What do you need to know to make a good picture...?

Hi,

looking back to this year and my video-trips (good ones and bad ones as well), a question is comes up regularly in my mind:

What do we need to know to make a good picture? And when I talk about picture I mean still and video...

Could we make a nice long list? Variables, conditions etc? I would begin this list with some very common words, expressions - please add your 2 cts to this list to know what should we know I would appreciate it. My aim is to create a list which is suitable for new beginners and so on... Feel free to add any thoughts you feel: this knowledge helped me once to make a better pictures, whitout this knowledge I could not make that picture...

- know the fish behavior

- tide dependent creatures

- which animals are on board during daytime, which are during nighttime

- different life-territories (send-reef-open water)

- who is shy, who is curios

- who lives in warm water, who lives in cold

- where should you positioned yourself - regarding the sun

- how should work with a model

- typical creatures under the jetties

- is it allowed to touch a dolphin or it will fly away at that very moment

- underwater etiquett

- when to use strobes

- how many strobes

- is it a good idea to shoot during nightdive with two 50W HID light a small creature

- .... your turn

Jules

- know the fish behavior

- tide dependent creatures

- which animals are on board during daytime, which are during nighttime

- different life-territories (send-reef-open water)

- who is shy, who is curios

- who lives in warm water, who lives in cold

- where should you positioned yourself - regarding the sun

- how should work with a model

- typical creatures under the jetties

- is it allowed to touch a dolphin or it will fly away at that very moment

- underwater etiquett

- when to use strobes

- how many strobes

- is it a good idea to shoot during nightdive with two 50W HID light a small creature

In addition to "when to use strobes" and "how many strobes", how about adding "the position of your strobes".

It's made a huge difference in my own shooting. I took two trips last summer. On the first trip, it was painfully obvious I did not know how to properly position my strobes. I got lots of hot spots, backscatter, and other problems relating to incorrect strobe placement. On the second trip, there was noticeable improvement in my images.

My two cents,

Ellen

Thank you Ellen, that what I hoped to see in this thread.

To continue:

- using single element diopters

- or using achromatich diopters

- when we use typically black and white and why

- ...

Jules

For me the key to outstanding still photography is knowing what you want to communicate when you find a particular subject. Once you know the story you wish to tell with your image gives the rest of the decision making process direction and also makes it easier.

When you know what you want to say it makes it easier to choose a composition, lighting, etc that works in unisom with the message you are trying to get across.

Alex

Are there always a story in a still picture? Maybe it is a silly question... Or maybe the better question would be: what does a story mean in case of a still photography? In case of slideshows or diaporamas are you taking into account the classic rules of storytelling to tell your story or you are relying only on the power of individual pictures?

Hi Jules,

I think so. But story I simply mean what the image is about. It can be a very simple story - like this is a grouper - or a much more complex one. Story is not prehaps the best word, but I can't think of a better one!

I think that this is an area of big difference between a still image and a video sequence (or a slideshow), which generally tell more complex stories. And that is an area where I don't have the experience to comment.

Alex

Hi Jules,

 

I think so. But story I simply mean what the image is about. It can be a very simple story - like this is a grouper - or a much more complex one. Story is not prehaps the best word, but I can't think of a better one!

 

I think that this is an area of big difference between a still image and a video sequence (or a slideshow), which generally tell more complex stories. And that is an area where I don't have the experience to comment.

 

Alex

Hi Alex,

well, it is very difficult sometimes for me to understand can be the exact meaning of the word "story".

So, thanks for your clarification. If you can tell something about a picture - this a grouper - it has (although a very basic) story.

To speak about complex stories - yes, this is a rather difficult exercise - it deserves its own thread...

But, our list has been enchanced with a very pertinent - not technical - issue: story...

all the best,

Jules