Digital Photography Composition For Dummies E-Book

Thomas Clark

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 504

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Turn ordinary photographs into striking works of art Mastering the craft of composing a photograph is all about having a trained eye. Digital Photography Composition For Dummies helps emerging photographers create stunning and compelling photographs by teaching the elements, techniques, and conventions used by skilled and successful photographers. It helps advanced beginner to aspiring professional photographers gain an understanding of the basics of composing a stunning and compelling photograph, as well as the parts, functions, and capabilities of their camera. * Determine the point of interest in a photo and how significance is achieved * Use the "Rule of Thirds" to create better photographs * Manipulate the viewpoint and understand the subject's direction of movement * Master depth of field, framing, and diagonals * Includes suggested exercises to apply as you become more comfortable with composition techniques Complete with full-color examples and technique comparisons, Digital Photography Composition For Dummies allows you to take the high-quality photos you've always wanted!

Leseprobe

Digital Photography Composition For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: The Basics of Composition

Part II: Elements of Photographic Design

Part III: Arranging the Key Elements to Compose a Successful Shot

Part IV: Composition in Action

Part V: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: The Basics of Composition

Chapter 1: Photographic Composition: The Overview

Getting a Grasp on Good Composition

Defining photographic composition

Leading the eye to important elements

Achieving balance

Gaining Control of Your Compositions

Working your basic camera settings

Choosing the lens that fits your message

Using perspective to enhance your message

Pulling together the elements of composition

Chapter 2: Developing an Eye for Composition

Studying What the Eye Sees

Contrast

Distance

Patterns

Relationships between subjects and supporting elements

Seeing What the Camera Sees

Revealing three dimensions in a two-dimensional medium

Paying attention to everything in the frame

Finding and Creating Effective Compositions

Chapter 3: Getting to Know Your Equipment

Making the All-Important Lens Choice

Working with a fixed lens

Saving time with a zoom lens

Exposing Your Images Properly

Taking a closer look at aperture, shutter speed, and ISO

Using a histogram to check exposure

Discovering your camera’s light meter

Relying on your camera’s automatic modes

Putting Together an Effective Toolkit

Finding a camera that fits your photography style and budget

Looking for a lens to suit your needs

Selecting memory cards

Getting the right external flash

Trying a tripod

Part II: Elements of Photographic Design

Chapter 4: Introducing the Elements of Photographic Design

Grasping the Point about Points

Following Lines, Real and Imagined

Looking at literal lines

Tracking implied lines

Bringing More to the Mix with Shape and Form

Distinguishing between shape and form

Emphasizing shape or form in a composition

Adding Scale or Depth with Texture

Considering Pattern Types

Adding interest with sequence patterns

Leading your viewer by using repetition

Breaking patterns to grab attention

Chapter 5: Arranging Visual Elements in a Frame According to the “Rules”

