PHILANTHROTOGRAPHY:
PHOTO 101 COMPOSITION
COMPOSITION "There are innumerable compositional possibilities located within every scene, with the only true limit being the photographer's imagination." Steve Mulligan com· po· si· tion 1. The nature of something's ingredients or constituents; the way in which a whole or mixture is made up. 2. The action of putting things together; formation or construction.
In photographic terms, composition is the arrangement, inclusion or exclusion of the various elements chosen to fill the photographic frame to make up an image or exposure.
VIEWPOINT One of the first steps in the compositional process is to select a viewpoint or vantage point.
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CAMERA LEVEL: eye level, above, below In general, the best height will often be eye level--this is the angle in which most people view the world. Consider different levels for different viewers--"birds eye view", children, pets, etc. That said, all rules are meant to be broken!
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DISTANCE from the subject ORIENTATION: landscape, portrait, square, panoramic
VIEWING IMAGES HOW DO WE VIEW AN IMAGE? Research suggests that the eye is drawn initially to the sharpest point of focus, the brightest part of the composition or right to the center of the image. A success composition is one that gives the viewer a clear place to begin viewing the image and then allows the eye to move around the composition visually. Figuring out how people view a scene is a complex process, but there is a general consensus over what attracts the eye first- either because we tend to relate to these emotionally and personally, or because we unconsciously rely on them to get a feeling or reaction. For example, faces are known to be the most attracting visual element – in particular the eyes and the mouth. After all, these are what we look at for guessing how people feel, what they think of a particular situation, or how they’re going to react. After that, writing tends to attract the eye the most. Writing conveys a high level of information about a specific situation. Even if written in a foreign language, writing still adds a great aesthetic quality to a work of art simply because of the fact that it represents an informational source or element. Next comes other elements in the frame, determined by their prominence and the space given to them within the composition.
FRAME "Photography is about finding out what can happen in the frame. When you put four edges around some facts, you change those facts“ ~Garry Winogrand PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES ARE CONTAINED WITHIN A FRAME. The frame can be defined as the outermost boundaries of the photograph, the structure that circumscribes the photographer's decisions regarding image content. Framing is a critical element of composition because it is the transition point between the world and the image. As soon as you place the frame of a camera's viewfinder between the world and your eye, you actively engage the first unique technical element of making an image that visually affects the outcome.
"The photograph has edges; the world does not. The edges separate what is in the picture from what is not‌the frame corrals the content of the photograph all at once" ~ Stephen Shore You place the camera in front of your eye, and the world, which has no boundaries, is suddenly confined to the square or rectangle of the camera's viewfinder. What you put in that frame and capture with your camera says a lot about you and how you see the world. Think about what you want to say with your camera and what you want others to see. FRAMING VS CROPPING: At some point in the process, photographer's decide what to include and what to exclude from the final image. Framing refers to the in-camera decision making, while cropping is done after the image is captured.
SUBJECT PLACEMENT WITHIN THE FRAME With a Single Subject When there’s just a single subject to be framed, it might seem logical to place it dead center – with equal empty space around it in all directions. Sometimes this actually works, but the problem with this kind of framing is predictability. It’s always worth looking away from this option, and experimenting with positioning the subject at different sides of the composition to see which works best. This becomes more important if the subject is relatively small in size compared to the full surrounding space. When the subject is off-center, it creates tension within your image. This tension can be described as a physiological force, which in photography gives an extra edge to your photos, conveying excitement and creating drama. If your subject is offcenter, it gives off the feeling that it’s either striving towards the center to once again become balanced in a logical place, or that it is trying to move even further away from the center towards the edge of the photograph. Fairly high level theory, I agree, but worth considering!
With Multiple Subjects If there are other subjects to be framed as well, your composition needs to balance these subjects within the frame. More on balance later
CREATIVE USE OF FRAME FRAME WITHIN A FRAME
The world is full of objects which make perfect natural frames, such as trees, archways and holes. By placing these around the edge of the composition you help to isolate the main subject from the outside world. The result is a more focused image which draws your eye naturally to the main point of interest.
