If your photos are boring, get closer. This was sage advice from photographer from long ago. What he was saying is that the most common mistake when composing a photograph is including too much. Landscape photographers are particularly culpable in this respect, because it's often the vastness of the landscape that has us reaching for our cameras. But everything cannot be...
Mine's bigger than yours. Selling bragging rights is what more megapixels mean for consumer camera marketing departments. If an image never makes it to ink on paper and is confined to a virtual existence on screen, then the fewest megapixels money can buy are enough. Full HD monitors and televisions display about 2 megapixels worth of image data. Even the latest 4K Ultra High Definition screens...
The truth is that most artworks sell because they match the ottoman, or the curtains, or fit the blank spaces on the wall. To be sure, artistic composition and technical execution come into play. But, by and large, art is purchased as decoration and needs to fit in with the surrounding decor. And there are no blank spaces on the wall more wanting of art than the tall and narrow spaces between the windows...
In 1854, Louis Pasteur observed that "chance favors the prepared mind." More than a century later, Woody Allen quipped that "seventy percent of success in life is showing up." These quotes by a scientist and a comedian can be distilled into a nature photographer's mantra: Show up prepared. With the global ubiquity of cameras and photo enthusiasts, photographers amount to what is likely the biggest artists community...
The devil is in getting the details. That's because lots of megapixels and pricey lenses won't get you there alone. Making use of all those megapixels also takes meticulous technique. Getting sharp, detailed images requires following three rules, focus accurately, choose the best aperture, and keep the camera motionless during exposure. Ignore any of these rules and your prize winning composition may well...