Looking at Foreground, Background, and the Space Between

Enlivening Your Images with the Rule of Thirds

Dividing your frame to conquer composition

Using the thirds to their fullest

Interpreting the rule of thirds to make it work for your scene

Taking Advantage of Space to Get Your Message Across

Giving your subject more (or less) space

Allowing shapes room to breathe

Staggering objects within your frame

Containing lines inside your frame

Keeping an Image Simple or Unleashing Controlled Chaos

Balancing Your Compositions

Chapter 6: Paying Attention to Color in Composition

Discovering Color Basics

Using complementary colors for contrast

Maximizing monochromatic color schemes

Creating harmony with analogous colors

Drawing the eye with color

Shooting for Black and White

Being aware of how your digital sensor sees light

Exposing your photo for black and white

Converting an image to black and white using the three channels

Color or Black and White? How Your Decision Impacts Your Message

Part III: Arranging the Key Elements to Compose a Successful Shot

Chapter 7: Using Focal Points to Tell a Story

Finding Your Focal Point and Helping It Take Center Stage

Making your focal point stand out

Using your camera’s focus control to select your focal point

Determining how much of the frame your focal point should cover

Enhancing Your Message with Selective Focus

Getting creative with your focal points

Controlling depth of field

Adding a Secondary Focal Point to Your Composition

Chapter 8: Finding Your Perspective

Looking at Things from a New Perspective

Understanding how perspective impacts your message

Making choices about perspective

Selecting perspective according to light

Considering Techniques to Get the Shot

Moving the subject or yourself

Zooming in to reveal details

Using focal length to achieve your goals

Rotating Your Camera to Create Unusual Angles

Putting the subject off center

Placing the subject in the top or bottom of the frame

Changing your camera’s orientation

Chapter 9: Backgrounds: As Important as the Subject

From Great Outdoors to Crawlspace: Considering Types of Backgrounds

Working with wide-open spaces

Handling tight spaces

Using solid backgrounds

Recognizing Problem Backgrounds

Badly lit backgrounds

Distracting backgrounds

Backgrounds that merge with your subject

Preventing and Fixing Problems

Identifying poor backgrounds by reviewing your work as you go

Creating your own backgrounds to avoid problems

Using Background Elements to Support Your Subject

Chapter 10: Using Light to Tell Your Story

Recognizing Sources of Light

Understanding Light Quality and Intensity

Considering hard light versus soft light

Controlling your contrast

Modifying the quality and contrast of light

The Relationship between Light Source and Subject

Seeing how distance makes a difference

Positioning your light source to create lighting patterns

Adding a third light source

Breaking the patterns and creating your own look

Manipulating the Direction of Natural Light

Giving yourself the time of day

Appreciating different results in different seasons

Setting Light in Motion

Accounting for the Color of Light

Chapter 11: Adding Interest through Framing and Formatting

Making the Most of Framing

Giving your image a sense of depth

Adding interest by getting creative with your compositional frame

Keeping a viewer in the frame

Choosing between the Horizontal and Vertical Formats

Understanding how your message influences which format to use

Determining format based on the subject

Letting the environment dictate format

Chapter 12: Exploring Other Compositional Ideas

Creating Harmony with Balance and a Sense of Scale

Keeping the elements balanced and properly weighted

Including a sense of scale

Using Rhythm and Repetition of Elements

Pulling harmony out of chaos

Shooting simple compositions

Reinforcing your subject or intended message with repeating elements

Creative Ways to Break the Rules or Cheat the System

Experimenting with the tilt-shift lens

Taking multiple digital exposures

Crafting soft, dream-like compositions

Part IV: Composition in Action

Chapter 13: Showing People in Their Best Light

Showing a Person’s Essence in Portraits

Capturing genuine expressions

Choosing your angle and your lens

Adding interest by integrating your subject’s hands into the photo

Taking advantage of a person’s surroundings

Getting Great Results from Both Candid and Posed Portraits

Making a case for candids

Taking control with posed shots

Photographing People Together: Showing Connections

Overcoming the technical challenges of photographing groups

Composing portraits of couples

Setting up group portraits

Fabulous Darling, You’re Gorgeous: Shooting Fashion Photography

Chapter 14: In Nature: Landscapes and Wildlife

Recognizing Compositional Elements in Nature

Expansive landscapes: Basking in your surroundings

Narrowing in on intimate landscapes

Exploring fine detail through macro photography

Capturing Wildlife

Finding animals to photograph

Getting the best-composed shot

Developing a Respect for Nature’s Elements

Photographing the Forest

Determining what you want to photograph

Factoring in light when in the forest

Taking advantage of night in the forest

Chapter 15: Shooting Still-Life Photography

Making Everyday Objects Interesting

