I think light is definitely one of the main players in this photo. I was so floored when I captured this sun shaft underneath an overpass. It reminded me that you can walk around mundane places and still find incredible shots.
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Okay, so it's unusual lighting. What about composition? What about proper exposure? What about toning and color balance?
A good photo is far more than just something interesting. Otherwise, they're just snapshots that anyone with a cellphone can capture.
For a photograph to stand out and capture the viewer's attention, though, the image needs a subject. A photo of a beautiful sunset is nice, but it's ultimately boring. Adding something like people walking on the beach, a bird in flight, or a boat in the ocean adds that element that give the photo life.
There's nothing in your image that would cause most viewers to give it more than a quick, single glance and then move on. You have dead foliage on the bottom, and nothing but dark bushes in the background. Maybe cropping it tighter and adjusting some of the levels to bring up the shadows and tone down the blown out highlights would help, along with cropping in much tighter to only include the plant life, but I don't think that will do much more to improve this.
Thanks for taking the time to write this Ed. I am starting out as a photographer and my approach is very blunt. If I see something or feel something I shoot and move on. It is very much a "snapshot" I choose not to occlude things like dead foliage. I want to see them. I am not interested in checking boxes on what makes a good exposure. If that were the case I would have just submitted a histogram.
Where I do agree with you is the viewer. If it's a boring shot and there is nothing to hold you then that is a problem and perhaps the style is esoteric but in an age where the average picture is looked at for less than one second, I question if that's even relevant.
I am genuinely grateful for the conversation. I would much rather have a discussion than just a "love it" and move on.