The composite I created of the beautiful Gypsy Vanner horse in my last blog has become an all time favorite of mine, but I just couldn't leave it alone. I wanted to embellish the fantasy nature of the image, and the result is the unicorn version you see here. In 40 years of shooting, this is now in my top ten favorite images. All I did was change the background and put the horn on the horse.
What makes a sensational image? In my opinion there are three ingredients:
1. Beautiful lighting
2. A beautiful graphic form
3. A subject that people find intriguing/beautiful/compelling
If an image doesn't have all three, it may be a good shot but it will never be great. I am speaking of fine art photography. Photojournalism that depicts life's dramas and tragedies is an entirely different subject.
Beautiful lighting usually means sunrise, sunset, strong backlighting, powerful sidelighting, and lighting that is soft and diffused.
Beautiful graphic forms mean that your subject has to have a great shape. If the graphics of the subject and background are messy, boring, or just plain uninteresting, then no one will get excited over the image.
Regarding the subject, great subjects make great pictures. In my example of the unicorn, had I used a common farm horse, this picture wouldn't have the magic that it does. Because the horse is so incredible, the picture has something very special and, so far, everyone who has seen this has loved it -- largely because the horse is so beautiful.
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