This presentation is for photographers who want to move beyond the technical aspects of photography and better understand why visual design and a perceptive eye are key to making a good photograph. A photographer can work without conscious knowledge of any principles, rules, or concepts because personal taste and sensitivity to visual relationships are much more important. However, a thorough understanding of design will further enhance the photographer’s capability in visual organization. Design is the single most important reason for the success of nearly every photograph and remains the primary skill necessary to produce effective pictures. A well-designed photograph is the best possible visual expression of the essence of ‘something’, whether it is representational or to simply convey a particular message or theme. Explore the fundamentals of why and how photographs and two-dimensional visual images work and examine the process of combining various graphic elements and their relationship in the picture space.