It is often said that photography is an art of precision.
And in fact, it could be the best way to define it: that combination of technique and sensory capacity that allows you to capture an unrepeatable and extraordinary moment. This being the case, photography would then seem to depend on the thoroughness of the photographer, on his ability to achieve an exact balance between the use of the tools at his disposal and that elemental and abstract perception of what an image expresses and creates. Between the two, therefore, there seems to be a concrete idea of what photography can be and beyond, of the way in which it needs to be conceived in order to be enduring in memory and above all, its intrinsic quality to express visual ideas.
So, does photography have to obey certain rules of pure accuracy to fulfill its essential objective of building concepts through images? Yes and no or at least, that has been my great conclusion after almost twenty years of photographing almost daily. Because although photography undoubtedly needs to reach a middle point between technical neatness and conceptual depth to be memorable, it must also possess that personal, imperfect, unrepeatable quality that makes it not only a document but an individual idea, a personal opinion of its author. . Among this variety of visions, approaches and understanding of what photography can become, there is that real value of what the image produces not only as a result of a series of technological and aesthetic tools, but the references and the aesthetic perception of the photographer. That enduring identity that gives all photography an enduring quality.
So, to the question, what rules should or should not the photographer obey when photographing? my answer could be the following:
Aesthetic Photography Tips To Make Better Aesthetic Photos
Follow the rule of careful visual composition:
It is said that every photographer is obsessed with his perception of the space around him and it is true: a visual creator knows instinctively that the creation of a powerful image depends on his ability to construct a visually comprehensible setting. So he uses lines, lights and shadows to build it. A photographer is a born observer who manages to use each element in his photography to elaborate a private language and beyond, to assume that each aesthetic decision can have a conceptual value. So scrupulously complying with the rules of composition will allow you to sustain not only your visual language on the basis of visually appealing construction, but also add considerable conceptual personality to the final result of your images.
Don't always follow the rule of justifying your aesthetic decisions:
Sometimes a photograph goes beyond any technical or theoretical approach that can define it. In other words, an image can be conceptually valuable even if some of the technical or visual aspects in it are not entirely neat. We are talking, for example, of splendid photographs that continue to be so despite not having a recognizable focus, or having obvious lighting problems. Photographs that go beyond the technical approach to become something more valuable and profound than the mere analysis of their possible weaknesses. A vision of the image as a consistent conceptual visual document despite any technical errors that may be part of the result. And it is that photography, as an artistic, historical and even personal document, is much more than its possible theoretical inaccuracies:
A good example, without a doubt, are the photographs taken by Robert Capa during the Normandy invasion : most lack focus and in fact, almost all suffer from a refined technical vision but still, they managed to capture in an extraordinary way and above all , enduring the value and hardness of the historical moment that it reflects, perhaps one of the most important of our century. The visual document turned into a tool for the construction of a conceptual idea beyond itself.
Comply with the rule of scrupulously taking care of your technical equipment:
The camera does not make the photographer, but the good functioning of the tool that allows you to photograph will make it much easier to capture the image. We are no longer talking about technical details but about the fact that a team with an ideal performance will facilitate photographic performance. The proper functioning of your photographic equipment - from your camera to the optics you use, tripod and even details that may seem inconsequential such as filters and others - guarantee that you will get exactly what you want to capture from the shot you take.
Don't abide by the rule of using each photographic tool as it is supposed to be used:
Every photographer has basic notions about the use of their photographic equipment, the lighting and technical advantages of the optics they use, either learned by trial and error as a self-taught or due to academic teaching. It is assumed that there are basic rules of use that standardize not only the immediate result of the image that is captured, but its subsequent construction as a photographic concept. Ideas such as only using one type of focal length to photograph certain scenes to the lighting combinations that produce a certain result, the supposedly immutable rules of photographic technique seem to be based on the idea of facilitating photographic work and offering the photographer a way to obtain a ideal visual result with minimal effort.
So take risks with the use of your photographic equipment. Build ideas on these apparent errors in technical approach and dare to build complex visual concepts on them. Do not limit yourself by any apparently rigid technical restriction that, however, can hinder what you need to express and above all, the concept that you intend to deconstruct through your images. Remember: photography is not only a technique, but also an artistic expression that deserves to be built from a combination of highly personal and conceptual approaches that often go beyond the mere tool that allows its construction.
It fulfills the rule of understanding light as the main photographic element.
In photography, light is everything. We are not only talking about the basic concept: every good image usually is due to its author's handling of light as a way of expressing complex ideas. So, worrying about understanding light and its technical properties, the way it influences the image and above all, how it builds and sustains the basic visual ideas that you want to express through the final result of your image. In addition, light is the backbone of all visual construction: it not only influences the elaboration of an attractive visual scenario but also its consistency as an aesthetic idea, as a concept to be built from what photography wants and can capture and also, of what is the individual sense of the photographer about the visual work he creates.
