What's Your Subject?

"There’s nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." — Ansel Adams

It's happened to all of us: you're photographing something amazing and are really excited about the results. When you finally get the chance to review your photos, excitement turns to disappointment. Your photos are sharp and properly exposed, but something is missing. That sense of awe that you experienced while taking pictures? It just didn't make it's way into your final images.

Why did this happen? Well, chances are you were thinking about your subject all wrong. In the video below, I dive into the reason behind this and how you can completely transform your photography by approaching this concept of "subject" from a different perspective.

We're all taught that we should always make sure that our subjects are clear in our photos. But here's the interesting thing about that: your subject…isn’t really your subject. At least, it might not be what you think it is. Bear with me here. 

I often see this when I’m critiquing photos: the photographer defines their subject in a very literal way and ends up zooming in tight on that subject to make sure it is obvious to the viewer. This isn't surprising, as when most of us think about our subject, we think about it quite literally: a lion, a person, or a beautiful tree. People have been taught to clearly feature their subjects in their images, and the thought process is often something like this: lion . . . zoom in tight . . . click. This seems completely logical, but it's actually the wrong way to think about things, and it leads to a lot of photos that just aren't that interesting.

Here's an example, which I discuss in the video. It's a fairly straightforward photo of a lion. I managed to capture a somewhat interesting moment, but I can't say that this is anywhere near close to being my favorite lion photo that I've ever taken. I was thinking about "subject" very literally, and I ended up with a photo that captures my subject but nothing else. Honestly, it just doesn't do much for me.

But let's see what happens when we start to think about subject in a less literal way. In the photo below, if we think about subject literally, then this photos is about two lions. But that's not what it's actually about. The subject is the two lions bonding and showing affection. Compared to the photo above, this photo tells more of a story. In fact, I think it's fair to say that the story is the subject. Still not my favorite lion photo, but things are starting to move in a more interesting direction.

Finally, consider the photo below. What is the subject? Sure, there's a lion. But there's also a stormy twilight sky in the background. There's a moment that's been captured, which tells a story. And then there is more: there's also a visual design using the creative juxtaposition of shape and color. In my opinion, this photo is much more interesting, creative, and unique than the two we have already studied.

If you think of subject literally, you'll never make photos like the one above. When you start thinking about your subject in a non-literal way and start thinking about your subject as the overall composition, or the juxtaposition of shadow and light, or as a story that is being told, or something else, then you're unshackled, free to take photos that are more artistic and personal. What you thought was your "subject" is really just a single visual element within the overall design—an important element, perhaps (maybe even the most important)—but still just a part.

An easy first step to stop thinking about your subject literally is to try to ask: what kind of story do you want to tell? This way, you can move past simply photographing subjects as they are, and instead wait for the perfect moment to tell the story. The snarling response of the female below to the male's advances is an example of one such moment. But it's also just the beginning of this process of learning to think more expansively and holistically about your subject.

Another way to move beyond the literal is to resist the temptation to zoom in tight. Going wider means that, instead of thinking of your subject as one individual “thing” that is the totality of your composition, you must consider everything in front of you as potentially part of the visual design. Your "main subject" is now just one of the many parts that can come together to make the final photograph. For example, with the photo below, instead of zooming in tight on the lion, I took a wider view to incorporate the s-curve of the track. The subject is actually the visual relationship between the leading s-curve and the lion.

But even when zooming in tight on my "subject," I still try to tell a story and establish a deeper emotional connection between my viewers and the subject. Literally thinking about my subject as a lioness would have resulted in a photo that was just a tight portrait of a lioness. Instead, I was thinking about how her unnerving glare and the bright blood on her face worked together to tell a story. The "subject" isn't the lioness. Instead, it's the primal response her bloody gaze evokes with the viewer. To maximize the impact of that response, I had to wait patiently for the perfect moment when she locked eyes with me.

As your ability to see your subject more expansively progresses, you'll increasingly see the world around you in artistically abstract terms. You won't see the lion, the person, the beautiful tree, or all of the other things everyone else sees. Instead, you'll see shapes, colors, shadows, light, stories—and fleeting, perfect moments. As you see these things more and more, your photos will get less literal, and more abstract. Your "subject" might become less and less apparent, such as with the silhouetted lion in the photo below. The "subject" here is only implied by the outline created by the backlit mane. This photo is an abstract study of the interplay of shadow and light. A lion just happens to be what is featured in this photo, but this artistic technique can be used with a wide range of "subjects," with similar eye-catching results.

And this is the final gift of learning to think more expansively about your subject: you realize that you don't need amazing "subjects" to create amazing photos. What you need is a clear and compelling artistic vision. With that, even subjects that most people might consider boring or mundane can be transformed into something special.

You can effectively share your unique vision with the world by looking at your subject differently. Don’t ask yourself, “What's my subject?” and give a literal answer. Instead, focus on the overall visual design and the story you’re trying to tell. 

Give this a try and let me know how that changes your photography.