David duChemin writes about composition and intent all the time. The overarching theme on his blog and in his classes is composition is more important than equipment. I couldn’t agree more. The two photos here are a good example. I’m happy with each but for a different reason. The top photo gives the impression the artist is doing a self portrait. In the second photo you can see she is working from an image and has something other than a self portrait in mind. The second photo is about multiple artists working next to each other. Each photo tells a different story.

A photograph without intent is a snapshot. A carefully composed photograph can tell a story.