The Next Level

In my last few posts, I have written about the technicalities or the basic rules of photography, composition, lead lines and so on. Now I would like to take the next step and try to write about what makes a good photo good. This is impossible, for a number of reasons, we all see, colour in different ways and we all like different types of images, with that in mind the main person that you have to please with your images is your self.

This is a very simple concept; create images that you like, even passionate about. This will add quality to an image that everyone will see even if they do not know why, your passion and knowledge of a subject will show in your image. Many artists of all types when starting out crave appreciation or approval and they only start to advance their art when they stop trying to please other people.

Choosing not to follow the rules of composition is not the same as not knowing about composition, yes you may get lucky but most likely you will not. The same is true about finding images that you like, you could take thousands upon thousands of photos and you may get lucky, another way would be to learn how to read an image and then look at the images of photographers that are passionate about their work. Do not just limit your self to photographers but look at all types of artists work, see if they have followed the rules of composition or have they broken the rules and if so does it work for you.

The more you look at different artists work the more ideas you will have for your own work, do not copy other peoples work to pass off as your own. What you are aiming for is to take your first steps to building your own style, do you want people to look at your image and say that it is in the style of or a copy of some famous photographer or would you like them to say that it is your image and that you are the famous photographer. that is what building your own style is all about.

If you would like to know more about taking your photography to the next level then why not have a look at George Barr’s book ‘Take your photography to the next level’ as he is a much better writer and photographer than I am.



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