There are times when I take a photo and find that I really like it when I’m done with the processing. And the vast majority of times I know why I like it. Perhaps it evokes a certain feeling or makes me remember the time I was out on location making the photograph. Maybe the composition or colors are exceptional. There is usually some aspect of the image that really attracts me to it.

But on occasion, I might like a photo and not really quite understand why. There surely is a reason, but it takes some searching to unpack it. This is one of those photos. I liked it when I processed it a week or so ago, but I couldn’t really say what it was about it that attracted me to it.

In the last week or so, I have been thinking about that. I have come up with two reasons that I enjoy this image. The first is that I like the tonal contrast between the top and the bottom portions of the photo. The second, and more important reason, is the meaning it seems to have (at least to me). The water (this is really a dock with a ladder that I took using both a polarizer and a neutral density filter to obtain a long 6 second exposure in order to smooth out the water) is without detail and looks like a void to me. It could be that there is a 100-foot drop into nothing from the ladder. It could be a step into another dimension. It is a negative space that could be anything and therefore holds a sense of mystery and story. It feels like it represents the uncertainty of life, and that is why I like it.

I think that trying to understand why you like a photo is a worthwhile exercise that can inform your future photography.

Why Do I Like It?

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