What is Your Subject?

The other day I ran across someone’s instagram.

The person in question was showing an image that seemed random to me. The caption said that the image had been submitted to a photo contest and lost. The person surmised that they didn’t see the art in her subject.

Frankly, I didn’t either. I say that not in an effort to be cruel. I simply didn’t couldn’t tell which was the subject of the photograph.

I though this was a great… ahem… subject for a lesson.

Take the photo below.

Can you tell me what the subject is?

At a glance, it just looks like a random shot of someone’s things. You might assume the subject is the three Transformers toys. They are the most interesting element and they’re more or less in the center of the shot.

But the answer is no.

The subject of the photo is 4 Walt Disney World commemorative glasses from McDonald’s. The photograph simply has too many distracting elements and no attempt to frame the photo in a way that focuses on the subject.

Now consider the next photo.

Here the subject is clear. I gave some thought to my composition before I took the shot.

I took my time and framed the shot so that you could easily identify the subject. Complicated photographs are fine, but if you don’t shoot in a way that makes the subject plain, it’s just a cluttered image.

And that is the main lesson. Some people have cameras, point them at things and press the shutter button. They aren’t photographers. Photographers have an image in their mind that they want to create and then do their best to use the camera to create it. In that way, a camera is like a paint brush. You wouldn’t say “that paint brush sure makes beautiful paintings.” It is the artist’s vision that is being carried out. And that is how you have to approach photography, like a painter.

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If you got something out of this post and want to learn more, I teach a basic photography class. Click here for more information.