Ingredients for a Great Photo

Ingredients are KEY. Just like a pizza, or salad, or movie, or story, there are certain things that make up a good one, and things that make up a great one.

What is it? Sometimes it’s difficult to identify exactly what it is that makes these things great. Songs: a good beat, a catchy melody, meaningful lyrics? A movie: an interesting plot, decent acting, amazing visual and sound effects? Pizza: delicious dough, tasty toppings? It’s hard to say sometimes. But what MOST of us can identify, in general, is which ingredients, if missing, would make that thing … not so good? A burger without a patty? A story without a plot? A song without a beat?

With photos, something similar is going on. There are, in my opinion, certain “must haves” and then there are the other ingredients, that if presented and combined together in an artful way, can elevate an image to greatness. Let’s take a look at these ingredients:

Must haves in my opinion:

An identifiable subject
You should be able to see and state exactly what the subject of your photo is. Maybe it’s that bird right there, or that sky over there. Whatever it is, it should be something identifiable. Don’t just present a photo and hope that the viewer will figure something out that catches their eye. Guide them and make it obvious what the subject is. Bonus: the more interesting the subject, the better the photo will be. The more “OH! I’ve never seen that before”, the better the photo will be. Choose your subjects wisely.

Focus and good exposure
OK, this is a must have, with very few exceptions. Unless you’re trying to be super-artsy on purpose (and then you run the risk that people may simply NOT “get it”), you should nail your focus and exposure. Be intentional about it. Make sure the RIGHT parts are in focus, the parts that matter. Don’t get me wrong, you can make compelling images using blur and out of focus techniques, but usually, usually, usually, you’re gonna want those key features in focus. The shaper the focus on those key points, the better the photo will be. Nail your exposure. Sure there are exceptions and styles that contradict this, but in GENERAL you don’t want your highlights blown or your shadows crushed beyond detail. Get your exposure and focus right and you’ll have the START of a great image.

OK those, in my opinion are the BASE ingredients. If you don’t at least have those, in GENERAL, you likely don’t have the makings of a great photo.

But let’s say you’ve got a groovy, easily identifiable subject that is well exposed and is tack sharp at key points. Now what? How can you take your basic spaghetti, your noodles and tomato sauce, and take it to the next level and achieve greatness? Read on.

Add these 4 more ingredients and it starts to become really interesting, remarkable and approaching greatness.

Lighting
In my opinion, one of the BEST ingredients that you can choose or control in your images is lighting. Color, quality, intensity and direction. By paying attention to the lighting you can bump your images several notches in greatness. If you can control the light do so. Reflect it, create it, direct it, color it, modify it. If you can’t control the light (i.e. think landscapes), then CHOOSE the light that will give your photos greatness. This might mean getting up really early, hiking out to a spot, waiting for long stretches of time or coming to the same spot again and again until the available light is great. It’s not easy, but light is one of those ingredients that can take a blah image and give it some zing.

Composition
Few things help boost an image like great composition. There are SO many aspects to composing a photo well and I’m not going to go into them in detail in this article, but adding this ingredient into the mix can really make a difference. Ideally you compose your subject in-camera but, in a pinch, you can often re-compose the subject in post production. You should compose your images and subjects in a way that draws the eye, tells a story and defines the subject. Use leading lines, guidelines, color, shadow, shape, perspective and all the other tricks you can think of to compose your image in a compelling way.

DOF or motion blur
You should know the technical nuances to purposefully and intentionally craft your depth of field or motion blur. By doing so you can really take your images another step up. Use these techniques to draw the viewer’s eye, create mood and a sense of movement.

A decisive moment. An expression
Maybe one of the more difficult things to do consistently. Just like anything else, it takes practice on your part. Whether that’s comforting banter for your portrait subjects, or the timing to catch key moments as they unfold, practice will help make you better here. Plan, anticipate and execute your images. Split second timing can make the difference between a great image and and one that was “almost there”.

There you have it. The base ingredients that HAVE to be there to qualify an image as a good photo and the extra spices and seasonings that can really ratchet your photo up several notches to greatness. Although it’s NOT always the case, I’ve found that often times adding MORE of these ingredients, combined in an artful way, creates the images that I find truly great and notable.

My suggestion and your next actionable steps:
Get out there and shoot! Please make sure your images have got the basic ingredients, but then strive and stretch yourself to add those extra ingredients that can bring your photos a little closer towards greatness.