Most people now-a-days, take mediocre images, under exposed, noisy, dark, and badly framed ones, edit the heck out of it and post it onto social media and call themselves a photographer. No offense to those who are victim to this, but this is not photography.
Photography is not all about slapping a filter, cropping the unwanted parts and uploading. It is an art form. Due to the massive boom in social media, the general public have been exposed to some photographers who make it seem as if that is all to it. So, many people get into this craft without actually knowing what it is. I wanted to shine a light on the things that a photographer does, that we, as viewers, process unconsciously, VISUAL SUBTEXT.
Rephrasing myself from earlier, Photography is an art form. The things that a photographer does, is to ensure that the feelings he has towards the subject of the photograph, are visualised in the picture he delivers. There is meaning behind everything a professional does. It may all seem as irrelevant from an outsider's perspective, but they all contribute their part on making the image, impactful.
I am not saying that I follow everything that I just said. I too am a victim of the edit however I please and upload gang, but these steps have improved the general quality of my photography by miles.
Well, the images that offer us an impact are those which are framed with an emotion in mind. I had intentionally focussed on the plants on the side here, while framing them in the, well, side, as the plants are not the main focus of the image, but the pathway is. But the pathway is hidden, in background blur, just like the pathway to happiness is right in front of our eyes, but still hidden.
I also edited this in such a way that the green of the plants turn out to be a little colder than usual. They have more blues than they should. But the pathway is bright and white, just like the path to happiness. The framing also has the basic depth, as there is a foreground in the form of a black handrail and the pathway in the background with the plants as the mid ground. Since the photo was framed and edited to convey a certain emotion, of Euphoria, you might say, it appears impactful.
Sure, you might say, I didn't catch any of this. But I'll say you did. Subconsciously. That's why this picture appears impactful. That goes poetic real quick. Our brains have been hard wired to find the hidden meanings within images and basically creative works. That is why poetry, photography and painting exist as art forms. An avenue where thousands of words can be said, with none being spoken.
Consider the case of this picture. This was captured from eye level, the framing is just average and the only thing going here is the edit. Since the edit makes this image meaningful, the entire meaning behind the photo is not passed onto the viewer.
Editing and Post reframing are techniques that professionals use too. But the way they use it is different. They use it to accentuate the meaning and the mood of the image, not to make it pop, but to take the things that pop straight out of camera, and make it better.
By applying this hidden meaning to your images, you can make them pop from the work of others.
Thanks, Regards,
Pranav Aravindhan V