What makes a good photo - some thoughts

I think individually we pretty quickly make a judgement about whether we like a picture or not - but it is interesting to me to understand how someone else reacts to your pictures

While the basics tend to be: 

• Compelling subject matter (sometimes referred to as Storytelling or Emotional Impact)
• Composition (the framing of elements or the main subject(s) vs the background)
• Exposure or the overall brightness or range of lighting and tones
• Focus (for the main subject at least - generally)

But as with many things in life, art and photography included, there seems to be few absolute rules, which fortunately allows an artist's creativity to show.  Aspects like intentional camera-blur, or depth of field choices, among a wide array of options and techniques, that can add to a photo if done carefully

So created this blog entry to mention one way of getting feedback is to enter contests (a later blog entry will share some of the local photo entries we have received awards for).  Another example is on-line photo communities.  We have dabbled with several like Viewbug and Eyeem (which is shutting down Jan. 2026), but recently I found Photocrowd, and since November 2025 have explored several contests of which this was one that got a Judges comment recent entry comment (will open a new browser tab)

While the Photocrowd "Rankings" don't automatically mean other people will like a photo, I have found it interesting to explore.   Also, you may also notice that the version of this image (above) was re-cropped for the gallery...because after reviewing the feedback, I agreed

Side-note:  the Photocrowd Photographer Rankings in their Leaderboard use the highest 24 voted points images for a rolling 12-week period of time, and there currently are nearly 18,000 photographers active.  I've only got about 6-weeks of image ratings so far, but have climbed into the top 10%....I'm curious to see where I can get to on the Leaderboard, but ultimately it really doesn't matter - If you like a picture, that's what really matters