Photography
is both an "art" and a "science." The "art" concerns itself with
images that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, a photograph's composition.
Understanding the "art" is essential to good photography, but cannot be
performed by itself. The "art" employs and applies principles from
the "science" to accomplish what the photographer desires. One cannot
learn and master it first and then take photographs. It requires
practice, experimentation and study to determine how use of principles
from the "science" affect the appearance of the photograph. Intertwined
in this are some references to elements of the "art" as the "science" is
studied and used as tools for the "art." This is not intended to
be in depth on any particular aspect of the "science" but an overview of
its most important elements.