How I decide if I like a photograph

 I spend alot of time on this platform spouting off about  this or that to creating a good capture. So in the spirit of  re-evaluating how to go forward I thought I would talk about what makes me like a photograph. Understanding how I approach a photo does not mean someone else's is different nor does it mean my way is superior. What it does do is give us a touchstone to compare and contrast viewpoints. Hopefully we both grow through the interchange of thoughts and opinions.

My love of photography  comes from a love of stories. I love reading and I love movies and plays and all sorts of ways people communicate the way we interface with reality or even fantasy sometimes. I and  the love that I have of  photography is firmly ground in selling me the story. The further we find ourselves out of this realm the less I tend to like the shot.  As a counterweight to this is the need to believe what is being told to me.

 So the first thing I see when I look at shot is, what is this telling me. Executed badly or flawlessly,  its the clarity of the message that makes me feel at home Though this is often tied into  execution it doesn't necessarily have to be.  A badly done picture  that communicates despite its flaws but tells its story has a chance with me.

This is where  I think most people I am friends with and myself start to go in two different directions.  Example. .Five friends are sitting around and they say hey let's capture this moment with a picture so what do we do. We all get up and  move our chairs around huddle together where a person  stands in front of us and turns on the flash and  boom  we all have this plastic grin on our faces. Now to first address their thoughts. They are like "I don't have time to capture all theses moments and be in the right place"  that is way too much work. I totally get it but I guess my point is the moment you captured was the most phony in the whole evening. That moment only existed for a picture. Its inauthentic.... So the story was unreal. While some value the picture, to me  I wonder about the moment before or after that.

 So that shows you my bias toward the more reportage style of photographs....  Portraits that give me a glimpse inside. Can the subject smile... sure. Does it have to be in black in white... no!  But can you just stand there in front a wall and  have flat eyes and plastic grin and call that a portrait... probably not for me. You have to  pull me in, make me feel like I am seeing the real them even if they are a con artist!

 Landscapes and  architecture should capture what it looked like. People, birds  animals I want all of it. I want to see what you saw not some artificial moment of perfectly empty scene when people were swooshed out of the way.  However a early morning capture or a late night glimpse after the crowds have left well that tells another story and that is good for me.

Technical chops allow the flexibility to tell this to me in ways I never imagined. it allows you the freedom to show me a perspective that shows me a little more.   Don't try shooting in the middle of the hot summer sun unless you know how to do it. Want to shoot at night.. are you going to blind me with noise tinted shots that leave me wondering was it really a mess of colored dots...   Want to use that flash on your camera that is fine but only enough flash to highlight  the subject not blast the wall behind  in a show of shadows and blown highlights.

Am I a picture snob...sometimes and sometimes I can appreciate the effort and see the dream. Maybe  the reason I devour pictures so much is because I feel the need to want to see more than I can. Am I talking in circles  perhaps but this is a journey we are all taking and now I just wanted you to see what highlights catch my eye.