"My photographs are only as good as the subjects I am photographing." John Derek (Late husband of supermodel and actress Bo Derek). I heard John Derek's statement years ago as I was learning and growing as a photographer. I'm glad I did. The first, all-important, element on our Photographic Triangle is the subject of your photograph. I've photographed all kinds of things in my 4+ decades as a professional photographer, from murder victims to beautiful, exquisite models. Before any photograph is taken, the subject must be identified. the subject is the all important foundation. The other three elements can only enhance or detract from the subject. Anything can be your subject; children, pets, cars, buildings, etc. The other elements of successful photography will dictate how your subject is viewed by the viewer. Here are some tips on choosing your subject:
While John Derek's statement was basically true, the other two elements to a successful photograph, lighing and composition, can dramatically change the way a subject appears and can convey a mood exactly the same or totally opposite of the way the subject appeared to you at the time it was photographed. By choosing subjects you are familiar with, you give yourself an added advantage over other photographers. Some of the best rodeo photographers have worked in rodeo before. They know the places to be to get excellent photographs and they know what people want to see in their photographs. Chronicaling a new born baby's life is a great undertaking for new parents. Who doesn't like cute baby photos? I believe that photographs hold historical as well as aesthetic significance. Some of the things I have photographed, people and other subjects, no longer exist. I am so glad that I was able to capture them on film when I did. Another problem I see with many new photographers is that they do not pay attention to the subject's surroundings. Many times a "busy" background will distract from the subject. Not many people are aware that Kenny Rogers, the famous country western performer was an excellent photographer. I remember seeing one of his photographs of a bridge that he had airbrushed to remove roadside garbage that was distracting on the bridge. Another cause of distraction is power lines. Be aware of them when you make a photograph. Move around your subject to see if the distractions in the photograph can be minimized or eliminated by viewing the subject from different angles. For things that absolutely cannot be avoided in the photo, many of those things can be removed and/or corrected with photo editing software like Photoshopt and Lightroom. Typically, I will remove highline wires in my photos with Photoshop. It is a relatively easy thing to do. In between going through this course and working on the assignments, take time to become familiar with your camera by reading the manual. It may seem like boring reading but it is important that you do so. Back when we shot film, taking photos got expensive. Not only did we have to buy a camera, lenses and other accesories, on top of all of that, we had to buy film and then pay for processing. When I moved into more professional, larger format cameras, no one locally could develop the film so I also had the added expense of mailing my film in for processing. There was always the fear that the film could get lost in the mail, to or from the lab. I also had some occasions where the photo lab messed up my film. About the best they could do was to replace the film. If I had taken a trip to Canada to photograph polar bears, spending thousands of dollars to do so and then the lab messed up the film, replacing the film would not be much of a consolation. Now, with digital cameras, Images can be viewed immediately after taking the photograph. We don't have to buy film or have it processed! It doesn't cost anymore money today to shoot ten photos or 100 with your digital camera!
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