ggab Loc: ?

IMHO, most everyone here is describing technical qualities.
I believe a Great Picture is one declared so by the person it is intended for.
If you are shooting for yourself, you decide if it is a Great Picture.
If you are selling your photos, your customer decides if it is great or not. It is subjective.
Just my $0.02 worth.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Yes the same photographer, but for the second I give you this quote

In 1971, (W Eugine) Smith returned to Japan for a third time and lived in the small fishing village of Minamata, with his wife Aileen. Although they planned to stay for only three months, the couple stayed for three years. Smith’s photos on a mercury poisoning scandal in Minamata were published in Asahi Camera, Camera 35, and Life in an article called “Death-Flow from a Pipe,” and in this book called “Minamata: The Story of the Poisoning of a City.” The photos brought world attention to the Minamata disease caused by mercury being released into the ocean by a company called Chisso. The most famous photo was that of Kamimura Tomoko in the bath, cradled by her mother. Born in 1956, Tomoko suffered from mercury poisoning. Mercury had entered her bloodstream through the placenta, leaving her blind, deaf, and with useless legs. Smith heard about Tomoko’s daily afternoon bath and asked her mother if he could photograph them. He carefully checked the bath’s lighting, which came through a dark window. Smith determined that three in the afternoon would be the best time, and took the famous photo in December 1971.

Smith and his wife were attacked and injured in January 1972 during a confrontation between mercury poisoning victims and Chisso employees at the factory in Goi. Victims were violently evicted from Chisso property. Smith had to seek medical treatment in the U.S. for his injuries. Ken Kobre described the attack in an essay at the Masters Exhibition website: “Smith almost lost his eyesight covering the story. He and his wife, armed with camera and tape-recorder, accompanied a group of patients to record a meeting the group expected to have with an official of the company. The official failed to show up. “But,” Smith related, “suddenly, a group of about 100 men, on orders from the company, crowded into the room. They hit me first. They grabbed me and kicked me in the crotch and snatched the cameras, then hit me in the stomach. Then they dragged me out and picked me up and slammed my head on the concrete.” Smith survived, but with limited vision in one eye.

gsnelson Loc: Western Maryland

What makes a great photograph? Being a pragmatist, I start with a question: Would I enjoy looking at it every day? If not, I move on. If so, then I ask why. The answers vary a lot, suggesting that there may be no formula for a great picture, but many possibilities.

Silverman Loc: Michigan

A Good or Great Photo is one that pleases the eye of that person who produced the image. Does it really matter what another person thinks? When you enter a personal photo into a contest, why do you do it? Is it not because YOU feel it is worthy of others enjoying it as you do? Yes! When you take your time, carefully examining what you are viewing, then "Snap", you have produced an image that YOU enjoyed viewing and thought other may too.

blackest Loc: Ireland

I am not sure if that is a good idea or not, a lot of what I see in photographic clubs is the same photograph recreated repeatedly. E.g the soft milky water look, or the dark brooding skies look, and often the "local master of cliché" is a professional wedding photographer. Who does his set pieces week in and week out. Can't blame him, these are the money shots after all.

It's a drawback of being a professional. You see it or rather hear it in music too, take your favourite artist put 3 or 4 of their albums back to back by the time you're on the third or fourth album you are gagging for something different. If you do try this it's fair to say your tolerance will be lower on subsequent plays.

Hollywood maybe is one of the worst examples, they do remake after remake. They are playing it safe and that doesn't make for great photography.

It's probably not a bad thing to make a few 'covers' learn the techniques involved but don't become a cover band. A great photograph should be original shouldn't it?

ajcotterell

A photograph is a transient moment in time, made special by someone placing the frame of the picture format around that arrangement within the frame. The fleeting moment so captured is thus made special for the person who takes the picture. Most photography captures moments special to only a few--a new dress, a holiday recorded for family history, a birthday marked in passing, or a bird in colorful plumage. These are all good photos, in that they mean something to the people who take and view the. That being said, some photographs appeal to and are meaningful to a wider range of people, or capture a moment of humanity shared more widely. Examples of this could be the Flag raising by the Marines in 1945 on Iwo Jima, photographed by Joe Rosenthal, or the photo of Josef Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, by Alfred Eisenstadt, or many of the photos of Parisian life by Henri Cartier-Bresson. A photograph is great when it speaks to the hearts and minds of many people, on several levels, about shared meanings or beliefs, about our common human existence. I believe a photograph can do this, and that a photograph CAN be art.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. There was a time that any photograph was not regarded as an art form. You would be ridiculed as a buffoon if you even started a conversation suggesting it. So the only right answer is any photograph made by me. That definition has as much validity as any other. None!!

Frank W Loc: Adirondacks in NY

The one that pleases ME

Wickspics Loc: Detroits Northwest Side. Cody High School.

What it says to you, the feeling it gives you.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

A good or great image is one that elicits a response from the viewer. Doesn't matter if it's a positive or negative response. Gear or "rules" notwithstanding. If it only generates an apathetic response, it's not worthy of any accolades.

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

A classic definition of art, in general!

Streets Loc: Euless, TX.

It begins with whether or not it was taken by me.

Retired fat guy with a camera Loc: Colorado

What constitutes a good picture? Simple. Does it catch YOUR eye? Do you like it? That's it. Not every critic will like a picture. I have seen Rembrandt's in museums, and I wouldn't hang one of them on my wall. Everyone is different and has a different idea what is good.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I sell my good photos and keep trying to take great photos. I have ben trying for over 60 years.

Roger Lee

I don't worry, care about what others say, comment, or possibly critique on what I shoot.

What I do enjoy is my hobby, capturing images that intrigue me and offer enjoyment and satisfaction.

Pair that with the photographic challenges and in the end results a once in a while image with that intrigue, enjoyment and satisfaction.