Do you think of photography as art? It's actually easy not to because, while everyone does not paint paintings, just about everyone takes photographs. Just think, with our relatively new digital world alone, a whole new crop of photographers has been born with their very first camera also having a ring tone and fitting easily into their pocket!

So, again I ask, do you think of photography as art? Well, if not, you should. It may be difficult in our new gadget filled world, to think of the easy "process" of taking photos as not being anymore like creating art than that of using a toaster to toast bread, but easy processes aside, true photography is as much a form of art as one might hope to find. The world takes snap shots, photographers capture moments. Moments of true personality and life, moments of true love, moments of true beauty and reflections of the best and worst of our world. Snap shots are fun, often cute and almost always taken in abundance to be eaten later like a bag of chips. True photographs are powerful, passionate images that fill you up like a meal.

Most of us use occasions as a reason for snapping a shot and we look for little more in our composition than a birthday cake with lit candles, party hats and puckered lips in blow mode to deem it a great one. It's okay, it's fun and certainly has a purpose. Great photographers I feel though, are constantly looking at three things; narrative, light and composition.

Great photographs have a story to tell. It's often not the first thing you see, but it is the story. You could take a picture of a forest or one tree and much could be said of it, but lean an ax up against the tree and now you have a story. The artful photographer makes you think. You can take many snap shots of your child and they will be priceless to you, but just a snap shot of your child to others. An artistic photographer can take one shot that captures true innocence and that a thousand people would respond to or be moved by. Perhaps a lofty view, but it's true of the best.

The Use of Light is a Very Powerful Tool

Light to most of us is simply an issue of do I have enough to take my picture or not. If yes, click, shot done. If not, turn on the flash, wait, click, shot done. For photographers though, light is their world. It's importance to photographs deemed to be art, is more important than you could possibly imagine and even with less artful photographs, but those professional by nature, more focus can be placed on light than anything else. Why? Think black and white here for a moment. White is light and black is the absence of light. For light to be important it must be in contrast with something. Powerful light is far more perceived with the presence of a strong shadow. With life, these contrasting things are most often experienced with variation or what is known as value. In other words, black may be dark gray and light may be very light gray. Through a view finder and past the story, these lights and darks appear as shapes and how these shapes are positioned can draw the viewer's eye right to the story or a focal point. A lit face for instance, might become more dramatic if framed by a bent arm in a dark suit, with wrinkles at the elbow and positioned in such a way as to draw your eye to the face. Where most of us simply say cheese to get the best shot, the true pros are looking with so much more skill, seeing things we wouldn't while taking the shot. They see light in ways most do not. Actually, that is a really big part of being an artist.

The view finder is really the canvas. You may think of the print as the artistic photographer's canvas, but the view finder comes first. With most forms of two dimensional art, everything happens on the canvas or what is being painted on, but with photography the layout, the composition itself must start with what the photographer sees through the view finder. In other words, what you see is all you get. They must ask themselves a little more left, or more right, up, down, wider angle, closer, tilted, do I kneel or stand on a ladder ? It all has to happen in that little view finder first. A great photo has had a million decisions made and the best make the results look easy.

Today, even the best photographers are dealing with the fast changing digital age. Without question the best still like film and if now are using digital, they got there being dragged kicking and screaming. That's a whole other story, but the same rules apply to their core principles. It's just that the equipment and such, as with artistic brushes and paint, to them is no more than a tool of creativity. Many dark rooms have been replaced with computers and Adobe Photoshop and the purists miss the old days.

For many, the most common experience with hiring a professional usually happens first with a wedding or for portraits and I would say, you get what you pay for in this area. The digital age has brought on a whole new crop of inexperienced photographers. Experience and you loving their portfolio is key to your happiness. Anyone can buy a camera and charge for their services. Be careful. As for purely artistic photographs, many galleries are specializing in photography or representing photographers. As always, educate yourself and ask questions. Buying these pieces is a bit more like purchasing prints, as there is usually a limited edition, but there may be several editions in more than one size of the same image. That is one edition in 8"X10" and yet another 30"X40".

In properly answering the question, "is photography art?", I was speaking with local artist/photographer, Sarah Huntington. Those that know her work, know she is an artist. Sarah has much to say about her love of photography, but I would like to end with a statement from her website which I think not only answers the question, but shows the passion of a true artist.

"I believe photography is both an art form and the most powerful medium of historical documentation. My vision as a photographer embodies both of these disciplines. Whether it is a bride on her wedding day, the birth of a child, the evolution of a family or a corporate leader receiving recognition, it is my desire to capture the moment with an image that will last".

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