Chas: An outstanding image is one where visual and emotional impact, lighting, exposure, selective focus, and a decisive moment all come together to invoke a response whereby the viewer is transcended from his world to the world we have put before them.
Composition is integral to achieving this end. Attention to foreground, middle ground, and background elements along with lighting and lens choice are critical to visual perspective and creatively presenting a three-dimensional image on a two-dimensional plane.
Contextual animalscape-type images that contain multiple compositional elements require greater scrutiny to maintain an overall aesthetic balance within the frame. Careful placement of each element along with proper depth of field is essential to creating a successful artistic reportage of both the scene and subject.
Nathan: Having the ability to see opportunities that most overlook, before you set up your composition in the first place.
Most people are technically capable of setting up a basic composition. Most people can photograph a big moment everyone is shooting, but then they fail to look around and see the hundreds of moments around them that are equally as powerful to the story they are telling. It’s about seeing and capturing the beauty in everything, not just one thing.