BACKGROUND How many times have you taken what you thought would be a great shot, only to find that the final image lacks impact because the subject blends into a busy background? This problem is usually easy to overcome at the time of shooting—look around for a plain and unobtrusive background and compose your shot so that it doesn't distract or detract from the subject. Often a photo will lack impact because the main subject is so small it becomes lost among the clutter of its surroundings, but by cropping in tight around the subject you eliminate the background distractions, ensuring the subject gets the viewer's undivided attention.
BACKGROUND Look For Distractions So often when we frame a shot, we get completely wrapped up in the main subject and forget to look around and see what may interfere with distract from or the subject visually. If the moment isn’t moving too quickly, take a second to look around the subject for unneeded distractions.
Zoom In Sometimes the action or heart of the photo is given too much context (meaning the subject can become cluttered within the surrounding). In those cases it is a good idea to try to pinpoint the subject, and fill the frame with that subject alone. Get in close and tell the story. Crop as much in camera—meaning use your lens to capture only what is necessary—rather than cropping after the fact on your computer or on the printed image. There is nothing more valuable creatively than the tried and true method of rotating, zooming and moving yourself around the scene until the desired framing is achieved. The practice of properly framing out distractions with your camera is will elevate the quality of your work and will help refine your creative eye, allowing you to develop a sense of what to look for and leave out.
NEGATIVE SPACE Negative space is simply empty space, space around an object or form. In photographic terms negative space is defined as the area which surrounds the main subject in your photo, which is the opposite of— duh—positive space, which is your image’s subject. Negative space gives your composition “breathing room” and draws your eye to the main subject, allowing the eye to rest on the subject and preventing your image from appearing too cluttered or busy. Good use of negative space in photography creates a more engaging yet contemplative composition. When used properly, negative space provides a natural balance against the positive space in a scene. Getting this balance right is tricky and rather subjective, but it's something you'll get better at with time and practice. Negative space can be just as interesting in a photograph as other content, if done right. Try incorporating negative space into your images, which can be very rewarding, and at the same time quite challenging. Sometimes situations will present themselves where it’s clear, other times you will have to get creative with a subject to find the proper framing to create this type of image. Mastering the use of negative space takes time and will evolve over time along with your style.
BALANCE Objects within your image are assigned visual weight by your viewer, based on their relative focus, size, detail, brightness, orientation, color, etc. It is important that you balance the elements of your image so that the viewer’s eye knows how to move around the image and perceive its context or message. One must be careful not to leave gaping holes in the composition. Use of negative space is a key compositional tool if used well, but when used poorly it can leave the viewer confused about the message and subject of an image. Conversely, giving too many points of focus and not properly balancing their creative elements—such as size, brightness, detail, etc—can confuse the eye and cause it to view the composition with discomfort or irritation.
LAYERING. DEPTH Similar to working with layers in landscape shots, don’t forget to include some element of depth within all your images. Using foreground interest is the easiest way to do this, but even using staggered subject matter will add a sense of depth and lead the eye into the shot.
SELECTIVE FOCUS Using your point of focus as a means of composition, story telling, layering, or simply adding interest and depth to your image.
LINE Lines are the most basic elements of any two-dimensional representation of objects or space. Most photographs can be visually reduced to a drawing of a few lines. Think about the position and impact of these lines with respect to placement in the frame and subject matter. Lines within an image are one of the most effective ways to create a sense of drama in your images. Horizontal and vertical lines add particularly strong structure to images; where as curved lines give a more relaxed, organic feel. Consider where each line within the images starts and leads to. It can often be very effective to have a line that leads the eye into the shot, for example, working it’s way from a bottom corner, through the image and off into the opposite back corner of the shot. Pathways, rivers, railway lines and roads will all lend themselves to this in the right situation. When working with horizontal and vertical lines within your shots, which you undoubtedly will, please make sure that the shot is straight. You won’t believe how many shots I’ve seen that have been ruined by a slightly tilted line. Of course it is possible using post processing to correct these mistakes, but it’s far better to get into the good practice of ensuring that your shots are correctly aligned as you shoot.