Do not follow the rule of lighting until all shadows in a scene disappear:
Oddly enough, most of the great photographers I know agree that the greatest appeal of a photograph may not only be the way it is lit, but the way the author handles shadows. And it is that the darkness in correspondence to what is illuminated, is perhaps the most difficult element to achieve when posing a photograph. Image is a combination of both the ability of light to create scenes and that of shadows to bring substance and coherence to the final scene. So make sure that in addition to understanding the properties of light, you also understand the properties of shadows.
Comply with the clean framing rule:
A good photograph is often the sum of its compositional successes and the very personal way in which the author presents the visual scene. Make sure to find the middle ground between the context and above all, the elementary construction between what you elaborate as an idea and what you assume as essential within the image. On one occasion, one of my teachers advised me that every time I look at an idea through the viewer, I always try to build it from a completely new and above all, refined point of view. Eliminate objects, visual lines that may compromise what you consider visually indispensable in the image and accentuate its conceptual meaning by including within the frame what you think you need so that the meaning is even more consistent.
Don't follow the rule that all framing must be minimalist:
Master Alexis Perez Luna often insists that all photography is an overlapping of layers and meanings of the image as a visual structure. In other words, an image can encompass a good number of objects and elements as long as they help reinforce its visual message. What is the best way to do it? always try to build a central message that the other elements not only accentuate but also complete. Each idea that is a visual part of what you want to express will have its own and valuable meaning, if you find a way to build a sustainable aesthetic concept through the elements you include in the photograph.
Stick to the rule of learning everything you can about photography by trial and error:
It is a classic phrase within the world of visual creation: Photography is learned by photographing. It may seem redundant and even obvious, but the best way to gain skill, knowledge and above all, a deeper visual understanding is by taking the camera and building your own visual language. Do it whenever you can, the way you can. Familiarize yourself with the use of your camera and optics, with the properties of light, with the forms of framing and composition. Create a very personal vision of the image. It is the most profound and above all personal way to achieve an intimate visual language.
Do not follow the rule that suggests that photography is not learned:
Perhaps it seems to you that photography is only related to your knowledge of how your camera works or your instinct as an observer. Both things have some truth, but in reality, photography is much more than that. And yes, you learn. Like any major art, photography is a technical art that needs to build its own learning spaces, has its own history and above all, its method of learning. So do not neglect the opportunity to sit in a classroom to learn from the basics about photography: perhaps you only reinforce your self-taught knowledge, but most likely you will find a whole series of new ideas that will enrich your photographic process as a creator and professional.
Follow the rule of looking at pictures to learn:
Do it whenever you can, from all the authors you have available, at all times. From the great classical masters to the most conceptual and innovative photographers, good photographic work will allow you to build a basic idea about what photography is as a language and above all, what it expresses as an essentially artistic idea. Furthermore, a good visual reference will always be a subtle learning vehicle of invaluable artistic and conceptual value.
Don't follow the rule of just looking at photos to learn:
Because the image is not only the physical act of photographing and its subsequent result. It is an artistic fact, deeply personal, full of nuances, variables and concepts. A good photograph is the result of a series of personal references that are not only limited to what the photographer observes, but also what he hears, tastes, reads, understands, moves him, saddens him. Photography is a visual but also a sensorial fact, so that it nurtures your artistic sense with good music, films, readings and all the elements that you consider can enrich your visual approach.
Obey the rule to carry your camera whenever you can:
More than once, the great photographers have insisted that a visual creator must learn to find the perfect moment, the enduring, the visually extraordinary. A way to build a consistent and personal visual language that is based on that incessant practice of what photography is or in any case, you want to document. So the great advice from any photographer is to always shoot. Do it in all the ways you can, with the tools available. From your professional camera to the simple compact that you can carry in your pocket. From your smartphone to the plastic camera with which you can carry out exciting visual experiments. The essential thing is to awaken the curiosity of the photographer for the world that surrounds him and above all, to build it as a visual structure.
Don't obey the rule that suggests you can only shoot with a camera:
A photograph is a mental image of the photographer, an artistic document that summarizes the personal and emotional opinion of its author. So photograph even if you don't have a camera in your hands: contemplate, observe, study everything around you. Analyze colors, light and shadow. Imagine scenes, constructions, visual ideas whenever you can. Draw, doodle, make artistic landscapes that give meaning to your artistic vision. Never forget: Photography is more than just a tool.
A short list without a doubt, but that tries to summarize that need to understand photography as a much broader idea than the tool that creates it and above all, as a visual language in its own right. A way to build a consistent expression of reality.
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