Successful commercial aviation reminds me of the best commercial photography. Both are organized around key principles, one of which involves rules and their use. At first, rules are paramount. In aviation, the rules are emphasized so forcefully and often they become the first thing—and sometimes only thing, a professional pilot sees, thinks, and heeds. So much so that as a more experienced professional pilot observes a less experienced, rule-driven pilot wrestle with rules, the lesser experienced flyer seemingly pitches and heaves from one rule decision gate to the next, and so on.
On its face, rule-focused flying would suggest strengthened safety. In actuality, the more experienced pilot sees a herky-jerky style of flying that lacks logical transitions between phases of flight. The challenge of this roughness is how it manifests itself in inferior timing that complicates the effort of her crew partner to anticipate, and understand. Importantly, this flying style makes it difficult for others to determine the point of the effort.
The same could be said of photography. There are so many rules—composition, light management, shutter mechanics, shot planning, lens selection…the list goes on. The quantity of the rules is not the challenge. The challenge is when to use a rule, which rule, rule execution, and importantly, when that rule is to be discarded in the name of artist prerogative. In the domain of photography, these and other challenges are why truly pleasing photography is possible only among the truly patient and committed artists. Wannabes easily grow weary of the effort. They retire their camera and shelve the device behind the disused winter coats in some home hallway closet.
That’s too bad. The jury is out as to whether the most successful photographers begin fully steeped in rules, or grow best via an alternative free-range motif where rule fragments loosely inform the work. I see merits in both approaches. However, I hold that disrespect for rules does not mean “rule-less” photography, it means photography conducted by “other” rules. As in life, personal rules likely only convey a fruitful logic within the walled gardens of individuals. If you are the only person who will ever appreciate your photographic work, your work need only speak to you. However, this changes if you intend to take your photographic artistry to the wider world, to the sensibilities and tastes of others. Now is when rules arrive and exert their inevitable, and appropriate weight.
So, what are some photograph rules that matter and why do they matter? Before I submit what I believe to be the #1 Rule in all successful, pleasing, striking photography, I want to draw your attention to “why do they matter?” The ability to provide a thoughtful answer to that basic question is a challenge to do photographic homework before one ever depresses the camera shutter button. I will snuff out the urge to delve into “why…” because it’s actually not “basic”, as alleged. Suffice to say that of the questions that press in on a serious photographer, the “why” may be the most difficult question to be reckoned with; counterintuitively, up front.
Okay, you persevered. The #1 Rule, according to this professional is: put something beautiful in front of the lens. Pause and consider those words. The inference here is that the whole adventure—for the serious, committed photographer, is not a tour de force of camera use. No, one must be willing to do other work before carrying the camera to the shot location. That work is the artist’s aspiration and philosopher’s errand: what is beauty? Distilled, rules are not guardrails but aids to story-telling. With the aid of rules, one can glimpse a story as it gradually comes into view then have the means to pursue and capture “it.” To the degree one cannot recognize and pursue such beauty, the #1 rule will tend to supersede all other rules. How? No one will linger to consume your art if the beauty is not evident, abundant, and arresting.
