[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by MattUK

It's a combination of a lot of things: the subject, the environment, the lighting, the mood, the position, etc. Pro photographers just get it all right, even when some things (focus, horizon angle etc) are "wrong"

You're right, they do seem to have a knack for just getting it right :-)

Originally Posted by ABERS

Surely if you conform to everyday standards you end up with everyday standard photographs.

Yes, something I am beginnig to realise more and more.

Originally Posted by GeoffWessex

This is an interesting thread. I'm going to be cheeky and suggest this is dividing into two camps.....
In the blue corner, a street photographer, for whom drama and human interest is everything, sometimes to the cost of technical quality. In the red corner, a landscaper, for whom a tripod is essential (along with an array of filters, remote shutter release etc), to give technical purity, compositional planning and perfect exposures.!

I think you have hit the nail on the head. It was predominantly street photographers getting it wrong yet still getting it right :-) I suppose architecture and landscapes need to be more precise?

Karen