But every now and then my wandering mind stumbles on an idea that I can’t exactly put in the format of my articles. This is the first idea of many more to come:

Finding a Subject to Photograph

Many people, especially those just starting to get into photography (I know because I once was), think of photography merely as the practice of taking a compelling image. That is to say that the ultimate goal is to get “The Image”. I think this stems from the fact that it is very difficult to get a single good image. Furthermore, the worlds most famous images, such as the one discussed in this article (National Geographic called this their best photograph ever), may stand out alone as if they are their own entity to the average viewer and certainly to the beginning photographer. What is often more difficult to comprehend is why these images are of such lasting value though.

What makes an amazing photograph so amazing? The beginning photographer, I think, seems to value how an image looks more than anything else. Pretty photos tend to be what they seek. Because of this, many beginning photographers will get fancy new equipment and attack every flower, cat, bird, rusting bike, rain drop and anything else that is both easy to photograph and visual pleasing (my cats have learned to hide when I get a new lens in the mail). After a while the beginning photographer gets bored of this. It is at this point that many simply find a new expensive hobby. I urge the beginning photographer to continue taking photographs.

This first stage, the honey moon stage if you will, is important. Capturing pretty images is indeed a very important aspect of making great photographs and to do this you must master the camera as a tool. But there is much more to a great photograph than that. The most memorable images throughout history both look good and have a compelling and interesting story behind them. Let us return to that National Geographic image of the Afghanistan woman. The image is a powerful one all on its own. Her piercing eyes are contrasted so heavily with the stress visible in her face and by what she wears that we are compelled to keep staring. So the image is great because it looks nice right? No. This image is so powerful because of what makes the image look nice. Her story, a young—beautiful—Afghanistan woman living through arguably the worst war since Vietnam is what makes this image so fantastic. Yes, it is nice to look at, but what makes it nice to look at is also what pulls you in for more. It is what makes you want to find out who this woman is and why she looks as she does. The greatness of this image is the story it tells. You can’t always get that by taking pictures of your cat, Foofoo.

So how do you obtain that? That’s a thought for the future…