art - What makes a photo a good photo?

I don't know if this is a stupid question, this just came across my mind.

Imagine a photo of a dog yawning.

Someone could say that is a very good photo as it is taken just at the right moment, from a perfect angle (eg. level with the dog) and it has a shallow depth of field focusing on its face.

Someone else might dislike it because unfortunately the dog is ugly.

So from that example I could say people look at the following elements when judging a photo (but I could be wrong):

• The timing (if it's taken at the right moment)


• The angle it's taken from (composition?)


• DOF (composition?)



• The subject (eg. whether the dog is pretty)

I am interested to know what experts think the elements you look at when judging whether a photo is a good photo.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Answer

First off, what makes a "good photo" is something ultimately subjective, and its hard to say exactly. There are some guidelines that you can follow help you determine what a good photo are:

A good photo:

• Makes effective use of light
  
  
  
  
  • Photography is the art of "drawing with light"
    
    
    
    • Photos: Greek for light
    
    
    • Graphia: Greek for drawing
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Flat, total illumination tends to be rather boring
  
  
  • Plays of shadow and light, warm or cool colors, alternative tints, etc. can make a photo better
  
  
  
  



• Is properly composed
  
  
  
  • Shoot just a mountain solo, and even in good lighting, it might just be boring
  
  
  • Shoot a mountain in front of a lake during sunset, with a the husk of an ancient tree silhouetted in the foreground, and you have something considerably more interesting
  
  
  
  


• Subtracts the unnecessary and enhances the key subject
  
  
  
  • DOF it is a powerful tool of simplification and can help you compose your shots and isolate your subject
  
  
  • Longer exposures can blur elements with motion, flattening and simplifying them, enhancing the more important aspects of an image
  
  
  
  
  


• Is properly focused and appropriately sharp
  
  
  
  • Lack of focus deemphasizes the subject of your shot
  
  
  • Too much sharpness can hamper the viewers eye, overemphasizing details
  
  
  
  


• Makes effective use of color, or the lack thereof
  
  
  
  
  • Color reflects the world we see and can be a powerful tool to show vision and tell stories
  
  
  • Black & White can bring forth and enhance aspects of an image that just can't be seen when color is present
  
  
  • Monochromatic and split-tone images other than B&W can bring an artistic element to an otherwise boring image
  
  
  • Removal of color can satisfy the "simplification" rule when nothing else can
  
  
  
  


• Tells a story or depicts a artistic vision
  
  
  
  • A photograph thats just as photograph may be interesting
  
  
  • A photograph that tells a story has more substance