What Makes a Good Photo

"What makes a photo great?" Just recently I got asked that question by a friend. "Is it the photographer, or the post-ed?"

Nowadays, many are under the impression that anything, yes anything, can be done in post-ed. Any old ugly photo can be turned into a slam dunk using Photoshop, so what does the photographer matter? Well, yes, much can be done, but the real answer is that a great photo is the making of the photographer, and the post-ed. Both are crucial to the end product.

There's no getting around that you need a good eye to get good photos. Composition is the foundation of photography and it's the very raw material of a great shot. For instance, beginners often get caught up with the main subject. They might forget a busy distracting background, or fail to notice that the horizon isn't level, or that the lighting isn't flattering. These things make all the difference, and no manner of post-ed can save bad raw material. Much can be done in post-ed, that's true, but it can't work miracles.

If you have a good place to start from though, post-ed can be the icing on the cake. Take a look of the before and after pictures to the right and you'll see why. Both examples are exactly the same shots. Nothing has been removed or added, only enhanced! As you can see, a good eye isn't enough. Cameras have their limitations, and no matter if you have a cheep or fancy one, shots never come out quite like what you see with your own eyes, or like what you wanted them to be. But, you can compensate for this in post-ed, if you know how.

If I had a nickel for every time I shot something I thought looked glorious and it turned out to be flat and boring once I saw the result on screen... So many disappointments... Five years back, I'd just sigh and let the shots gather dust on my hard drive. But now, that I know how, I can do something about it!

It's fun to browse through those old photo folders... Sometimes I find those shots that disappointed me years ago, like the ones I'm showing you today. Then I fix them up and make them into what I envisioned they would be the moment I shot them. Great fun!

So you see. A beautiful photo really isn't a result of one thing or the other, but the combination of the two. You need both skill-sets; the skill to get good raw material, and the skills to tweak them in post-ed.
That's the yin and yang of photography :)

/MrsHjort