*The* Most Important Thing In Photography...

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wgerrard

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Assertion: The most important thing in photography, overwhelming everything else, is the ability to see a good picture before you press the shutter.

Assignment: Is this true? If so, explain. What do you do after you see the opportunity for that picture?
 
No, there is very much more (that is important) than seeing the picture. Explain: well, you only said if I/we agree. But I will add; it is a technical/art discipline. I hope this starts a real polemic.
 
I wish I saw the photographic moments quickly enough. While on vacation, I almost always had a camera in my hands. Dozens of times I saw a moment so quick that even if I'd had the camera ready and focused I don't know if I would have been able to get the shot off in time.

Along with seeing it and light, timing has to fit in there somewhere. It applies across the board - quick street photography to people finding the right day/moment for a carefully composed photo with an 8x10.
 
Not true. I don't believe you can see the picture until you see the picture.

But I would say, that the most important thing is where you point the camera.

Gary
 
I'd disagree here. In this day and age, spray and pray is another photographic school of thought. Of course, its not as dependable as a planned and deliberate photo. But because of this alternative, it makes it hard to agree with the question.
 
The most important thing in photography is being able to record on film, what you want to record. It matters not whether it's interesting, because showing other people interesting photos is way down the list.
 
FrankS said:
Most things can be taught. Not sure about vision/ability to see the picture.
Click to expand...

That's getting at my point, Frank. If you don't see the picture before you shoot, no amount of skill, technique or expensive hardware is going to do you any good.

I think this is true for reportage and for "contrived" photos. In one instance you need to recognize what the image will say. In another, you need to know what you want the image to say before and as you set it up.
 
wgerrard said:
Assertion: The most important thing in photography, overwhelming everything else, is the ability to see a good picture before you press the shutter.

Assignment: Is this true? If so, explain. ...........................
Click to expand...

I think if you look in advance for photos that you know will be good, you will always get photos that are merely good.

But if you search for photos that may be great or may be a stinker, you will occasionally get some great photos and a whole lot to reject. These are the high risk / low probability photos. I am happy to get one usable photo per day.

I hope you grasp the difference being more than merely semantic.

FWIW, I don't think you can identify any one thing that is most important. It changes with every photo.
 
magicianhisoka said:
I'd disagree here. In this day and age, spray and pray is another photographic school of thought. Of course, its not as dependable as a planned and deliberate photo. But because of this alternative, it makes it hard to agree with the question.
Click to expand...

Not planned and deliberate. Just looking and seeing that a piece of what you see might make a decent photo.

It's getting at how we decide what to point the camera at.
 
I think the most important thing is to have film in the camera, followed closely by remembering to take the lens cap off.
 
Some things that look nice don't photograph well

Some things that don't look like much do photograph well

The way the light strikes the subject is at least as important as the subject
 
wgerrard said:
......................... What do you do after you see the opportunity for that picture?
Click to expand...

After you shoot, you continue to explore different options that may / may not be better. Not bracketing, we assume you know how to expose. But different views, different approaches. Trying to find that something that will make a photo special.

I liked the women at this "maternity house" in Vinales Cuba. I was intrigued by the diagrams on the wall inside about nursing your baby. So I shot 4-5 frames inside of the women with that as a background. Then I moved outside and shot 4-5 frames of the women standing there. I was ready to move on when the woman in the foreground rotated 90 degrees and gave me a great profile. As I pressed the shutter, I realized the woman in the background was reaching out for another's belly. I shot this frame about 1/2 second later.

women-outside-maternity-house.jpg
 
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