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Composition is in photographs, web pages, paintings, interior design and architecture.
Good photographers arrange the parts and elements of the photo in accordance with known general
rules of composition. So when you take photos, knowing the basics of composition, and your
pictures will look much better. Take a lot of pictures using a digital camera
with a memory card of sufficient size to increase your chances that at least a few pictures
will be keepers..
Read, and periodically review, the owner's manual to make use of your camera's features
such as ASA, macro, forced flash, auto, night etc.
Move around or about. Also try pictures from a low or high vantage point.
Take shots with normal, wide angle and telephoto. Use wide angle to include the desired elements
into the frame. Use telephoto to simplify a picture. "Telephoto" is commonly used to
access the subject otherwise not possible - such as in an event where you are not allowed
to get closer. Telephoto is also used to make a person look thinner.
Review the basics themes of composition before a photo shoot: c and s curves, contrast, diagonal
and horizontal line uses, subject matter, patterns, the way the eyes move throughout
the picture when viewing it, aesthetics, texture, framing, taking an interesting photo and texture.
Also mentally review the technical aspects of photography. Make a checklist of equipment
for your photo shoot.
After a photo shoot transfer the pictures to your computer and delete them from your
camera. Delete those few pictures that were technically very bad, otherwise save most
of your picture and back them up on on a portable hard drive or online.
Edit your photos and look for "gems" within a photo. It is important to take a technically
good photo and a camera with good resolution, so you can crop and develop those gems. Spend
as much time and energy in editing as in composing pictures with your camera.
Convey what is the subject matter.. In this photo the subject matter is the phone
booth and the contrast between the colors emphasizes this. Through the initial composition,
from choosing the best picture from the many pictures you took and from editing later (cropping,
exposure, color adjustments etc), keep the subject matter the center of interest in the
photo. Have on your digital camera a picture of a
color wheel.. To sharply contrast the subject matter, with
the rest of the picture, use opposing colors. For example pink or red will stand out with
green. Use the reactions, of the different colors, to people to tell your story.
Have a mental diagram of how the viewer will sequentially see the picture..
Using the previous picture, the subject matter is the phone booth, there is a diagonal line
that draws attention to the secondary subject matter - the figure walking in from the distance.
If picture was taken later and the figure looming larger in the picture, the phone booth
would no longer stand out. In this DaVinci painting we first notice the
eyes and dark halo, next we move down to the mouth and necklace, and after briefly noticing
the "v" of her blouse we move to the very detailed, little background.
Include a diagonal line.. A diagonal line implies action and makes the
photo alive. In the photo with the car, a diagonal line is used and it goes from the
upper left corner to the lower right corner. The diagonal line separates the black and
white colors, goes through the model's left forearm and right foot. In the dance club
photo, there are many diagonal lines. With seashore landscapes, use C curves..
Seashores often have a C curve, so feature them in your photos. Look for C curves in
the bodies of humans and animals in reclining positions, too. C curves are more relaxing
to look at than a straight diagonal. For roads, paths, and meandering rivers use
S curves.. S curves guides our eyes through the photo.
In the DaVinci painting the little curving background to the subject's left also guides
our eyes. In general, place horizontal lines off center..
However, the two photos, with the first symmetrical and the second asymmetrical, are great examples
of an interesting photo and a boring photo. Symmetry is a western concept and asymmetry
an Asian concept. Asian asymmetry is sometimes extreme. Western symmetry is not extreme and
example would be in the DaVinci painting where the subject matter is not placed exactly in
the center. Use an SLR cameras, that has more feature,
to make the photo simple.. Your point and shoot cameras may be able to
do selective focus. Simplify, with some degree for error, through the viewfinder to minimize
loss of clarity. Simplifying a photo is one of the main elements of composition and deserves
an article in itself.
When you find a subject for some pictures, move around the subject to simplify your picture.
Moving around also might give you new and interesting backgrounds and light interplays.
With an SLR camera with selective areas of focus, to emphasize a certain part of the
photo, make the other areas blurry by choosing the correct f-stop.
With point-and-shoot cameras, move around to avoid the distracting backgrounds and later
do what you can with Windows Paint, Windows Live or some other photo editing program.
An SLR camera has a threads at the end of the lens to put on a lens hood, buy a lens
hood. With a point and shoot camera, shield the lens from the sun by using whatever items
are available: an umbrella, a hat, any small shade, etc.
Do not place the model exactly in the center of your viewfinder..
Placing the model to the side is more interesting, but there has to be balance. The balance from
this picture is the somewhat blank area that she is facing. This picture has too much orange,
probably from incandescent lighting, and this could have been corrected with editing.
Use an unbalanced mixture of tones and interesting mix of colors..
