Think: subject, environment, composition

I shoot so many pix of Fiona, she brought me my Fuji.

When shooting pictures don't just think subject; Although, a fine subject can often carry a weak picture. Try to think subject, pictorial environment (background/foreground) and composition.

The subject should be almost stand-alone good. Fiona is back-lit and captured in the middle of an action. She's not looking at the camera. All in all, there is nice feel to this image of a small child.

Adding, or maybe I should say not taking away, from the importance of my subject is the great expanse of gray pavement. There is little in either the foreground or the background to distract us from Fiona. The only colour in the picture is the little girl; This is a bonus.

The composition helps to strengthen Fiona's importance in the picture. She is dramatically placed high in the top right corner with a strong, dramatic diagonal shadow guaranteeing our eyes go straight to the her.

With today's digital cameras there is no excuse not to experiment. Shoot lots and stay alert. This isn't the only good photo from this shoot but it was my favourite.