LEADING THE EYE The eye is naturally drawn through an image along lines. By thinking about how you place lines
in your composition, you can affect the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the subject, or on a journey "through" the scene. There are many different types of line and each can be used to enhance our photo's composition.
RULE OF THIRDS Image an image divided into 9 equal parts by 2 vertical & horizontal lines. The rule states that you should position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Doing so will add balance and interest to your photo. This "rule" can help to generate visual tension between elements and areas, encouraging the eye of the onlooker to move around the image. This is an alternative to centering elements in the frame. When composing your photo, visualise the Rule of Thirds grid over the image and align important elements to it. If your image has a strong vertical or horizontal element then it may help to align it close to one of the corresponding vertical or horizontal lines. For instance, in landscape photography try placing the horizon near to one of the horizontal lines in the grid. If there are trees or edges of buildings in the image try placing those close to one of the vertical lines.
RULE OF THIRDS
SHAPE. FORM A combination of lines put together starts to form recognizable shapes. A successful photograph can often be broken down into basic shapes that catch the eye when looking at the image as a whole. Shape can reveal something about an object and also contribute to the statement of the photograph. Once you’ve understood the role in which line has to play within the composition of your image, you’ll be able to begin to appreciate the influence of shape as well. Try to detach yourself from looking through your viewfinder at subject matter and consider the shapes of each of the elements in the frame. It’s important to understand how the shapes interact with one another. Strong shapes such as triangles and squares will be much easier to frame than softer circular shapes, but by appreciating how each element is formed, you’ll be able to powerfully portray the shapes and their correlation as subject matter.
PATTERN. REPETITION The human mind seeks to identify patterns. Even when a scene contains essentially random elements, the mind looks for order. Pattern and order in an image can exist in many forms and on multiple levels. Look for repeated shapes, lines, or tones in a scene. The effective exploitation of symmetry and pattern can make for an extremely powerful shot, particularly when working with subjects such as architecture. Take time to observe the subject and recognise patterns (using the shapes and lines). Find the midpoint and be careful to set up the camera so it is square to the subject. Avoid external distractions that spoil the symmetry or pattern so you maximise the effect.
http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/theory/a-10-step-guide-to-understanding-and-utilisingpattern/
CONTRAST In order for a line to be readily distinguishable, it must contrast with its background. In black and white photography, contrast generally refers to gradations of density of silver deposits which appear to our eye as tones ranging from pure black and white and the various tones of grey in between, but contrast can also refer to subject matte. When approaching your subject matter, consider it in context and how it relates to it’s surroundings. How do the colours, shapes, textures and tones of the main focal point compare to that of the surrounding area? If there is strong correlation, you may be able to work with that and highlight it within the image by using composition to merge the subject within it’s context. If the subject and surroundings vary greatly, then try using compositional techniques to enhance those differences.
