What makes a good photograph and how do I take one?

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by Mike Stacey

Last Monday the 27th February I gave a talk at one of the Blue Mountains Photography Group monthly meetings in Springwood. I’d like to thank Greg Farmer and especially Jeannie McInnes for looking after me on the night. Jeannie came to the rescue when I realised I’d left my Macbook power cord at home. Thanks Jeannie!

The following article is an excerpt from the talk. The topic of the presentation was: “What makes a good photograph and how do I take one?”. These two questions were looked at, along with some example images and guess what? A formula appeared. Yes, believe it or not, a formula for taking good pictures. A very abbreviated but fairly reliable formula:

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Do you photoshop your pictures?

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by Ian Brown

How I dread that question. Or the pre-digital equivalent: “Do you use filters?” Not because I have anything to hide, or because I don’t have a good answer. I dread the question because of the baggage that comes with it. What people actually want to know is: “Are your pictures real, or are they faked? Can I trust them?” And there’s an implication that filters and fiddling amount to cheating, and are therefore ‘bad’.

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Unlocking Creativity – Musical secrets

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By Len Metcalf

Musical secrets What can a visual artist learn from musicians when a creative block is encountered? I attended a workshop held at Woodford Folk Festival (December 2002) where a panel of musicians revealed their methods for unleashing their creativity, when they find a creative block. On reflection I found their advice was accurate for me as a visual artist, which I was able to apply to my own creative endeavour of taking photographs. What follows are the main points they described and how I applied them to my photography. Though I believe these would be equally applicable to any artistic or musical endeavour. Do something else. The suggestion of going out for a swim or a walk, or perhaps even settle into good book, though most of the panel suggested something active to get the blood flowing. Now being a landscape photographer this is so easy to do, put the camera in a pack and take off. I find that after a while I start seeing the photographs, usually after I have relaxed enough to let go of all of my current issues and distracting thoughts.

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What is fine art photography

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By Len Metcalf
This question was posed by Paul Cosgrove to me while we were hanging images in the local photography exhibition. It sparked a whole train of thought, wondering indeed what it was. I subsequently posted the same question at the large format photography forum (for the link click here). I do consider my work as fine art photography and discuss my thoughts behind this ubiquitous label.