I was judging images at a photography club. Eventually, it came down to deciding between the top two images of the night. One image was of a quad motorcycle racing away. It was in the air with mud being flung from its wheels, frozen in mid-air. It was a pleasing image and obviously a good one to make it to the final selection. On the other hand, it was not a photographically challenging image to take. The photographer could have just stood there and shot quads coming by using a fast shutter speed. There was not much thinking or composition in the image (although it did have more room in front of it as it should have for the quad to move into). The quad was a bit smaller in the image than I would have preferred which make it less impactful.

          The other image was of the inside of an old workroom / factory. The photographer had to put a great deal of work into making this image as it was a very challenging scene to shoot. It was dark inside. There were hundreds of things around, from hessian bags to machinery, to brooms and everything in between. The photographer handled the difficult lighting masterfully and even worked the composition to create a good image. It had to be to make it thus far in the competition.

          Which image was I going to select as the winner? I was torn! The first image of the quad was good but it was photographically speaking such an easy image to get. The second image of the factory was technically extremely difficult to pull off but it was just too busy. There were just too many items in the shot that competed for the viewer's attention. It was not a cohesive whole. Yet, there was nothing the photographer could have done about it; he could hardly have moved the heavy machinery around. My brain told me that the more difficult image shout win because the photographer obviously exhibited more skill than the quad image's photographer. My heart told me that the quad image just worked better as an image as the overly busy factory. I choose the quad image as the winner.

          Perhaps the better photographer should have known that although it was a good image it was not a competition winner because not all the elements in the image worked well together. It was as if these elements fought with each other for your attention. The best images are often those where all the elements work together and support each other to make the image.

          Although this image below is not the greatest image, I choose it as my "quad" image to demonstrate that although it is not the greatest image out there, it is pleasing to look at because all the elements are working together.

The river leads one into the image and adds some foreground interest. The darker water from the right front of the image forms a line with the lighter rocks to also lead the viewer into the image in the same direction. Both background cliffs meet in the same area as the river is pointing, working together. The image is not too busy with competing elements. All the elements seem to be working together to just create a nice image. One should not wonder what to look at. One should not look at this thing for some time and then the other and then move back and forth between elements without seeing the whole. Elements should be complimentary instead of competitive.

          Simple is often better.