What makes a photo art?

I was doing some editing for a friend the other day and I made one of the photos into my favorite black and white edit and adjusted the cropping. (Thanks, The Luxe Lens for introducing me to my favorite black and white preset, I use it as the base for this style). He commented that the edit made the difference between a photo and art. The next day that got me thinking.

No matter what the edit, there is one thing that defines art.

That thing is intention.

It is the difference between taking a picture and hoping it turns out well (which I did a lot in the beginning) and paying attention to lighting, rule of thirds, etc.

What I’m saying is this: learn the foundations.

Learn about contrast, white balance, cropping, camera settings. Learn all of the foundations. There are some great free and paid classes online. Yes, practice is important, but knowing the essentials is what’s going to make the difference in your photos.

Check out my current work:

Now look at my old work before I worked with an intention or knew how to really do photography. I can now tell you why some photos work better than others. Before learning the foundations, I wouldn’t know why I liked some pictures better.

No one starts off knowing what they are doing.

No one is born with all the talent they need.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking you don’t have talent, you just have to cultivate it.