about some of the things that I consider and some of the techniques that I use when I compose my photographs.  In the next article I will be talking basic principles of composition.

A quick summary:

- A good photograph is about something

- A good photograph is focused and exposed correctly.

- A good photograph is composed to make the the picture’s point.

The next article in this series will be: Composition – Basic Concepts