Why can't it just be a beautiful photo?
Sunday 25 January 2026, 15:51 by Nando Harmsen | 2,041 views | 6 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
High-key, low-key, minimalist, ICM, double exposure... These are techniques that give your photo a certain look or feel. You can mention these terms, or let the photo speak for itself. Which do you do?
Of course, you want to show the photos you take. The more people look at them, the more enjoyable it is. Especially when they also leave a comment.
You can then mention the technique you used. High-key, low-key, minimalist, ICM, HDR, panorama, straight out of the camera... Ask yourself why you do that. What is the point? Who are you doing it for?
Is it to make a photo more special? Is it to impress people with your knowledge of the technique? Is it to distinguish yourself from the rest? Why can't the image speak for itself?
A photo is the result of your own creativity. You can use all kinds of techniques for that. But what added value is there in mentioning all those techniques or names? It certainly does not make the photo better.
The other photographer knows whether your photo is high-key or low-key. It probably will not impress them. The non-photographer does not know what it means, but does know that it is information not intended for them.
Why can't a photo simply be a photo? Show what you have made with pride, without disturbing the experience with technobabble. That is not interesting and certainly does not make the photo better.
It is better to say what you experienced at that moment, your feelings and your thoughts. Give it a short title or say where you were. That is more engaging than the technique you used. Mentioning that only detracts from the experience.
Rembrandt did not call his paintings baroque either. Dalí did not use the name surrealism for his own work. Nor did Picasso, Caravelli or Monet put themselves in a box.
Of course, you can decide for yourself. But remember that a work of art, a creation, is not about the technique, but about the end result. Let your photo be a work of art too.
About the author
Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.
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6 comments
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Slimpie wrote on Monday 26 January 2026 at 17:14
| reply
Naming the technique is often linked to the platform where you share your photo. On Instagram you use #highkey or #hdr to let certain followers or viewers find you. On a forum like zoom.nl or Belgium Digital, you place your photos in a category that often has the name of a technique. I agree that your photo should tell the story without naming the technique, but the medium where you want to share your photo often unconsciously asks for the technique.
Translated from Dutch. -
Nando
wrote on Tuesday 27 January 2026 at 11:43
| reply
Of course, if this is for a special purpose, there is no objection to that. And with galleries such as on Zoom, it is obvious that you put it in there.
Translated from Dutch.
But then you still wouldn't additionally mention that in the description. Or on Instagram, Facebook, or those kinds of platforms. A tag is still something different from the technobabble. -
Bert wrote on Tuesday 27 January 2026 at 11:35 | replyYou can come up with all kinds of nice terms, but then a whole lot of (hobby) photographers will drop out of posting a photo somewhere because they have no idea how and with what they took that beautiful photo and if they ask how they were taken then you get a whole lot of shit thrown at you because you no longer know how that photo was taken. I totally agree with those people because I always think I LIKE THAT PHOTO JUST THE WAY IT IS, AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
Translated from Dutch. -
Jan Kleinjan wrote on Tuesday 27 January 2026 at 12:06 | replyHigh key, low key, whatever.
Translated from Dutch.
Do you know what is really difficult? Editing a photo in such a way (usually only minimally) that the end result matches what you saw when you took the photo.
I photograph in RAW and use Lightroom for post-processing.
When taking photos, I never use filters and such. What matters to me is that what I see now is conveyed into the photo.
My eyes don't have a polaroid filter, so why would I apply one? The pale colors in my landscape remain untouched in LR, so never, and I mean never, will I 'freshen up' the colors.
In LR, only minimal adjustments until the picture matches the actual situation.
I find that extremely satisfying. All those 'beautifying tools', not for me. They only distract and detract from what you were photographing and it's an insult to your eyes. -
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Cees wrote on Wednesday 28 January 2026 at 13:07 | replyI fully understand, Jan Kleinjan, your plea to put "reality" in the photo. Despite all the technical capabilities modern cameras have, I think you can never capture exactly what you saw when you took the photo. Even your pictures will not correspond to "the actual situation", your camera and software give it their own interpretation. You can only approximate it at best.
Translated from Dutch.
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