It’s hard not to love Joel Grimes. Not only is he a gifted photographer, but he’s also an outstanding educator and great source of inspiration. In the inspirational video below, Grimes’ down to earth, you-can-do-this personality shines as he talks about what makes a photograph great–and it might not be what you’re expecting to hear.

Sure, we all know proper exposure, interesting composition, and well executed focus are definitely ingredients for a great photo, but as Grimes explains, beauty still lies in the eye of the beholder. In other words, no matter how technically outstanding your work it, not everyone is going to like it. Grimes compares it music. We all have different tastes when it comes to our musical choices. Just because you might not agree with someone else’s taste in music, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. The same can be said of your photography. Just because someone doesn’t like your work, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not good–it just means it wasn’t for that person.

“You are unique, one of a kind, there’s no one else on the planet like you and so with that uniqueness you go out and create images and you repeat that process over and over again. You build a body of work and guess what, not everyone is going to love what you do. Just like you don’t love every photograph that you look at…You don’t have to win over everyone.”

So, What Makes a Great Photograph?

[ via ISO 1200 ]