Seeing objects as fine art

Selling objects with photography

Photographing Flowers in Studio and in Nature

Producing images in the studio

Capturing flowers in their natural environments

Cooking Up Beautiful Food Photos

Working with Architectural and Interior Photography

Crafting images of building exteriors

Taking a look inside: Composing interior shots

Chapter 16: Capturing (Or Stopping) Motion through Photography

Following Compositional Principles When a Subject Isn’t Stationary

Focusing on moving subjects

Composing subjects in motion

Deciding whether to freeze or show motion

Up for the Challenge: Photographing Subjects Constantly on the Move

Taking successful images of children

Catching shots of the family pet

Tackling sporting events

Chapter 17: Artsy Photos: Fine Art, Composite Pictures, and Abstracts

Classifying Photography as Fine Art

Lighting your subject

Making the best of your situation

Composing Abstract Photos

Keeping the effects of color in mind

Using shapes and lines to create meaning

Playing with tonality

Putting it all together

Combining Multiple Shots to Create a Single Photo

Mimicking a made-up scene with multiple exposures

Creating collages

Chapter 18: Improving Composition through Postproduction Editing

Cleaning Up Your Composition

Removing unwanted elements and flaws

Changing your perspective

Editing Your Images to Draw the Viewer to Your Subject

Adjusting contrast in the scene using Curves Layers

Enhancing an image’s light

Sharpening your photos

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Improve Composition

Reveal Contrast with Complementary Colors

Harmonize with Monochromatic Colors

Make a Subtle Statement with Analogous Colors

Use a Shallow Depth of Field to Tell a Story

Shoot Until You’ve Exhausted the Possibilities

Choose a Background That Says Something

Tackle Transparent and Reflective Elements

Treat Light as the Subject

Incorporate a Compositional Frame

Create a Composite Image

Chapter 20: Ten Tips for Finding Photographic Inspiration

Take a Walk, Take Photos, and Take Notes

Try Something Completely New

Emulate Your Favorite Shots by Other Photographers

Watch a Good Movie

Visit a Museum

Compile a Wall of Inspiration

Purchase a New Lens

Head Out for a Nighttime Photo Shoot

Reveal the Lapse of Time in a Scene

Join a Photography Forum

Chapter 21: Viewing Ten Compositions of One Scene

Choosing a High Angle to Show the Scene

Selecting a Low Angle to Emphasize the Subject

Highlighting the Subject and the Scene with a Wide-Angle Lens

Showing More Scenery with a Wide-Angle Lens

Narrowing In on Your Subject with a Long Lens

Creating an Intimate Portrait by Using a Long Lens

Paying Attention to the Foreground Elements in Your Scene

Giving Your Photo a Compositional Frame

Finding Negative Space

Backlighting Your Subject to Emphasize Shape

Digital Photography Composition For Dummies®

by Tom Clark

Digital Photography Composition For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010935576

ISBN: 978-0-470-64761-5

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Author

Tom Clark is a successful commercial photographer in Miami. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Photography, he moved to Miami and began his career by assisting local photographers on fashion, editorial, and portrait assignments. Tom also assisted some of the city’s top architectural and interior photographers and worked on set with many of the top photographers in New York, Los Angeles, and Europe for fashion, editorial, and celebrity portraiture. With the combination of his experience on set and his education, Tom successfully made the move from photo assistant to photographer. Today he shoots for a number of local and international publications on a freelance basis, and he provides commercial advertising services to clients of all sizes.

What aren’t discussed in Tom’s commercial success but are possibly the root of his inspiration are the long trips into the wilderness, up mountains, and to the seas where getting the perfect shot is an exploration and nights are filled with campfires, starry skies, and long exposures. To check out Tom’s work and see his Photo of the Week (which highlights his most interesting recent captures), visit his Web site at www.tomclarkphoto.com.

Dedication

For my dad.

Author’s Acknowledgments

Thank you to Traci Cumbay for working so closely on this project and helping to keep the work consistent with the For Dummies style. It was great to have someone to share ideas with. More thanks to Project Editor Sarah Faulkner and Copy Editor Jessica Smith for keeping the flow and organization of this book in check.

I am delighted that Erin Calligan Mooney contacted me for this project and presented such a great opportunity to me. Thank you Stacy Kennedy for managing this project, and thank you Craig Denis for contributing architectural and interior photographs that worked so well to validate my points on the topic.

The models I would like to thank for appearing in this book include the following: Fania Castro, Gillian Richardson, Alejandro Nuñez, Omar Bain, Niurka Zamora, Amy Larue, Autumn Suna, Emily Jo Burton, Joe Kydd, Diego Alberto, Clarissa Hempel, Josh Noe, Eduard Kotysh, Lauren Koenig, Ivonne Padilla, Melissa Gil, Greg Norman, Jr, Francisco Stanzione, Oleg Dankovtsev, and Alejandra Pinzón.

