Using the term “Value” can mean one of two things.
It can have a monetary value which we know all about. Take a photo, print it – someone buys it as a magazine, wall art – whatever it is.
The second value is the emotional value.
Here are the 3 types of reasons I think that people will like your image.
1. It is beautiful.
It is a nice image. A landscape. Macro shot of a seashell. City scape. Whatever it is. The light is right, the colours just work, the composition is spot on. These images are inspiring and many of us want to get to be like those that produce these kinds of images. Look at Thomas Heaton, Nigel Danson as an example of really nice images that become calendars and photobooks that people buy. They are just – well – beautiful.
2. It is interesting.
It has something about the image that makes you look for more than several seconds because of the way it has been taken. Different lens aspect, different way of composition, the strange lighting – something about it captures your attention. Some images in the past that I have taken when making documentary photo magazines on a subject are usually including these kinds of images. They hold the readers attention, make them think “what is all this about then?” and read further. Many images fall into this category.
3. It is Meaningful.
It has an emotional meaning to the person who took the image or for who the image was intended for. It may not be perfectly exposed, slightly out of focus or some other technical aspect will be off – but the situation, time and subject has meaning. In Australia when we hear about a bushfire destroying a family home, too often you’ll hear on the news clip interview something like “We had enough time to get the family, our pets and the photo albums..nothing else.”
Everything else is gone. Photos have meaning and an emotional connection to individuals and will have little value to anyone else.
If you happen to combine two (or if you are really lucky – all three) of three elements, you are onto something special.
People will value your images more than others if you happen to find exactly what is needed to be the photographer who knows the audience that they are aiming towards.
Too often in the past I created images that were meaningful to myself, yet somehow, I was expecting others to like them as well. I was trying to get affirmation from people who didn’t have the same emotional investment. A little like having a Vegemite sandwich in Australia and expecting others in the World to enjoy the salty yeast extract spread. Wrong audience.
Where do you think your main focus is right now?
Do you take images “for yourself” because your trying to make something beautiful?
Is the end result having those images for sale?
Know what your end goal is and focus on that.