Once Upon A Time…
So you have familiarized yourself with your camera. You are aware of the limitations of it and how to get around them. You have read up on the basic rules of good photography. And you have chosen an early time of the day for your photo outing. It’s time to go out to take some pictures!
I find that the most impressive and powerful images are those that tell a story. And frequently, including a human element in a photo is good and easy way to tell a story and convey an idea. A scene of sunrise alone might not evoke as much emotion as a scene of a couple sitting down to enjoy the sunrise.
This sunrise scene might have looked much less interesting if not for the presence of the couple, who added an element of human activity to the shot. Note the application of the previous tip: making use of the golden hours to take a good picture!
Human activities provide many opportunities to tell a story. The trick of good photography is to make the mundane appear interesting and unusual. Even a simple scene of people buying seafood from the market can be made much larger than life and interesting provided you can capture the image at the right moment and at the right place!
A common scene from the wet-markets in Singapore: lots of activity (mundane to most people) create an interesting picture, but only if captured at the correct moment (and with an usual angle!). And of course, the activity in the picture is effectively conveyed in the absence of language and words!
It is often said that a picture speaks a thousand words. Good pictures should be able to convey universal emotion and feelings readily in the absence of language and words. A successful photo is one that should bring what the photographer experienced at the scene to the viewer.
That said, being able to come up with a witty title or caption for a shot will, of course make it more fun, for both the photographer as well as the viewer. I enjoy particularly coming up with amusing captions for some of my pictures, occasionally with some help from friends!
I had a hard time coming up with an interesting caption for this shot taken at Singapore’s Jurong Bird Park. In the end, I settled for a suggestion which a friend made: “Let Me Drown!”
Previous tip: Make Use Of The Golden Hours
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