That may sound strange given the amazing technical developments during the past two decades. Since Louis Daguerre the goal of photography always has been to produce a good image that appears within the picture space, be it a glass plate, a sheet of paper, or a screen. It is technology that h as changed as it has evolved from film to digital, but the goal is still the same — to produce a good image that appears within the picture space.
Also, what has not changed is the importance of composition — the choice, placement and arrangement of everything that appears in the picture space. Regardless of the technology used, composition is the the measure of good photography, the great equalizer, and, like it or not, composition trumps technology. Even the most advanced technology cannot rescue poor composition.
I hear of photographers taking hundreds, sometimes a thousand or more pictures a day, and thousands of pictures while on vacation. How could they have carefully composed an image in the viewfinder before pressing the shutter? Obviously they could not. As a result, later they have to manipulate what was on the sensor to produce an image that at best may yield only a marginal composition. That can be time consuming and oftentimes fruitless. The photographer’s time is more wisely spent making the effort to choose the best composition in the viewfinder before taking the picture. Good composition was important in Louis Daguerre’s time and remains so today.
— Joe Miller
