How to make a snapshot a good photo?

You can't really, you have to take a good shot in the first place.

However, you can make things better with a little editing, cropping the image so it's better framed can do wonders.
 
If by 'snapshot' you mean a photo taken quickly, then there's no reason a quickly taken photo shouldn't be awesome if the subject is great, the lighting is great, the composition is great, choice of angle, focal length, exposure, DoF are also all great

There's many a great photo shot on cameraphones, but most of the above have to be in place to make them great

But if you mean walking down the street and your camera goes 'off' then its unlikely to make a good photo and no amount of Photoshopping will make it one

Dave
 
fabphoto said:
So is it just a composition issue or is there more to it?
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There's MUCH more to it. Composition is important but you also need a subject and most importantly you need light, good light. What good light means depends on the subject but for example landscape shots tend to look crap if you have a grey overcast sky.
 
fabphoto said:
I thought an overcast sky was good cause the light is not harsh?
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That's often the case for outdoor portraits (though personally I like strong lighting then too for more options), but a totally featureless flat grey sky doesn't do landscapes any favours normally; totally overcast with strong featured clouds are fine though - sometimes

Dave
 
DG Phototraining said:
If by 'snapshot' you mean a photo taken quickly, then there's no reason a quickly taken photo shouldn't be awesome if the subject is great, the lighting is great, the composition is great, choice of angle, focal length, exposure, DoF are also all great

There's many a great photo shot on cameraphones, but most of the above have to be in place to make them great

But if you mean walking down the street and your camera goes 'off' then its unlikely to make a good photo and no amount of Photoshopping will make it one

Dave
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This^
 
I always say - pick 10 photographs you love. I can 90% guarantee the one thing they'll have in common is 'great light'.

You can shoot wonderful compositions in the wrong light and get 'meh' photos. Shoot an OK composition in great light and you have a great photo. Of course if you shoot a great composition in great light you ought to be looking at an outstanding photo.
 
Phil V said:
I always say - pick 10 photographs you love. I can 90% guarantee the one thing they'll have in common is 'great light'.

You can shoot wonderful compositions in the wrong light and get 'meh' photos. Shoot an OK composition in great light and you have a great photo. Of course if you shoot a great composition in great light you ought to be looking at an outstanding photo.
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I agree but don't confuse "great light" with good quality light. There is no one sort of light that is good for all pictures.
eg. this random example from flickr needed appauling light to make it work.....https://flic.kr/p/e5sW8q
 
Nawty said:
There's MUCH more to it. Composition is important but you also need a subject and most importantly you need light, good light. What good light means depends on the subject but for example landscape shots tend to look crap if you have a grey overcast sky.
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Rubbish you can get good photos without good light see below







The first photo for example gives the mood of the place, something good light can't do
maybe you should study more black and white photos and see how going across from black to light grey can make a pictuire
 
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realspeed said:
Rubbish you can get good photos without good light see below







The first photo for example gives the mood of the place, something good light can't do
maybe you should study more black and white photos and see how going across from black to light grey can make a pictuire
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All of these photos have good light.
"Good" light is just light that's appropriate to the subject.

The idea the good photos have good light is almost a truism.
 
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'Good light' will vary from shot to shot. What is good for a landscape may be terrible for a portrait. Part of the skill in photography is judging the light, whether in a studio or up a mountain. This only comes with (lots of!) practice.
 
jon ryan said:
'Good light' will vary from shot to shot. What is good for a landscape may be terrible for a portrait. Part of the skill in photography is judging the light, whether in a studio or up a mountain. This only comes with (lots of!) practice.
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Exactly, what the OP is inferring is you can only take pictures in decent light ie daylight for example, there are some fantastic scenes taken at night or in poor light be it portraits -landscapes or any other variation. So saying in good light means nothing and should have said light suitable for the picture
 
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brman said:
I agree but don't confuse "great light" with good quality light. There is no one sort of light that is good for all pictures.
eg. this random example from flickr needed appauling light to make it work.....https://flic.kr/p/e5sW8q
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But that is 'good quality light' for that image. ;)

I didn't intend to get that deep.

The old phrase 'there's no such thing as bad weather - just inappropriate clothing'

has a photographic equivalent in 'there's no such thing as bad light - just inappropriate subjects'.
As I breakfasted mid post - it's proven above.
 
Stepping back to a simpler answer to the OP's question.

You can't make a snapshot into a great photo. You have to make a great photo*.

That takes consideration at the outset, consideration during the exposure and consideration in the treatment beyond the exposure.

*After thirty years I'm not sure I've ever taken a 'great' photo, so maybe I'm not the right person to answer this?
 
I know it's has been asked a lot of time.
Can you recommend any websites or free resources to understand better which light is most suitable for each situation/subject
 
fabphoto said:
I know it's has been asked a lot of time.
Can you recommend any websites or free resources to understand better which light is most suitable for each situation/subject
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There's no shortcuts, the answer is to learn to 'see' rather than looking. That's the difference between a crap, OK, good and great photographer. It's not found in an instruction manual or cheat sheet, it's all about seeing the potential in what's around you. It's a visual art, some people are intrinsically good at it 'born with talent' some people never realise it (usually because they believe there are incapable), but most of us just shoot thousands of hours learning and honing our craft to become somewhere between OK and very good.

Start by looking at photos, yours or others, but stop looking at the subject and look at the light and the composition, they're the 'tricks', for what they're worth.

There are websites with all the compositional rules, but tbh you could probably write one yourself if you sit down and think about it.
 
If it looks good then the light is suitable.

If you want a golden, contrasty landscape then take the photo in golden, contrasty light. If you want a diffuse glow through a misty forest, take the photo when there is a diffuse glow in the light.

I think people overthink this a little. As if good photographers do some sort of magic to create great light (not talking about studio set ups here). Often, they just wait on the conditions they want.
 
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ghoti said:
Often, they just wait on the conditions they want.
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And there in lies the crux, GREAT photos usually require patience and not many people have enough of it.

Occasionally you might get lucky but if you look at the people churning out lots of great images that is not luck it's watching the weather forecast and getting up at 3am to go to a place they've previously scoped out so that they get the good light, or setting up their hide in a great position and waiting for hours or days. It doesn't just happen.

Yes reportage is a bit different but you still need to understand composition and light to get the great images.

The alternative answer is "f/8 and be there" :D

edit: for example: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th...ma-from-holy-island-in-northumberland.543518/
 
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realspeed said:
Rubbish you can get good photos without good light see below







The first photo for example gives the mood of the place, something good light can't do
maybe you should study more black and white photos and see how going across from black to light grey can make a pictuire
Click to expand...

You need to understand that good light is not the same as bright light. Some of the above have potential if you worked the scene, but some are not what I'd call good light to start with.
 
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