The picture itself comes originally from @Stefmara on Twitpic (you can find it here: http://twitpic.com/4yg6hs).
But Kev, who is a graphic designer by trade, sent me an email about why he liked the picture and why he thought it was so good.
What he said about this picture I thought was something worth reading, so I present it to all of you in case you do to.
Hi Mike, here are my thoughts on why that shuttle image makes a great photograph.
1. LUCK
I'll come back to this but for now let’s just get it out of the way because it's so important.
2. COMPOSITION
A lot of things work in this picture. The harsh colour gradient in the sky, the contrast between the white sky and the white cloud, the gentle shadow arcing off the page giving a little perspective. But the best thing about it is what isn't there. The first of these is the shuttle. It's not there. Like in a spot the ball competition, we know where it is because everything else in this photo is drawing us the apex of the column of gas in the dead centre of the photograph. Suggestion is powerful, like the arrow in the FedEx logo the audience love solving a mystery and filling in for themselves what isn't there.
The second, less obvious thing that isn't there is the plane, or more accurately, any window frame. Now we know this was taken from a plane window partly because its the only way you could have taken it, after all, it wouldn't be too hard to Photoshop this whole scene), but because of the distortion, the slight reflections in the window from the flash, the sunlight highlighting the imperfections in the glass. A lesser photographer (the sort chasing a so-called perfect photo, one who knows Photoshop but has no idea what they want to actually say, would fix this, get rid of all that flash and distortion so they could have that perfect shot of the shuttle gracefully moving upwards, an impossible shot from a sci-fi wonderland.
And it'd be shit.
That slight distortion tells us the window is there without actually showing it (and without beating us over the head with it by including the window frame – the power of a good crop). It puts us in the moment, and emphasises the once-in-a-lifetime feel of the whole thing. And this brings me onto
3. IT MAKES ME FEEL SOMETHING
All the elements in 2, working together, make me feel something about the picture. It might not be what you feel (for me its awe and disbelief, for someone else it might be something else, like fear), the point is this single shot is the starting point for my minds journey. It makes me feel and think a 100 different things at once, and sets me off on a train of thought. That's the gift from the photographer to the viewer.
Ok, so back to 1. Obviously most of what works in this photo, and the things that it makes me feel, are down to luck. Aside from a bit of judicious (and probably unintentional) cropping, it was all down to being in the right place and the right time. And so what? You need luck, everybody does. And it's an important part of your work and to deny that would be arrogant and foolish. I don't know the person who took the photograph so I don't know if she is a professional or not but if she isn't she achieved by accident what for me photographers (and any creative pro) strives for in their work. It communicated and it made me think, and not just by the virtue of being in a window seat on the shuttles flight path. But as professionals we can't rely on luck all the time — but we can increase its chances of it appearing with a thorough understanding of 2 and 3. Master these and luck will follow you. As golfer Arnold Palmer said, "It's a funny thing, the more I practice, the luckier I get". So ignore 1. It'll happen. Concentrate on 2 and 3. Master them. Think about them for every single shot you do.
Thank you to @Stefmara for taking and sharing the picture with the world and to Kev (@Kevdarton) for the insightful thinking.
Mikestockerphoto.com
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