Part II

Subject Choice, Or How To See And Create A Good Photograph.

B) Subject and Composition.

What constitutes a good photograph? Some people say that it is a personal judgment, and there are as many of them as there are persons, nevertheless, there are pictures that communicate to a broader audience, and stand out from the rest. Being treated in a certain revealing way, your subject must have a quality that not only captures the moment, or the subject's intriguing shape, but also invites a closer inspection, and what is most important, tells a story behind the moment frozen in time. To make this photo possible, I used Kodachrome 64 film, wide angle lens f = 28 - 70 mm set at the apperture of 1/125 exposed at f.4.

You have probably heard the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. This saying is as true, as no matter where you look there are objects and scenes that could make a good photo with a good story to tell.

Nevertheless, it is more how you look at and treat your subject, whether you can see, capture and show it in a certain revealing way that makes the most of it, or not, that draws a distinguishing line in between what makes a photo less, or more appealing. A rather unusual composition and the off-beat objects stand behind this interesting and visually intriguing composition, making it to be able to keep your attention on the picture longer, it also gives you room for thought.

Whether you are using your camera for business, and want to meet such needs as verification, documentation and identification, or taking pictures of either your child's birthday party, your parents' wedding anniversary, vacation, or in your photography studio -- the way you see and capture it on fiilm, is what your picture viewer will see. It is also important to understand that there is a difference in between the way you see the subject, and the way your camera's lens does.

When in reality, as I have mentioned, your subject could be anything that you see and would like to photograph, some off-beat scenes and objects do make for a more interesting photo-subject, for they can tell a more interesting and off-beat story, and as I have said, keep your attention much longer, than some other subjects can. Keep your eyes open, and get in the habit of looking around through the viewfinder. Very soon you will find good photo-subjects in those places, where you could not find them before.

Try to look at familiar subjects from a new angle, afresh and differently. Stay alert, become aware and pay attention to the objects around you, their forms, textures, shapes, lighting conditions and its effects, interesting and with an element of surprise visual juxtapositions and other components, that could contribute to making your subject look visually unique and appealing. Only after you have learned how to look afresh at many ordinary every day scenes that you are used to and many other people still do take for granted, you will start making choices about your photo-subjects and the best ways of showing them to your picture-viewers using your accent -- style, as well as the visual language -- composition.