Post your best photograph

Just getting into photography, but probably my best photo so far:

Did you take that with a mobile phone?

lol, no but with an old compact point and shoot

This is probably my favourite:

Out of interest where was that picture taken ?

Believe me, I'm not saying anything has to be abstract or edgy. Maybe you've missed my point My main problem is perhaps more with peoples definitions of a 'good photograph'. Naturally, this is going to differ from person to person. But photography is an art form, and art shouldn't exist just to look pretty.

It just seems such a shame that there are so many intelligent, interesting and profound concepts behind photography which can be explored by anyone (new to photography or not), and yet they are completely ignored by most, in favour of an image which just looks aesthetically pretty.

here's my latest!





we went to a swedish ballet
but the dancers didn't even speak

You'll know soon enough

This rocks. Best photo here.

I see where you're coming from. It would make photography as an artform a bit valueless if just pretty pictures were lauded when everyone can take a picture of something pretty they see - ok I'm sure it is pretty hard to get the technicality or lighting right but it is possible to learn this fairly quickly especially now technology is so accessible.

What is impressive is the insight as you say. I think everyone posting here would probably describe themselves as hobbyists though, so it is a bit different. I like painting sometimes, purely to enjoy myself not to exhibit or anything like that (they're utter tosh) and I don't mind showing them to friends or family but it doesn't mean much to me to hear what they say. As for the songs I compose I do try to make them interesting and other people's opinions of them are important to me with these. My point is people don't always have to make a statement with their hobbies unless they want to, I disagree with you there.



But yes in order to be art I think photos do need some sort of insight even if very abstract, though I do like simply pretty pictures as well........

I agree. I think people develop something I call "the magic eye" over time, practice and being inspired by other peoples work.
I think a lot of people start off similar when they first use a camera, they take a photo and to them it looks good, or at least better than they are used to taking.
Gradually I think peoples standard get's higher and because of this their expectations from other peoples work get higher too and they are less impressed.
Often I think someone else's work has to be better than your own or on par for you to be impressed.

Without sounding harsh I think alot of images on this thread are poor, but then if I look back on images I took when first starting out in photography, I think those are poor too. At the time though I would have probably posted them on here and been proud.

Basically it comes down to practice makes perfect.

Also you don't have to be a chef to appreciate good food, but I think it helps.

I am becoming ever fascinated with the portrayal of the ordinary/everyday in photography. I think Richard Billingham's series of photographs called Ray's a Laugh...

I am becoming ever fascinated with the portrayal of the ordinary/everyday in photography. I think Richard Billingham's series of photographs called Ray's a Laugh really show that the photographic equipment you take an image with shouldn't be associated with preconceived notions of what makes a good photograph. It's the vision and thought process behind his images, taken with a cheap film camera, the cheapest film, and development at a local chemist, that have produced such honest representations of his personal every day life which were so talked about.

The skewed colours, blurry parts, strange angles and blown out areas of the image where the flash went off are all things that most photographers don't want for their photographs, but sometimes it just works. Oh how I love the snapshot aesthetic.

Sorry I rambled. I'm not really sure why I did.

I just had a look at some of the photos in Ray's a Laugh but really can't see the appeal. They're quite painful and ugly to look at in my opinion.

Each to their own though

I just had a look at some of the photos in Ray's a Laugh but really can't see the appeal. They're quite painful and ugly to look at in my opinion.

Each to their own though