Good Photography is thought-provoking. – What a photograph stimulates is more important than what it shows. The purpose is to stimulate the viewer’s curiosity, imagination, thoughts, and feelings. Evoke an emotional response. Pictures are like conversations; our picture makes a statement, and the viewer responds. – Photography that doesn’t stimulate us is a dead-end conversation, dull and uninteresting; viewers get no benefit or reward. – The viewer may not ‘like’ your picture, but it must ‘stimulate’ them. – Your ‘Purpose’ is self-enjoyment. The viewers ‘Purpose’ is wanting to be stimulated. – If the viewer gets no benefit, the photograph fails.

We create pictures that stimulate ‘People’ by understanding ‘How pictures appeal to Human Nature’ because Human Nature dictates how we perceive the world, including pictures. If we don’t make pictures comply with Human Nature, they instantly fail. – We’re hoping a viewer’s Human Nature will adapt to our pictures; it will NOT do this. We must learn how to adapt our pictures to comply with Human Nature. – We can’t create pictures people respond to unless we know how people respond to pictures, and by knowing how people respond to pictures, we can influence their response, to create a more powerful response when making pictures.

Artistic knowledge tells us ‘How to make pictures that appeal to Human Nature.’ To stimulate the emotional response, we must push the viewer’s emotional buttons in a visual way. Visual art uses a visual language. – Artists use visual language the way writers use written language. Visual language allows us to communicate visually; it’s where we apply ‘Artistic Principles’ to create engaging Photography. ‘Artistic Principles’ are creative guidelines used by old master painters for creating Works of Art. – Artistic knowledge translates our unrefined raw images into refined and beautiful artistic pictures that stimulate our senses. – Art is our ‘Translator.’

As a viewer, literal pictures don’t provide a benefit because they show us what we expect to see. Not showing anything new, they don’t ignite our curiosity. Pictures we don’t understand, give us no benefit because we can’t engage with them. – Good Photography is in the sweet spot between the two extremes. – Light, three-dimensional form, and atmospheric distance give the picture a foundation of realism, a point of reference to understand the picture. Then, the artistic interpretation makes the picture different, stimulating our minds and evoking the viewers’ curiosity, thoughts, and feelings. – Create ‘Different but Understandable’ pictures.

We learn Human Nature first, then Artistic Knowledge, then Photography. Then, you have a foundation to make good Photography because you have the knowledge to understand the logic of what you’re doing; this also gives you artistic freedom and personal style. Enthusiasts looking to improve turn to Photography for the answers, unaware the answers they need are not found in Photography. – Nowadays, digital cameras are so good and easy to use that the problem is probably not photographic – it’s most likely an artistic and human nature problem. Pictures are sharp but feel cold and clinical. They don’t appeal to our senses; they lack feeling.

Today, photographs aren’t the product of the camera but software. The camera only records ‘assets’ for Photoshop; where we create the photograph. The more assets we take, the more choices we have to create pictures. These assets are the Base image first: I try to get the final image in a single frame, to which I add improvements. Technical assets improve the technical quality: Exposures for shadow detail, etc. Artistic assets improve the content: Subjects not lit in the Base image, extra people, etc. Finally, various skies to improve mood and atmosphere. –  I take one composition using a tripod so everything aligns, and I often stitch Panoramics.

After compositing the assets with blending and masking, I make the photograph feel real but looks impersonal. – The aim is technical perfection. I make a strong three-dimensional illusion, enhancing the picture’s qualities of light, three-dimensional form, and spatial or atmospheric distance. This gives the picture a foundation of realism, a point of reference to understand it. Once the realistic three-dimensional illusion of reality is created, that underlying realistic feel is always present in the picture, no matter how radical the artistic treatment is. Creating rich and detailed shadows is critical. –  Realism helps the viewer connect with the photograph.

The final stage is to make the photograph feel unreal and personal: An interpretation. I apply the Artistic Principles of light, form, emphasis, contrast, variation, and cohesion, each in turn, to the picture. The workshop explains all of these principles. The emphasis is now on creating visual order and structure for the viewer’s efficiency. Mood and atmosphere for the viewer’s response. The picture should fit in one or more of these categories – Symbolism, connection, ambiguity, or innovation to ignite the viewer’s curiosity, again, all explained in the workshop. – I apply my personal artistic preferences to create photographs in my own artistic style.

The ideal photograph has a purpose, is different but understandable and benefits the viewer and ourselves. The aim is to be different first, not better. Then ‘different’ and better. – Human nature dictates that people prefer ‘different before better.’ Different ignites our curiosity and imagination; better only sparks appreciation. Generic or literal only encourages disinterest or boredom. Creativity allows us to be different and provides great creative satisfaction. Quality requires knowledge, skill, and craftsmanship – but artistic pictures have underlying principles that can be taught and learned. – Good photographs are not defined by how sharp they are.

My workshops are designed for busy people with limited time. – Enthusiasts with a passion for Photography and a love of travel and the outdoors but who want more from their travel pictures than just records of where they went. – Enthusiasts who want a short, but in-depth, quality tuition in Photography and Photoshop so they maximize their opportunities to travel by shooting Photography they can be creative with, back home. – This methodical approach solves all your weaknesses because I cover every element of ‘The Signal’: Human Nature, Art, and Photography. – The online workshop can be spread over time so it fits in with your work. My job is to give you all the tools to reinvent your travel and landscape Photography with a newfound passion and enthusiasm when things feel stale. – Let’s look at the details next.