Absolute consistency of results - producing a

desired picture with every click of the shutter - is

not necessarily an ingredient of photographic exper

tise. Even top professionals make mistakes. But one

characteristic that sets the expert apart from most

amateurs is an unerring sureness of intention. The

best photographers are fully aware of the effect they

want to achieve, of the compositional and technical

means for achieving it, and even of the uncontroll-

able variables that might, at worst, sabotage the

appearance of the picture.

The images on the following nine pages, all by

photographers who have won international acclaim,

show a wide range of contrasting intentions. For

example, the picture by Burt Glinn opposite catches

a moment of dramatic action, conveying a sense of

speed, urgency and narrative. Other pictures in this

portfolio are concerned with human character or

the environment we live in, or take an idiosyncratic

approach that reflects the photographer s esthetic

preoccupations. However, the link between al] the

pictures here, and in the rest of the book, is that

they attain excellence within limits that the photo-

graphers have set themselves. This clarity of purpose

is one of the fundamental lessons that amateurs can

learn from professionals, In part it depends on a

thorough mastery of technique. Once you are

familiar with the repertoire of techniques available,

you can 2o on to confidently photograph any aspect

of the world that ~nteresLs you and, in the process,

develop your own individual style.