Last but not least, thank you Emily Noe for assisting with the production of the photos for this book and for being a wonderful muse.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Sarah Faulkner

Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy

Copy Editor: Jessica Smith

Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney

Senior Editorial Assistant: David Lutton

Technical Editor: Susan B. Fleck

Editorial Manager: Christine Meloy Beck

Editorial Assistants: Jennette ElNaggar, Rachelle S. Amick

Cover Photos: Tom Clark

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Carrie A. Cesavice, Samantha K. Cherolis

Proofreaders: Laura Albert, John Greenough, Nancy L. Reinhardt

Indexer: Sharon Shock

Special Help: Traci Cumbay, Christine Pingleton

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

If you want to create interesting and aesthetically pleasing photographs, you need to understand great composition. You have rules (which can, of course, be broken) to guide you, decisions to make, and techniques and tools to get the job done. Put all these together, and you give purpose and meaning to your photographs.

After you realize why some photographs look better than others and more successfully tell their stories, you can create amazing images wherever you are and in any conditions. You can approach any scene in many ways, and each photographer will do so differently. You want to be sure that you approach a scene with the confidence of a person who understands how to compose great images — and has fun doing so.

Whether you’re an amateur, pro, semipro, hobbyist, scrapbooker, traveler, artist, or someone who just received a camera as a gift, knowing more about composition will make your photographs better. Besides, if you’re going to take pictures, they may as well be good ones.

About This Book

Photographic composition is a complex topic that covers a wide range of theories and competing schools of thought. Many photographers carry separate opinions when it comes to defining what’s most important in creating great compositions. Some feel that following the rules is essential, and others feel that to be unique you need to break the rules. In this book, I provide a thorough coverage of the rules (because in order to break the rules successfully, it helps to know what they are). I also do my best to give you the information necessary to determine when to go with the rule book and when to go with your gut.

In this book, you find information that covers composition from all angles. I designed each chapter to present valuable information that can improve your ability to see potential in what you’re photographing and to capture that potential with your camera. Combining ideas from multiple chapters makes you a more dynamic photographer, but you certainly can take one chapter at a time, focusing on one skill or technique until you’re moved to expand your compositional repertoire.

Ultimately, you make the decisions about what good composition is. Use this book to introduce new ideas to your creative thought process, to enhance your decision-making skills, and to understand the technical information you need to achieve the results you want.

And remember that this book isn’t designed to be read from cover to cover. You can jump in wherever you need the most help without feeling like you’ve skipped a beat. No chapter relies on your knowledge of any preceding chapter to make sense. You may want to practice the ideas in one chapter before you move on to the next, but you’re going to find everything you need (or directions to further information) anywhere you start reading.

Conventions Used in This Book

In this book, I use the following conventions to make sure the text is consistent and easy to understand:

For each photograph, I include the following information:

• Focal length: This number shows the angle of view provided by the particular lens used. It determines how much of your scene is captured when composing a shot.

• Shutter speed: This number indicates how long it took to complete the exposure (usually measured in fractions of a second). It determines how precise the moment of capture is, and it’s particularly important when photographing subjects in motion.

• Aperture: This number shows how much light the lens let in at the time of exposure (measured by an f-stop). It helps to regulate your depth of field, which determines how much of your scene is sharp or blurry.

• ISO: This number displays how sensitive the digital sensor is to light during the time of the exposure. A sensitive ISO rating (determined by a higher number) can produce a properly exposed image more quickly and with less light than a less sensitive rating (determined by a lower number).

You can find this info beneath each photo. To save space, I give you just the numbers — no labels. So when you see “35mm, 1/250 sec., f/11, 320,” you’ll know that I’m referring to the focal length, shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. The specs are always in this order.

All Web addresses appear in monofont.

New terms appear in italic and are closely followed by an easy-to-understand definition.

Bold highlights the action parts of numbered steps and the key words in bulleted lists.

When this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happened, rest assured that I’ve added no extra characters, such as hyphens, to indicate the break. So when using one of these Web addresses, simply type in exactly what you see in the book as though the line break doesn’t exist.