COLOR PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOR Colors are closely associated with human emotions and moods. Different colors or combinations of colors can create different emotional impacts on the viewer. Consider what the main color of an image is; is there a wide mix of colors? Are the colors warm or cool? Is there a lot of contrast of colors or are they similar? COLOR AS A SUBJECT Basic elements of color and B&W are similar, with both relying heavily on compositional shapes and good tonal range. A monochromatic (black & white) print combines shapes with tones, while color combines shapes with tones and hues in the image A rich range of tones in a colored, as well as a black and white, image is vital to its success. In digital photography, this is limited to the sensor’s dynamic range and its ability to capture a wide enough distribution of tones that would be considered suitable for the purpose of the photo. http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/theory/light-photography-exposure-and-tonal-rangeconsiderations/ http://studio193.typepad.com/buzz/2007/11/color-or-black-.html
MOOD With today’s modern digital cameras, it’s easy to take a well-exposed photo. But how do you take it a step further and capture an image that encompasses the mood you felt at the time? In this tutorial I’m going to explore some techniques you can use to inject mood and emotion into your photographs. It all starts with being selective about what you photograph. Just because you can take a photo doesn’t mean you should. Good photographers are selective about what they photograph. You should be too – your photos will improve. For example, if you find a beautiful location that you want to photograph, but you happen to be there at midday, you know the light isn’t at its best. Coming back in the late afternoon or early morning – when the sun is low in the sky and there is a beautiful, raking light illuminating the scene – will really improve your photo. This one technique alone will dramatically improve your photos. But most photographers know this already – so here are some more ideas for you to explore. Step 1. Use a Wide Aperture Try using the widest aperture on your lens. If you use zoom lenses, this will be between f2.8 and f5.6. This technique works best with standard and telephoto lenses because these lenses have less depth-of-field. The idea is to focus sharply on your subject and throw the background out of focus. This is a technique used in portraiture – focus on the subject’s eyes and use a wide aperture so that part of the face and the background is out of focus. The out of focus background is moody because we can’t see what it’s supposed to be. We have to use our imagination to fill in the gaps. The technique works best when the background is darker than the subject – shadows are moodier than bright highlights. Step 2. Shoot in Low Light Try shooting when the light is low. Low light is moody and evocative. Step 3. Adjust Your Colour Temperature Shoot in RAW and adjust the colour temperature in post-processing. This means you can decide the optimum colour temperature afterwards and don’t have to worry about setting it correctly in camera. It also gives you another significant advantage – you can make more than one interpretation of an image. Your RAW file is just a starting point, much like a negative in the hands of a skilled black and white darkroom printer. Take a look at the following photos. They were produced from the same RAW file, but with different colour temperatures. One has very warm colours, the other a cool palette. Both photos are extremely moody – but the mood in each is completely different. Step 4. Shoot Into the Light Backlighting is a dramatic and moody type of lighting. It works because the exposure range is outside what your camera can handle. There are several approaches – you can expose for the light source (normally the sun in the sky, but it could be a flash in a studio or a window indoors) and if the light source is strong whatever is in the foreground will be silhouetted or semi-silhouetted. Another approach is to expose for the foreground, and the background will be overexposed. Two different techniques, two different types of mood. A third approach is to shoot a backlit portrait and use flash to light your subject from the front or side. This technique is used when you don’t want to overexpose the background too much and still show detail in your subject’s face. For moody photos, avoid HDR techniques in backlit situations. You create mood when there are details in the photo that get filled in by the viewer’s imagination. HDR photos provide all the detail, and leave nothing to the imagination. http://photo.tutsplus.com/articles/theory/8-magical-methods-for-adding-mood-to-your-photos/
TIPS keep in mind: – RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN – DON’T’ TRY TO BE PERFECT It’s important to understand that there’s no such thing as ‘perfect’ composition. As a subjective art form, you won’t ever reach a point at which you have achieved the perfect shot, but it is possible to have poorly and well composed photographs. There are many elements to the composition of a photograph, which I’ll detail as we go through, each acting as a simple guideline that will help you to take stronger and more engaging images.
PSYCHOLOGY OF IMAGERY
Psychology of an image. How composition affects your photograph’s mood, balance, style, and message. Consider the message you want to convey in your images, consider your audience, and develop your own unique style. • If a vertical subject is horizontally framed, it is often composed towards either end of a horizontal frame so as to motivate the eye to move horizontally along the frame. • Within a square frame, however, this becomes more complicated because of the frame’s lack of directional emphasis. Only few cameras actually offer a frame of 1:1 width to height ratio, and it is common for photographers of such a frame shape to compose their scene leaving loose or unused ends for vertical or horizontal cropping later on. • Since most subjects are not naturally square, a square frame offers a challenge for a successful composition. Since most landscape shapes are often conceived and framed horizontally, a square frame might impose a challenge for controlling an image’s visual flow. • A square frame could, however, sometimes offer an interesting or even refreshing change from the more familiar vertically or horizontally elongated frame shapes. It can even be a more convenient format for symmetrical subjects