I have long realised that there are some of us who are born artistic and some of us who are sadly not. If the artistic ones were to play a musical instrument, you could tell they are talented. If they go into photography, you can be sure their talent can be seen in the photos that they take. Many things in my life have convinced me that I am not one of these artists and I'm quite accepting of that. Not everyone is an artist.
An artist is one who has an eye for beauty. I just saw this pic which was taken by Jacques Marie and immediately, I was stunned by its beauty. I mean just look at it. In the pic, you can see me getting myself photographed but as usual, I chose the wrong angle. That's because I have no eye for beauty. I just wanted my pic to be taken with the cows and I forgot the mountains in front of me.
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I have decided that for this year's NEWT 2017, I will look out for a good scenery before I take pics. I must be alert for beautiful photo opportunities. People who are just like me, ie those who lack artistic talent can still take good pics but we have to consciously look out for the beauty around us. Frequently, because the mountains are so beautiful, we become so intoxicated by the surrounding beauty that we forget that some angles are more beautiful than others.
No better way is there to learn to love Nature than to understand Art. It dignifies every flower of the field. And, the boy who sees the thing of beauty which a bird on the wing becomes when transferred to wood or canvas will probably not throw the customary stone.
Oscar Wilde
I'm in the same boat, T.L. I have more of an engineering than an artistic mindset, so taking artistically good photos is something I have to work at. It can be learned, though, and that's what I'm trying to do. One hint I've read (from the founder of photo.net) is to spend some time just looking for and photographing shadows. That forces the mind to look for the unusual, and sets it to thinking along more artistic paths.
I look at this photo, and think that I might have taken a similar photo by accident if I had been there. Not because I was consciously composing it to have the elements Brian pointed out, but simply because I was trying to get both the people and the cows into the frame.
It's also worth remembering that even professional photographers expect to shoot dozens of photos to get one or two usable ones. Probably even more so now with digital cameras changing the economics of film wastage. So don't be shy about taking multiple shots from different angles and with different emphases, keeping compositional rules in mind. That will increase the chances of getting a better-than-average shot.
There's no fear of me not taking a lot of shots. I take thousands of pics. Sometimes, I leave my camera on the tripod and let it shoot every few seconds. This was very useful when we were up on a mountain in NEWT 2016 and the scenery was all covered with clouds. Occasionally the clouds would clear to reveal a beautiful scene but only for a short while but because my camera was repeatedly taking pics, I got some pretty good shots.
As Patrick has said; you have an eye for beauty – you have recognised it in this picture, so that's a start. Now consider WHY you think this picture is beautiful. It's not just the mountains, it is also the quality of the light, the clouds in the sky and the one thing the photographer can take full responsibility for; the sense of perspective created by the fence and the track. This sets off the scene and creates a sense of depth in the picture. Combined with this, Jacques Marie has confined the building to the right third of the picture which is much better than placing it in the centre or losing it off the side altogether – it provides a focal point for the perspective provided by the fence and track. It's also worth noting that the horizon provided by the mountains and the end of the fence/base of the building has been placed on the upper horizontal third line. (Look up 'rule of thirds' )
Beauty in a picture is not created by any single factor, it is normally the combination of lots of little factors. The trick is knowing when to use the 'rules' and when to break them. Don't do yourself down, the fact you can recognise a good picture means you are more than 50% of the way to creating them – just learn some of the tricks and remember to use them.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder my friend, so the definition of artistic talent is surely relied on who appreciates it. You have an eye for beauty my friend so you are the creator of art!
This applies to many folk who feel less talented than others, where you feel your heart gladdened or inspired you are a part of wonderful things! (sun)