What You’re Not to Read

If you’re in a hurry to start taking amazing photographs, you may want to skip around this book to areas that most appeal to you. No problem. If you are in a big hurry, here’s a tip: You can skip the sidebars (those gray-shaded boxes) and any text marked with the Technical Stuff icon. The information you find in these places may interest you and add something to your work, but it isn’t necessary for understanding how to compose beautiful photographs.

Foolish Assumptions

Before I could write this book, I had to make some assumptions about you, its reader. For example, I assume that you

Want to get a reaction from the people who view your images

Are familiar with the basic functions of your camera and have some experiences using them

How This Book Is Organized

Photographic composition is all about organization: The way you organize elements in a frame determines how people view the image. Similarly, writing a book requires you to stay organized as well. So, each part in this book gives you valuable information related to a specific topic. Each part works on its own or can be combined with information from another part. The following sections give you an overview of what parts this book contains.

Part I: The Basics of Composition

This part introduces you to photographic composition and explains why it’s a necessary skill in producing interesting and aesthetically pleasing images. It covers the topic of training your eyes to see things from a compositional standpoint and discusses the abilities and equipment you need to consistently create beautiful photographs.

Part II: Elements of Photographic Design

Certain key elements are the building blocks of composition. This part shows you ways to put these elements together when composing an image. I tell you about critical factors like lines, shapes, patterns, and color, and I introduce you to the “rules” that have arisen from the blood, sweat, and tears of photographers who came before you.

Part III: Arranging the Key Elements to Compose a Successful Shot

A well-composed photo has various parts — or elements — that work together to create a cohesive message. I provide you with an overview of these elements in Part II, but in this part, I delve into each in more detail. You find out how to use focus, perspective, background, and lighting to tell your story. I also show you ways to use framing techniques to keep viewers’ eyes on your image. I round out the part with a chapter on the other compositional ideas you can use to make sure your subject headlines the show.

Part IV: Composition in Action

Your subject matter typically determines how you compose an image. For instance, you compose images of people differently from images of architecture or landscapes. Each chapter in this part discusses how to handle a common subject by combining the elements of design and the photographic techniques you find in Parts II and III. And after you’ve taken your photos — whether they’re portraits, still-life images, or abstracts — you can polish them using the postproduction improvements I tell you about in this part.

Part V: The Part of Tens

This part provides three short chapters in which I share important aspects of my experience as a photographer to help better your understanding and execution of interesting photo compositions. You discover ways to give yourself assignments that will enhance your photographic composition skills, find inspiration, and compose one scene in various ways.

Icons Used in This Book

Icons are a beloved tradition in the For Dummies series, so why buck tradition now? I use the following icons to direct your eye to specific types of information within the book:

The text that appears next to this icon presents the information that you’ll rely on again and again when photographing. This is the stuff that experienced photographers know cold.

In some instances, I dive a little further into a technical topic to give you greater detail that you may find interesting. You’re welcome to skip these divergences; you won’t miss anything crucial.

Whenever I give you information that saves you time, money, or photographic frustration, I mark the text with this icon.

Some practices send your composition into a tailspin that even postproduction editing can’t fix. Whenever I tell you about possible errors or missteps, I highlight the information with this dangerous-looking icon.

Where to Go from Here

As I mention earlier, you don’t have to read this book in any particular order — the way you proceed is totally up to you. You can simply pick a topic that you’re interested in and dig in. For instance, if you’re antsy to start applying your photographic skills to shooting landscapes or another specific subject, flip right to Part IV. If color has you baffled, Chapter 6 has the information you need. Need an introduction to or refresher on camera settings? Head for Chapter 3. And if you’re a beginner, an overachiever, or someone who just can’t stand the thought of missing something, turn the page and keep reading until you hit the index. Whatever you do, don’t delay. Get started on your journey toward successfully composed images.

Part I

The Basics of Composition

In this part . . .

The difference between good photography and mediocre photography is composition. Until you grasp the ideas behind successful compositions, your photography can go only so far. This part alerts you to exactly what composition is, why it’s so critical for making images, and what skills and equipment you need to begin creating knockout compositions.

