For a great many people, photography is about amassing technical skills and parading the best equipment. Granted, there are many great images taken by these sorts of people. But there are many bad ones too.
Having the best equipment or the best knowledge doesnt make you naturally good at photography. Furthermore, what others see in your work is not necessarily what you see when you look at the same image. The differences between us are what makes us special as humans but they also mark our potential skills in photography.
The skill of the photographer lies, in part, in taking an image of something ordinary and making it extraordinary. The type of image that gives the viewer the need to draw a deep breath and drool. It is not only the visual impact but also the subject itself that gives delight. The mundane can become the focus.
When you are walking down the street and someone points out something which you feel is pretty ordinary you might shrug and tactfully change the subject. A great photographer would take the same subject and transform it in a way that would make you say Wow, thats fantastic!
And that is why photographers will never be at a loss to find new images. They are everywhere, waiting to be captured. The difference between an average photographer and a good one is that the latter will find them.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com
