Photography is a lifelong process

There are many factors that go into making a strong photograph. Some of the factors cannot be anticipated. Some can. Compare the photographs you take today with the ones you took five years ago. Hopefully, there is a noticeable improvement in your work. If there isn't, there probably should be. Photography leverages a combination of interactions with the human mind. We relate on an emotional level to seeing something, photographing it and seeing the photograph later. Some of the elements of a photograph are independent of 'skills'.

You probably have seen and remember an image taken during the Vietnam War. There is a man standing in the middle of a road being executed by a gunshot to the head. He is dead as of the moment of the photograph. His body is still standing, his face lacks any particular expression, his hands are tied behind back. The exposure was made at the exact moment of the execution.

There are other details you remember about the image too, but you probably do not remember the background, the composition, the tonal range of the photograph or any of the other elements of an image which one can practice and learn. All of those elements are unnotable for this particular photograph. Very few pictures hold up to the lack of qualities that the image lacks. That picture is so powerful that you remember it anyway. It gets its strengths from two things, an incredible moment -- as in decisive moment and a built-in human factor that causes us to examine war and death. The photographer was at that place at that time and was prepared exactly enough to capture the image. Amazing photography.

Chances are slight that you will locate subject matter so compelling that you can discard all notions of photographic craft and still produce work that will be memorable. If you come across such a once-in-a-lifetime moment, you can subordinate craft to moment; if you do not come across such a moment, subordinating craft will only hurt the quality of your work. Conversely, try not to overemphasize craft at the expense of content. Of course, there is an almost sensual reward that some of us get when the shutter clicks; that reward leverages against reason; we just want to squeeze off the image and then squeeze off another, another and another.

A few elements of a photograph:

composition

visual organization, movement, line, weight, all that stuff

moment

the decisive moment as exemplified by Henri Cartier-Bresson

print quality

the presentation which the rest of us see

meaning

some photographs just have meaning

execution

other factors like: was the camera moving, was the perspective the best possible, etc

Every year I resolve to improve some aspect of my photography, it could be the use of line, use of compositional weight, print quality, decisive moment, image appreciation, subject choice, framing skills (as in hang-it-on-a-wall framing), picture grouping, camera position, use of texture, print color, film developing, laboratory consistency, frequency of work, composition, volume of work, joy of creation, historical background, anything.

Throughout the year, I make a medium conscious effort to emphasize that aspect of photography. Periodically, I try to take stock and see if my New Year's resolution will be realized. This practice has helped my work; I believe this is a simple, inexpensive thing that is likely to help your photography too. Try it - every year!