Chapter 1

Photographic Composition: The Overview

In This Chapter

Reviewing photographic composition

Developing the skills that lead to great compositions

The world is full of beauty, and the world of photography is full of limitless potential to reveal that beauty. Any particular scene or scenario can be conveyed in countless ways that are equally compelling, and each photographer chooses a composition based on her own unique values and ideas. What a viewer takes from your photographs — how he understands your message — depends mainly on your ability to compose clear and interesting images. Every time you take a photograph, you’re communicating with whoever looks at it, and getting your message across has a lot to do with your fluency in the language of photography.

Some people say that great photographs can be captured with even the cheapest point-and-shoot cameras and that photography is all about the photographer’s eye, not the equipment or technique used. This thought is true on certain levels of standards, but why would you stop at just having a good eye? Photography and composition is about more than just pointing your camera at something that looks interesting. Discovering how to take your good eye to the next level and back it up with a thorough understanding of the equipment and techniques available advances the quality of your photography to much more impressive levels.

In this chapter, I give you an overview of what role composition takes in photography and show you what techniques you can use to improve your images’ compositions.

Getting a Grasp on Good Composition

Artists of all types (photographers, painters, architects, musicians, and so on) know that a noticeable difference exists between good composition and poor composition. A viewer may not be educated in photographic composition, but she knows a good photo when she sees it. Similarly, you don’t need to understand music theory to differentiate between a good song and a bad song. However, you’re more likely to compose a good song if you understand the theory behind the music.

Understanding what photographic composition is and how it conveys a message to viewers changes the way you take pictures and increases your enjoyment in viewing the work of other photographers.

Defining photographic composition

In general, the term composition refers to how various parts come together to create a harmonious whole. When something — whether it’s a photograph, a painting, a room, or any other object — contains multiple elements, those elements automatically develop relationships to one another. For example, where you position the sofa and chairs determines how those items work together (and whether your guests can talk to each other).

More specifically, photographic composition represents the decisions you make when creating an image. It includes everything that’s in your frame — the rectangular space that’s represented by your camera’s viewfinder or your photograph. In a photograph, the way you reveal the relationships between the different elements in your scene makes up your composition.

The following terms are essential to understanding what makes up a scene and what your selected composition represents:

Frame: Your frame is the rectangle or square (depending on your camera’s format) that contains the scene you’re shooting. You can’t always manipulate a scene, but you can control how the scene is represented in yourframe if you’re properly prepared. Being prepared means knowing which camera angles provide the best results in a given scenario (Chapter 8) and knowing how to use your equipment to get the best results with regard to focus (Chapter 7), exposure (Chapter 3), and arrangement (Chapter 5).

Elements: The elements of a composition are the people, places, and things that make up a scene. Everything included in your frameis an element, including the subject, the details that make up the foreground and background, and any objects, props, or details that surround the subject. In fact, compositional elements consist of anything that can be defined in an image: shapes, forms, lines, textures, colors, tonalities, light (or the absence of light), and space. The arrangement of a scene’s elements in your frame determines your composition.

Subject: The subject is a person, place, thing, or essence (in abstract images) that gives a photograph purpose. Because an image tells a story about its subject, the goal of a good composition is to showcase the subject. Keep in mind that one photograph can include multiple subjects.

Notice the elements that make up the scene in Figure 1-1 — the snowcapped mountains, the valley with a river running through it, the body of water that the river feeds into, and the cloudy and hazy sky. The mountain on the left side of the frame is the subject in this image.

35mm, 1/250 sec., f/11, 320

Figure 1-1: Consider what each element in your frame says about your subject when deciding to incorporate it or eliminate it.

Because of the composition I chose for Figure 1-1, the mountain on the left-hand side dominates all the other elements in the scene; those elements exist in the frame to tell you more about the mountain itself — that it’s in a cold climate, it’s massive, and it exists in dramatic weather conditions. The various elements in this scene relate to the subject as follows:

The river running through the valley gives a sense of scale. Because the river appears so small in comparison to the mountain, you can assume that the mountain is massive. By positioning the river in the bottom corner of my frame, I allowed space for the mountain to dominate the frame. (See Chapter 12 for more on scale.)

