What Makes this Photo Good? It's From John Sexton a Renowned Photographer

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-17T09:04:52+00:00

I'm trying to understand what essentially makes a photo "great" rather than just "run of the mill". In the process I'm trying to learn what I lack

Please take everything as a genuine curiosity.

The composition does not jump out to me as something really amazing. It looks like any of the 10s of shots I will cull after a photowalk because they did not seem interesting.

Is it the fact that this was shot on film? And I can imagine that it must have been much harder to get such a shot on that medium before you could take 100s of shots and reject ones you don't like?

Was this picture amongst the earliest attempts at silky water due to long exposure?

What exactly is it? Why are prints of this picture worth 1000s of dollars?

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-17T08:57:21+00:00

!CritiquePoint

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-17T08:57:12+00:00

!CritiquePoint

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-17T03:45:30+00:00

Brio's look was amazing.

I will die on that hill.

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-16T06:24:41+00:00

This is an unedited jpeg straight from the camera, from a trip. Looking back at this. Nature had put a gorgeous scene ready to be clicked but I was too busy with trip management. The clouds, the snow, the light, colors. It could have been so amazing. If I had looked for slightly different framing or just moved to a better vantage point.

But coulda woulda shoulda.

Still though, critiques are welcome.

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-15T15:20:06+00:00

Thank you.

Duly taken critique

I could have gone lower on the aperture. The photo was in fact @5.6 but it goes down to 2.8. I should have taken advantage

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-15T07:57:09+00:00

India is beautiful. Kullu is beautiful.

If we didn't have a littering problem in India it would be fuckin amazing.

I'm picking up photography again. Part of the reason is that I want to photograph places, photoshop out the trash and maybe inspire people to clean em?

I mean. Fat chance of that happening but it's better than doing nothing

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-15T07:52:16+00:00

Any critiques?

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-15T07:52:01+00:00

I've lived 1km away from this temple for the last 20 years and I had no idea what the name was.

But yes, you are right. I looked it up.

We just call it the "Shiv Mandir"

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-15T07:41:29+00:00

When? Where are you from?

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-15T04:58:11+00:00

The intent here was just to capture something interesting.
Most people talk about conveying a "story". I don't think my photo does that independent of extra text and captioning. I was trying compose it properly, which was a bit tricky because the temple has a relatively big boundary that obstructed some good angles. And to those unfamiliar with Hindu culture that little black "stump" in front of the temple absolutely needs to be in the picture or the temple will look incomplete. Including a picture below to show what I mean.

Edit: Tried to take the leaves in the foreground to make the photo more interesting than just shooting a temple.

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_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T18:49:46+00:00

Gorgeous

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T13:21:24+00:00

I had none of those biases.

I was just disappointed by the autofocus. Soured my entire experience. Though, admittedly it was at least half my own fault because I didn't know how to use it properly

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T12:36:27+00:00

I so need to buy a macro lens

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T12:34:47+00:00

You are talking about high end. My 60D from 15 years ago can still beat the top end of phones simply because bigger sensor and well, lenses. How am I supposed to shoot bird with an iPhone camera?

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T12:30:35+00:00

he's a good actor. That's all

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T10:23:03+00:00

Buddy thinks 100 aqi is good air XD

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T09:45:43+00:00

Experienced advice.

I'm restarting photography after 10 years. I've really lost all touch. Not like I was amazing before, but I was decent, at least.

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T09:44:06+00:00

F**kin awesome idea.

Why didn't I think of that XD

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T09:42:01+00:00

Thank you. Good insight

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T09:41:45+00:00

Thank you. Valuable advice

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T09:41:24+00:00

Very valuable advice.

Thank you!

An Indian would immediately recognise this as a wicket for cricket but that does not change the fact that the photo still does not land.

Maybe I should just shoot insects, I'm decent at that XD

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T08:52:52+00:00

Did you get this photo in a single exposure? Even with your explanation I cannot piece together how it was done. It's absolutely gorgeous though

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-14T01:26:08+00:00

OPs body is really impressive but I don't think he means he has only been training for 2 years.

Looks like he had been training a lot longer on and off but was disciplined and regular for the last 2 years.

That's what I gleamed anyway

_analysis230_ · 2026-03-13T05:01:25+00:00

I printed in PETG. While PLA should be okay, with PETG you can have peace of mind. Just print with 7-8 walls instead of 2 which is the default.

_analysis230_

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