More on the Rules

My post on the rule of thirds from a couple of days back got me thinking about these rules. And it occurred to me that much of the photography I admire does not follow photographic rules of any kind. The images are often "incorrectly" exposed, unsharp, are crowded, and do not adhere to any guidelines for composition. But they have passion. Great examples of this can be found on the Magnum Photo Blog and on the recently formed Burn Magazine. (Really, go check these out right now, and then come back and finish reading this entry so you know what I'm talking about. Go on. Go.)

OK, now that you've seen some of these images I can go on:

As I think about this, I realize that the things I usually shoot, nature, wildlife, even travel portraiture adhere to more strict rules. Actually, that isn't fair. It's the WAY I shoot nature, wildlife and travel portraiture that follows more strict rules. But seeing these images so different from my own, reminds me of what the art of photography can be. There is only one rule that matters: demonstrate passion, emotion, and honesty. How you go about it is up to you. The images you end up with will be the judge of your success.