The Art of Making Photographs
Often the theory and science of photography are explained in painstaking detail, confusing all but masters of the craft. Unfortunately, for those of us who want to pick up a camera and expect our results to match those of the masters in fine art photography, the pleasure of making a photograph is lost in technical terms when we are trying to learn how to use our camera. Fortunately, for those who are using a camera for the first time, or for those who carry a camera with them wherever they go, there is a set of fundamental guidlines that can make the art of photography easier. This guide is designed to help you create, make and identify photographs for your album or files like professionals do.
Photography is an art. It is a craft that requires practice, dedication, and learning—experimenting with different techniques—a process of trial and error. Until recently, using traditional manual 35mm cameras took understanding the complex operations of the camera, and it also took a fair amount of skill to create consistent images. The development of “point and shoot” cameras programmed to meter light while managing aperture settings and shutter speeds made photography more accessible to more people. Auto focus zoom lenses revolutionized camera equipment. The only complication was waiting for the film to be processed to discover if any of the photographs accurately captured the special image seen through the viewfinder. Today, digital cameras have made it easier than ever to review a photograph, determine its imperfections, and replace the photo with a new one—just as fast as you made and erased the first. Without further concern for equipment, let’s review a series of steps that make the art of photography simpler.
Photographs can be categorized as records: ones that work, ones that are exceptional, and ones that are extraordinary. A record is a crisply focused photograph capturing a moment, a person, a place or subject, yet lacks color, imagination in composition, and beautiful light. It may also be filled with distracting elements of clutter and lines of confusion that move the viewer’s eye away from the subject—where it truly belongs. Working photographs demonstrate the photographer’s ability to balance composition, light and color to define and complement the subject of the photograph. The viewer sees the subject as it was found, yet the image—although stirring—misses the mark in defining the moment as profound and beyond the ordinary. Elements of exceptional or extraordinary photographs are made of a single subject, a simple idea, and speak volumes about the photographer behind the lens. The drama is compelling and evocative. These photos cause us to stop, pause and contemplate in awe before moving on. The photographer has taken the time to define, compose and expose the subject to the camera, graphically defining what he or she intends to convey in its final printed form. The photographer, not the photograph, holds us in check and in wonder. We ask, “How, why and what was going on in that enlightening moment?”