For example, in the photo of the model with the red shirt and the car. The black (dark)
tones to white tones have a ratio of about 2:1. Black and white provides the strongest
contrast. With colors what you are trying to accomplish is interest, so have a variation
of colors to make it interesting. An example of lack of contrast is the previous picture
of the lady with the headset giving a talk - her skin tone and the wall color are the
same. Lack of contrast is boring. Taking placement of your subject further,
place important elements in the picture following the "golden mean"..
The golden mean is a ratio that is abundant in nature and is about .6. Following the golden
mean, place your subject .6 or .4 horizontally and .6 or .4 vertically. The relationship
between these numbers (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 etc) is the golden mean and about .6.
If you add two consecutive numbers, the sum will be the next number. However, if something
looks good, do not measure and change it. The golden mean is a dominant concept, so
there are other proportions in nature, i.e. no proportion is right or wrong. note: the
ratio of the numbers, of the golden mean, are all between .6 - .62: 3/5, 5/8, 8/13,
13/21. In the picture of the gulch, the golden mean
ratio is observed horizontally and vertically. When taking photos of people or one person,
do not have trees, posts, lines, in the background directly behind them..
With a thin tree directly behind someone, it looks like the tree is growing out of his
or her head. Even lines on a wall can be distracting if the lines come out of the subject's head
or shoulder. This also applies to other subject matter: notice any distracting objects behind
them. In the pebble beach photo, the stacked stones are directly below the horizon. A straight
line is more interesting if there is a break in the line and in the example a lower camera
angle would have made the stacked stones appear higher. Apply this awareness to other parts
of the picture besides the subject matter. You can make a part of a photo interesting
or not, based on how that part fits into the scheme of things. Furthermore, the stone is
dark and would have made a nice silhouette in front of the light toned sky.
The modern digital camera has great definition (many times, the definition will not be flattering
to the model).. If you do not have a good photo editing program,
stand far away and crop it later to decrease the definition.
When taking a portrait or a group photo, in joyous occasions, the skillful photographer
makes his subject matter(s) smile or laugh and captures the moment quickly..
Having them say "cheese" is not the best because a true smile has the wrinkles at the mouth
and at the eyes. It is not possible to smile at the mouth and eyes together consciously
(this interesting topic on smiling and laughing is from Wikipedia). Several things cause people
smile or laugh: comfort, amusement, happiness, relief and anxiety. Smiling and laughter is
also contagious, so the savvy photographer could select certain animated persons in the
group to "start the smile". To make people smile or laugh is a great skill.
Use colors to express the subject's desires.. Two heads are better than one. The subject
will be able to fit in better with a background that the subject feels comfortable with. In
the picture with the model crouching next to the Mercedes, the black, white and red
makes a simple and powerful picture. Black, white and grey are neutral colors and red
is a primary color that is warm and bold. However, your model probably does not know
a fraction of what you know about composition and light, so persuade the model to consider
your options. To have a photo with colors that are vibrant,
strap on your equipment and plan a photoshoot at high noon..
Later, further enhance the colors with an editing program. For examples of vibrant colors
look beyond photographs and at the art of fine artists such as Gauguin and later Picasso.
With a point and shoot camera, find a small shade to take your pictures from so the sunlight
doesn't create unwanted streaks in your photo. If no shade is available, use your hat or
a small umbrella to act as a lens hood. A photo does not have to represent reality exactly,
colors can be manipulated to make the photo more appealing.
Frame your picture with a tree branch, a wall, an edge, a post, a vehicle, a door threshold,
a floor with a narrow band of color that is different for the rest of the floor, etc..
When taking pictures outdoors, choose the day and time of the day for when the wind
is minimal, so that the trees and other plants that you might use for a frame, will not be
moving with the wind. If the frame you use is underexposed, try to correct it with a
photo editing program or use a flash even during the day.
To put realism and a three-dimensional look, include something with texture..
Include patterns in your photo.. Use pattern as a theme for you composition.
The overwhelming scene of a canopy of big trees at the base of a cliff is great, but
what makes the picture more interesting is the light colored clearings. In the top clearing
a lone tree is nicely silhouetted. Combine these different composition techniques
in your photos.. For example, a seascape will have a C curve
and a horizontal line. In the photo of the orange, pink and yellow flower there are several
composition themes that were created: a contrast of colors for the main subject, a diagonal
line which is dynamic, asymmetry, tight cropping and interesting background of great depth.
Do not follow the rules of composition and photography exactly..
The rules of composition are the same and are just general rules. Quantifying generally
is about 70%, so tap into the other 30% and uncover some fantastic results. Think beyond
the normal. Apply this to photo-editing also.
A photo is still interesting if it has a number of composition concepts, yet one of the concepts
is not followed. For example, you have a great picture with many of the elements of composition
used except that the horizon (the horizontal line) is exactly in the center. From the initial
composing of the photo, and editing later, if you cannot move the horizontal line from
the center, do not keep trying to alter it. A photographer is not like a fine artist and
can manipulate a photo just so much. Thank you for watching!