Your top factors on good photograph

[agatep]

In what order would you place these factors in determining the quality of a photograph.

Sharpness
Color Saturation
Content of photograph
Contrast
Dynamic Range
Sense of Depth
Color
Bokeh
Perspective
Composition


1. Most important
10. Least Important

[BillMarks]

Most important: Conveys a strong sense of emotion.

Least important: Everything else if Most Important is achieve.

[J Rabin]

IMHO, from viewers' perspective, only three things important in ANY photo:
Subject matter. Light. Composition. Likely in that order.

In your list above,
Color Saturation, Contrast, Dynamic Range, Color = Light.
Sharpness, Sense of Depth, Bokeh, Perspective = Composition
Content of photograph = Subject matter.
There's still only three.
J.

[saravrose]

that wow factor.. we all know what I mean.. That intake of breath when you see something that moves you. that shot in the thread that you keep re-visiting... something that takes over the technical aspects of a composition... after that light. the light can make or break any shot..

edit- i've never felt that for my own stuff.... someday though......

[jcw122]

Lighting, wow factor, angles and composition I wanna say...

Although I want to argue with Bill Marks, I've seen some photojournalism photographs that do convey great emotions, but really lack in everything else, I don't think their that amazing because of it.

[volleybrad]

Composition first and foremost above all.
Secondly, I would have to say light and subject matter.
Third - technical merit: sharpness, color, contrast, etc.

Don't get me wrong. All are VERY important - but that's just the order I'd put them in.

[tweatherred]

They are all important, but I would say the order of importance varies from photograph to photograph, depending what the photographer is trying to convey. It also varies with the type of photgraph; a great journalistic photo has different requirements than a great landscape and they both differ from a great portrait and so on.

[Reptile Bob]

IMO, the most important thing for a photograph is for is to convey a story, idea or emotion. Your subject mater and composition determine what that story or idea or emotion is, so I'd say composition and subject choice are the most important aspects of photography. The technical aspects (exposure, DOF, IQ) are all used to further convey what you are trying to show. The importance of each technical aspect depends on what you are taking a picture of. Depth of field isn't much of an issue in landscapes, but is one of the most important aspects in macro. Exposure becomes a huge issue in night photography.

To get a great photograph, you must have an interesting subject with good composition. After that, the other factors serve to make the picture better or worse.

[BillMarks]

Lighting, wow factor, angles and composition I wanna say...

Although I want to argue with Bill Marks, I've seen some photojournalism photographs that do convey great emotions, but really lack in everything else, I don't think their that amazing because of it.

Pardon my initial, terse response. It was a function of my frustration with people who focus their attention on technique at the expense of content.

Photography is a means of communication—and communication is about content. As such, the clearer the communication, the better. But in order to clearly communicate your message, you need to have some idea of what that message is. Like Ansel Adams said "There is nothing worse than a sharp photograph of a fuzzy idea." This message need not be profound—but it must be articulated, internally, at some level, to yield a great photograph.

Knowing what you are trying to say is the first step in making an image people will be moved by and remember. Content is king.

The second step is to use technique to focus the viewer’s attention on the aspects of the scene that convey the message you are trying to communicate. Once you know what you are trying to say, these aspects jump out at you—as do objects in the frame that distract from the message.

The specific techniques required to focus the viewer's attention will depend on the message you are trying to communicate and the scene in front of you. Technique is just the tools you use to get your meaning across. Saturation is more important that DOF if what you want to communicate has more to do with saturation than it does with DOF. Technique is subservient to the content (which is King).

Without content, technique is a waste of time (with the exception of learning/practicing how to achieve a technique for later use to express content).