Making a Good Picture into a Great Photograph

By Bob Martin
Bob Martin Photography.net

Making a good picture into a Great Photograph is more than just downloading it from the camera onto your computer.
It takes an eye to see what the camera did not capture right and the conditions you could not control when the picture was taken.

I took this picture on a very hot, sunny day in September, in the middle of the afternoon.
I wanted to show the newlyweds dancing their first dance in the great setting of their wedding place. They were dancing near where their guests were seated and even one of the guests was taking a picture
at the same time I was and was in my shot behind the couple.
There was clutter in the back ground and flower petals from her bouquet on the grass,
all of which I did not want in the photograph I presented to them.
Due to the bright sunlight and the blue sky, the trees looked bluish green,
the mountains looked bluish brown due to the sun and haze, and the lake was not a true blue either.
On top of all that, the bride’s face was shadowed by her new husband
and even her dress and his shirt and vest are faded by the shadows.
The picture would have been OK and the couple would have loved it, but I did not.

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Below is the photograph that I presented to the couple

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The guests and guest photographer as well as the flower pedals are gone.
The clutter in the back ground is gone and only the lone row boat remains.

The trees and grass are a real green,
the mountains are now showing their grandeur and
the lake is now really blue.
The shadow on the bride’s face is there,
but not anywhere as much of a hindrance as before and
the couple is brighter and their clothing is their true colors.

Did I have a “no good” camera when I took the picture?
No, I took this picture with a very fine professional grade camera
It is just that the programming in every camera will capture color shifts due to the conditions
when the picture was taken and no camera or photographer can always control the background,
the guests and the lighting conditions in a candid shot during your wedding.It takes a great photo editing software and
someone who has had the training with it to make the corrections.
So you see its takes more than a good camera to give you a great photograph

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