I guess for me, the question of "quality" comes into it all (all zen, no motorcycle maintenance, for those who got the reference.) I shoot with the hope of capturing something that will translate into a vicarious experience for a wide range of viewers. If I see something in a composition that speaks of balance and harmony or, conversely, of tension and implied action, I shoot with the hope of having others moved by these qualities. If I think the objects or people in a picture can tell a story that reaches beyond the particulars of time and place, I try to tell that story. Every once in a great while the magic works, and I have an image that speaks to people who know neither the photographer nor the particular details of the image, but who take something away from the experience of seeing it- perhaps akin to what I felt when I saw it first, perhaps not.
I have said in a different thread that art is really just a set of expectations- what I set up and tell you is art really is, but it is not necessarily good art. Good art, in my humble view, is communication, an extra-verbal communication of some truth that cannot be conveyed in another way quite as well.
As I said, I am seldom successful in my search for ways to convey truth through my images, but I have been known to get lucky - and hoping for luck keeps me shooting.
Not much there for the clip-board types but then it is posible that they have their own truths- truths which elude me.
