Photo Critique: Use your head, not just your camera

If you wait for a Good Picture to happen in front of you, you will be waiting for a long time; pictures are created with your head, not with your camera.

By TOM LANGFORD
Tom Langford photo critique 311 (photo credit: Andrea Krogmann)
Tom Langford photo critique 311
(photo credit: Andrea Krogmann)
Tom Langford is a commercial photographer, professional retoucher, and a website designer. He teaches photography courses for beginners and advanced.
Here is an excellent picture from Andrea Krogmann. The Religious figure appears to float in an ethereal space. The second figure looks secular and very much of this world, so there is an interesting contrast between them. However I find the single leg of this figure a little distracting.
Photo: Andrea Krogmann
Photo: Andrea Krogmann
The only way in which the picture could be improved is if Andrea had the good luck to find a second religious figure walking in the opposite direction and for their paths to cross just at the optimal moment, I have indicated how this could have looked in my retouched version.
Photo: Andrea Krogmann
Photo: Andrea Krogmann
When my students complain that there is not enough time to respond to fast moving events I have to agree with them. That's why photographers use their imagination, not only to  prepare in advance, but also to instantly respond to situations with a variety of photographic options.
If you wait for a Good Picture to happen in front of you, you will be waiting for a long time, and you probably won't be ready to capture it anyway. Pictures are created with your head, not with your camera.
Details of Tom's photography courses and field trips can be found at http://www.langford.co.il/courses.