I believe that there are two main parts to make a good photograph. Firstly, the message or the story the photograph conveys. Secondly, a number of different techniques that can make or break a photograph.
I think that the message a good photograph conveys to the viewers can be specific or abstract, and should make the viewers think. "A good photograph tells a story" notes Olivia Cheng (Nat Geo Awards Star Judge). I think that it can be either a common story that everybody can relate to, or a message that is free to be interpreted by different people. Different people may interpret a certain photo differently, as experiences and environment shape your views. As Justin Mott puts it, "the most important element of a photo [...] is it's ability evoke emotion." Whatever interpretation the viewer makes, a good photograph should always make the viewers feel something, whether it is curiosity, happiness, excitement, anger, or sadness. For example, looking at the photo below, you feel a sense of happiness and warmth.
"you feel a sense of happiness and warmth"
The techniques used to shoot a good photograph are also very important. This includes lighting, composition and framing, focus, as well as angling.
Without light, no photographs can be taken, which shows how important lighting is. A photograph must have sufficient amount of light. The darkness or lightness (color and hue) define the feeling of the photograph, which affects the message being conveyed to the viewer. You can make the most ordinary subject interesting with the right amount of light, but the most unusual subject could become boring with flat or uninteresting light. In the two photos below, you can quite obviously see that the first photo has much better lighting. The details in the light and shadow areas can be seen, and the colors (e.g. skin color) all look natural.
The effect of good and bad lighting
As Ming Thein states, "composition is how the various elements of an image are located relative to one another, and how this spatial relationship tells the story of the main subject or conveys the desired message". Composition is very important, because it is what the viewer sees, hence affecting the message the viewer receives, which is a core part of any artistic photograph. There is no set composition for each subject. However, different compositions may result in different messages being conveyed. Any small adjustment in the composition of a photograph can greatly affect the viewer experience. If it is negative, it might be memorable in an unintended way, or the viewer may not even spend time to look at it, which would be a fail for the photograph.
The three photographs below are capturing a similar subject: a small school of yellow snapper. The only differentiation is their composition, which is what I will talk about. In the first photograph, the blue of the ocean against the yellow of the snapper creates a nice contrast. However, the majority of the fish form a diagonal line that all point to the lone fish on the bottom left corner. This fish is out of focus, just inside the frame, and the coral right next to it looks very unattractive. In the second photograph, the majority of the fish aren't so strongly pointing at the lone fish, which is better than photo one. However, they are now pointing at the coral, and the fish are now more tightly grouped, which doesn't help the message the photograph is trying to convey. In the third photograph, the coral in the background give something other than the blue of the ocean, which is a better setting. There is more space between the fish, which makes it feel less crowded. Also, there is one fish that overlaps the coral, showing more depth in the photograph.
The effect of good and bad framing and composition
Angling is positioning the camera to shoot from different angles to see the subject relative to the background in different ways. It may be an angle that is unusual, an angle that people rarely use to look at the subject, to give the viewer a new perspective and to notice somewhat ordinary Again, there is no set angle, but different angles can convey different messages. It depends on what message the photographer wants to convey. Different angles include close-up shots, medium shots, long shots, etc. (as seen in the diagram below).
Different camera angles
In the two photos below, you can see how big a difference shooting from different angles make. Everybody has bad angles, so it is up to the photographer to find out what these are and to avoid them. Below, we use the example of the pregnant woman. First, the photographer starts from far away to start to get to know what the subject looks like on camera. Her front leg and arm are both bent, which create a nice curve, something you can see from this angle. Going closer, shooting from just lower than 90 degrees. This angle makes the head look smaller, thus enlarging the size of the belly. In the forth photo, the photographer uses a variety of new angles, including at top view. As you can see, different angles emphasise on different parts of the subject, so it is important to have an idea of what is it that you want to be the "star" of each photograph.
The effect of shooting from different angles
Most importantly, a good photograph needs to have"interesting and engaging subject matter" (David Lazar). A photograph that is boring and uninteresting, even when taken with perfect technique, would never come close to being as good a photograph as somebody with limited technique but of something interesting and captivating. For example, the photo taken by Robert Capa below, is one of the eleven surviving negatives he shot during the Normandy landing. It may not be technically perfect, but are very memorable and striking, because of its subject matter and how it managed to convey the situation at the time. Only with good subject matter can a photograph be able to convey a strong message or story to the viewers. The subject should be fairly obvious on first sight for the viewer; it should stand out; be the focal point of the photograph. "A photograph without a subject is like a meal with no main course, or a story without a plot" (Ming Thein). This adds to the first point about conveying a message. Without a good subject, the photograph will not stay with the viewer for long, therefore not able to fulfil its purpose as a photograph.
One of Rober Capa's Normandy Landing Shots
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