Dr. Randall Alifano PhD is a minister and counselor with an artist’s love of photography. According to Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, photography provides a very accessible creative outlet. Not everyone believes that they can draw or paint well, says Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, but nearly anyone with a digital camera or even a good quality picture phone can capture evocative images.

Dr. Randall Alifano PhD values photography precisely because it is such a democratic medium. For the benefit of his local creative community, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD discusses some of the aesthetic techniques for creating good images. The best place to begin, says Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, is to focus on composition.

Composition is the preparatory practice of arranging the visual details of a photograph, explains Dr. Randall Alifano PhD. Composition entails the organization of a photo in the viewfinder, making sure certain objects are in the foreground or background. Setting the focus and depth of field are more advanced factors of composition.

Dr. Randall Alifano PhD reminds budding photographers that skill in composition is also largely a factor of personal taste and points out that different people find various elements of a photograph visually pleasing. The rules of composition, explains Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, are an attempt to codify the most popular and effective techniques of picture taking. At the same time, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD emphasizes the freedom inherent in producing photographic images. Ultimately the finished photo should please the photographer.

There is no single right – or wrong – way to compose a photograph, says Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, but there are certain techniques that have been shown to provide good results. For example, making a judicious use of open space around the main subject of an image, notes Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, can make the picture more aesthetically pleasing. Beginners tend to focus on the subject. It is helpful to take a moment and see the entire image, foreground and background, to see what the whole image is communicating. Among artists, adds Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, the composition of a shot is considered successful when it communicates the photographer’s aesthetic. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD offers his aesthetic as one of making connections. His photography hopes to move the viewer to feel a sense of empathy with the image.