What makes up a good image

[Stu Bowie]

When composing an image, what are the criteria that you look for before pressing the shutter. Let me share my three points in order of importance. Light - early morning light is always going to win. BG - I prefer an OOF foliage BG over a water BG, and then least, a sky BG. Angle of capture - with the subject angled slightly towards me works the best.

[James Shadle]

All of the above plus Angle of Incidence (0 - 10 degrees off), quality of subject (ugly specimen vs beautiful specimen), placement of subject in frame, foreground elements, lack distracting or undesirable elements and of course exposed for my desired purpose and tack sharp.

The points you mentioned and the ones I have listed are not a complete list by any stretch.

The more you are afield the less you think about them and the more you feel them.

[Harshad Barve]

For me Story telling images are good images and if you can add above mentioned techs then it becomes fine image , just my 2 cents :)

[Roman Kurywczak]

OK......this sounds a lot like it's all about birds or animals......so how about balance and mood for landscapes. What you leave out is as important as what you include. The statements above about light applies to all branches of photography and what seperates the ordinary from the extrordinary.

[Roger Clark]

I'll put forward some different ideas from what has been said so far, only because there are always exceptions. So while a low phase angle (the angle between the camera and sun as viewed by the subject; meaning the sun behind your back) is great in many situations, it makes for flat lighting. People, wildlife, landscapes etc can benefit from large phase angles too (sun to the left or right) adding shadows, form, and texture not seen at low phase angles. Then there are high phase angles (backlit subjects) which can be very dramatic. And sometimes diffuse overcast light works best. Sometimes overhead light is better than at sunrise or sunset (e.g. in deep canyons).

So, yes, it is all about light, but it is how the light interacts with the subject that makes the image great, along with an interesting subject and good composition.

Then there is depth-of-field (DOF). In some situations, a shallow DOF is desired to isolate a subject, e.g. a bird from a busy background. In other cases, a high DOF is desired (e.g. a landscape).

There are so many cases where one thing works in one situation, another works better in another situation, and sometimes multiple things work in some situations.

That's what makes it interesting: we must interpret the scene and control the image we record for our desired effect.

But without good lighting, composition, and subject, whatever these may be in any situation, are key to a great image.

Roger

[Duane Noblick]

For me light is most important. The colors it renders at certain times of the morning/evening are amazing. I also like the shadows it casts (taken in moderation) on subjects and backgrounds and why I don't use flash in my photography (personal taste).

Composition, interaction with the viewer and background are the other things I consider when composing an image.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Agree with everything said above.... light, comp, BG, shooting angle, subject angle, exposure, DOF, placement of subject, relative size of subject, wing positions....so many things that go into making a good photo.

I'd like to add one more: POSE...either static or frozen at high SS. That appeals a lot to me personally and I think it also works well to differentiate a photo...a shorebird frozen mid-stride with a raised foot, a duck frozen when it is taking its head out of water, an alert striking pose of an egret, pelican throwing its head backwards, a duck wing flap, etc.......Endless possibilities even with the most common subjects.

That is what IMO is essence of still photography...freezing a moment in time...something our eyes and video cameras cannot do. my 2 cents.

[paul leverington]

COMPOSITION.

Everything else is secondary to me. I should specify--for the artistic type image. Document images are an incidental thing for me-so I'm not referring to those.

I think you could have a picture with a busy background, less that ideal light, bad head angle-or even back turned to the lens, distracting elements, awkward pose, exposure off a bit, less than desirable DOF level, common(house sparrow ex.) or even repulsive subject(dead subject ex.) and still have a powerful image if the composition is strong. This is not to say the other things are not important too. I'm only saying without a strong composition an image can only get so far as far as powerful. Even an image with strong visual impact or shocking visual impact will never measure up to a lesser image as far as those things are concerned that has strong composition.


Paul