Picture of the Month — Boy with Dog by NYI Graduate Murnice Kuesel

This month, we're glad to note that NYI Contributing Editor Richard Martin has graciously provided us with his analysis of a provocative student photograph. Students who have the good fortune to work with Richard know that he has a keen eye and knows how to get to the bottom of what works in a photograph, and how subtle changes can affect the image's meaning. .

At NYI we teach our students a simple Three-Step Method for setting up every photograph they shoot:

• Step 1. Know your subject.
• Step 2. Focus attention on your subject.
• Step 3. Simplify.

This simple Three-Step Method is the secret of every successful photograph ever taken. We teach our students to consider these three steps every time they look into the viewfinder. To consider them before they press the shutter button.

When our students mail in their photographs for analysis by their instructor, the instructor starts by commenting on what we call the three Guidelines. Of course, the instructor analyzes other elements of the picture too — focus, exposure, filters, etc. But the key to every good photo — and the essential element of every great photo — is adherence to these three Guidelines.

How do they work? How can you apply them? It's beyond the scope of this Web site to teach you every nuance, but you will get an inkling from the Photo of the Month Analysis that follows.

Boy with Dog

Photo by NYI Graduate Murnice Kuesel

Here's a photo every parent would love! This picture, taken by NYI Student Murnice Kuesel, aptly illustrates the warm affection between a boy and his pet and shows that this relationship is one of trust. Not every animal would submit to such a close embrace but the dog here looks pretty relaxed about it all. And that's a tribute to both the boy's gentleness as well as the photographer's sensitivity to what is going on here.

How did the photographer draw attention to the subject? The tight composition make it very clear what this photo is about. Our attention is certainly on the boy and his dog. But more about this in a moment.

Could the photo in any way be simplified? Not really. Some people might quibble that the boy's knee is too prominent and should be at least partially cropped. Maybe, but I think that the bare knee poking through the hole in the boy's jeans works very well. Pants with worn-out knees are almost an obligatory symbol of childhood, both of boys and girls. We all had them at one time. Of course, nowadays some young adults actually pay extra to get a pair of jeans with holes in them, a purchasing decision rather incomprehensible to members of an older generation like myself. Or they make the holes themselves. But I would like to think that THIS hole was acquired in a more honest fashion.

Compositionally, though, the knee plays an important role. Notice how the two faces and the knee comprise a kind of three-part "stack" of elements. If you look at the knee, your eye is just naturally drawn upward toward the two faces. Likewise, look at the boy’s face and you will be irresistibly drawn downward to the dog and then the knee. This repeating of elements is a very effective tool and is an excellent example of "drawing attention to the subject."

Some people might complain that this photo is a bit old-fashioned and overly sentimental. It's not sophisticated or "cutting edge." That may be — but who cares? What we have here is honest sentiment that any parent would respond to. But there's more. Pictures like this represent memories and hearken back to a more innocent time when we were children. They are part of a family's history and as such become important heirlooms. This photo will be saved for years and years by the boy's parents. Furthermore, someday it will belong to the boy, all grown up and perhaps with children of his own. He will remember the day it was taken, the dog, the jeans with the hole in them and that will trigger a flood of feelings and related memories.

Eventually there comes a time when an old photo is all we have left of someone we loved, of a time long gone, and of emotions we had forgotten. You can't put a price tag on that.