{"id":39133,"date":"2017-03-01T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T20:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=39133"},"modified":"2017-03-04T23:33:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-05T07:33:23","slug":"what-makes-a-great-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/01\/what-makes-a-great-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Great Photo?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eric<\/p>\n

I think a great photo includes: 1) Composition, 2) Emotion, and 3) Soul:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"eric
Hanoi, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, it is three things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Composition<\/li>\n
  2. Emotion<\/li>\n
  3. Soul<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    1. Composition<\/h2>\n
    \"eric
    Hanoi, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    To have a good composition is to make clear what you’re trying to photograph. To make it clear and apparent to the viewer what the main subject of your frame is.<\/p>\n

    \"0-blur-figure-to-ground\"
    Even with the blur applied, you can still see the separation of the man’s head from the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    A good composition is often simple, and clear. To make a simple composition is actually a lot more complicated than it seems. Because you need to cut away the superfluous. You need to cut away the fat.<\/p>\n

    When I’m making photos, I try to make my photos as simple as possible. I’m always focusing on the edges of my frame, making sure there is no clutter on the edges.<\/p>\n

    \"0-hanoi<\/p>\n

    One good technique you can start off with today is learning “Figure to Ground<\/a>” — a technique where you separate your subject (figure) from the background (ground).<\/p>\n

    To learn more, check out my photography composition articles ><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    2. Emotion<\/h2>\n
    \"erickim-laughing-ladies\"
    Laughing Ladies \/ NYC + Hanoi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A photograph without emotion is dead.<\/p>\n

    I don’t care how good the composition is — if it doesn’t have soul, it won’t resonate and stick with me.<\/p>\n

    To capture emotion in your photos, you want to have hand-gestures, body language, eye contact, ambiance (in terms of the light in your photograph), and the aesthetics (how you post-process your photos).<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    One way to capture more emotion in your photos is this: photograph laughter<\/strong><\/a>, like how I got my grandma to laugh:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Learn more: How to photograph emotions ><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    3. Soul<\/h2>\n
    \"eric
    The first time Cindy tried on her wedding dress \/ Garden Grove, 2016 #cindyproject<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The last and most difficult thing to photograph is soul.<\/p>\n

    You need to insert your soul into your photos<\/a>. Rather than thinking about ‘depth of field’ in photography, think of ‘depth of soul<\/a>.’<\/p>\n

    To put your soul into your photos, make sure you<\/em> are the only one who could have photographed that scene.<\/p>\n

    If you take a photo of the Taj Mahal — millions of tourists can photograph it. But can you photograph death of your loved ones<\/a>? Can you make personal photos<\/a> of your loved ones? Can you photograph self-portraits of yourself<\/a>?<\/p>\n

    For me, the most soulful photos I have shot are of Cindy– the love of my life in ‘The Cindy Project<\/a>.’ I photograph each day as if it will be my last with her. I photograph her as if I will die tonight, or if she will die tomorrow. I want this to be my legacy<\/a> — to show that photographing your loved ones is the most important thing<\/a>, in order to never waste a single second with them.<\/p>\n

    That means you can also be a good photographer regardless of your life situation, even if you are traveling with your family<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0— document your precious time with your loved ones, rather than just traveling to make good photos of strangers.<\/p>\n

    Learn more: Soul Photography ><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    Conclusion<\/h2>\n
    \"eric
    Hanoi, 2017 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The last takeaway point: learn how to make<\/em> photos, not to just take<\/em> photos.<\/p>\n

    To make<\/em> a photograph is creative. It is open. Collaborative, and involves your loved ones.<\/p>\n

    To take<\/em> a photograph is forceful, aggressive, and feels like stealing.<\/p>\n

    Make photos; don’t take photos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Always,<\/p>\n

    Eric<\/p>\n

    Learn more: Photography 101 ><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I think a great photo includes: 1) Composition, 2) Emotion, and 3) Soul:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/eric-kim-street-photography-hanoi-ricoh-gr-ii-0003866.jpg?fit=4928%2C3264&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}