One thing beginner (or non-) photographers don’t understand is that we humans see things differently than a camera does.

This seems, on the surface, to be impossible, as we still have to look at the image (either photo or on screen), so the final image still needs to come through our human eyes (direct brain implants are not available yet….). However, the camera filters a lot of information out. Obviously things like smell and sound don’t get recorded, but also subtle things like the surrounding area (for example, are you standing at the edge of a highway)

There are also technical issues, such as contrast and white balance (which are huge subjects by themselves). These all affect how the final photograph is perceived.

In short, part of becoming a “good” photographer is learning how the final image will be translated by the camera (and post processing, printing, etc) so you can show the image you want.

For example, I recently bought new wheels for “Goldilocks” (my little sports car) I never liked the chrome and alloy wheels that came stock, however the black wheels I got instead do not photograph as well, and require a bunch of work to get them to stand out…. In real life, they look awesome….