Have you ever wondered.. What makes a good photographer?
Is it the equipment? Perhaps the lighting technique? Is it the knowledge of aperture? Or the knowledge of software such as lightroom, photoshop.. etc? Or is it just the talent (or "eye") behind the lens?
I know many Hollywood Photographers and Celebrity Photographers. From the ones who have the right equipment, yet know nothing about ISO, Aperture, or Photoshop.. but take so many pictures that every so often I will see a really good photo come from them, and wonder how I didn't get an equal or better image. And I still don't know if its the camera or the fact that they take so many shots. that they're bound to get one good shot, out of the five hundred pictures taken.. or perhaps its the combination of the two.
Than there's the super technical photographers, who know everything about lighting, aperture, ISO, and have all the right software, and though I may like some of their work.. for the most I'm not inspired by it.
There's the photographers that use a simple point and shoot camera, and come up with amazing pictures.
Or the photographers that have less than great images and photoshop the hell out of it. Are those photographers though? Or just photoshop artists?
And lastly there's the photographers who have assistants light everything, and all they do is pick up the camera, and click away, then hand their images to a retoucher. Which I believe is the case with a lot of professional photographers.
After much evaluation, In my opinion this is what makes a great photographer:
Someone who cared enough about the art of photography to at least learn photography 101. Whether self taught or in a classroom. Someone who also knows the basics of composition and lighting.
The less photoshop, the better..I strongly dislike over processed images. If I can't tell if its a painting or a photograph.. What's the point? I do feel that some knowledge of photoshop is important, because models aren't as perfect as we'd like them to be, and sometimes there's just a thing or two you need to fix in a photo. Someone who can take inspiration from other photographers without being a copycat.
And last, but most certainly not least: Talent.. someone with "an eye". This is the hardest to write about because its the "IT factor". It's something almost unexplainable.. Something that stands out for reasons unknown. I feel all these components are important..without one, you just feel like something is lacking.