The background is dramatic and ominous. The background gives a sense of depth because of the way it fades in contrast and is consumed by the haze. (You can read more about choosing an effective background for your image in Chapter 9.)

The clouds in the sky give you an idea of the mountain’s elevation. The mountain reaches the clouds and almost seems to divide the sky into two sections. To the left of the mountain, the clouds are much thicker than they are to the immediate right of it.

The body of water that the river feeds into tells you that this mountain begins at sea level. If you started at the base and hiked to the summit, you would experience many shifts in weather. I only had to show a small amount of the body of water to relay its part of the message. Minimizing its presence in the frame gives more drama to the mountain.

Leading the eye to important elements

After years of reading, your mind is trained to automatically respond to the words on this page. You start at the top left corner of a page and scan the printed letters from left to right, working your way down. The large, bold fonts in the headings capture your attention and give you an idea of what information is on the page. You probably read those headings first and then decide whether you want to read the normal print under them. Advertisements often include fine print used to reveal information that’s necessary for legal reasons without encouraging you to read it.

A photograph works much like printed text, but it can be much more complex. Your job as a photographer is to tell a story, so the way a viewer reads into an image will have a major effect on the message. Having an idea of how people look at images helps create successful compositions.

You can use any of a long list of techniques to direct a viewer’s eyes through a photograph. Here’s a list of ways to draw attention to important elements:

Pay attention to your contrast. The area with the highest contrast (the most drastic transition from light to dark) usually is the first place viewers look in an image. You also can use color to create contrast. Chapter 6 gives you more information on contrast.

Keep your focus on the subject. Your focal point is the area in the scene that you focus on with your lens. Usually this point is the subject itself. When you look at something, your eyes focus on it. And the point in an image that’s in focus is most similar to how you see things in real life. So, you’ll probably pay most attention to that area when viewing an image. For more information on how to focus on a subject, read Chapters 3 and 7.

Provide leading lines. Leading lines get the attention of a viewer’s subconscious and direct his eyes from one element in the frame to another. Photographers use leading lines as a way to keep your eyes in the frame and to tell a story in a certain order. Picture, for example, railroad tracks that lead your eyes to a vanishing point on the horizon. For more on lines, head to Chapter 4.

Direct viewers through the frame with tonal gradations.Tonal gradations are areas that go from lightness to darkness or vice versa. These gradations help direct a viewer through a frame because if your eye starts at the point with the highest contrast, perhaps it will next go to the point with the second highest contrast.

Draw attention in a photograph using color. An outstanding color can help viewers determine the subject of a photo. If, for example, a photograph includes a crowd of people wearing white hats and one person wearing a red hat, viewers’ eyes naturally go to the person with the red hat, which is likely your subject. Chapter 6 covers various methods of using color to draw a viewer’s eye or create a specific mood.

Include patterns and repeating elements. These elements tend to catch a viewer’s eye — perhaps because humans have the natural ability to recognize similarities in things. A mirrored image (like the reflection of mountains in the water) adds interest to a composition. Natural and manmade patterns add interest as well. For more about repetition and patterns in composition, see Chapter 12.

Create a visual frame within your frame using the compositional framing technique. Your frame refers to the edges of your viewfinder or photograph, but a compositional frame is something you create that occupies the area inside the edges of your frame. Its purpose is to keep viewers’ eyes from wandering away from the photograph. If a leading line goes to the edge of the frame, a viewer’s eyes follow it, leading him directly out of the image. A compositional frame creates lines that go along the edges to direct eyes back toward the elements of the scene. For examples and more information on framing, flip to Chapter 11.

These techniques don’t exist in a vacuum; you often mix and match them according to the effect you want to create. If, for example, you arrange your composition so the subject is in focus and is positioned in the area with the highest contrast, you pretty much guarantee that a viewer’s eyes will go directly to the subject. If your subject is in focus but another element in the scene creates higher contrast, the two elements compete for attention.

Achieving balance

When photographers create compositional balance, they create a space that’s easy for viewers to look at — one in which the various elements are evenly distributed throughout the frame. If too many elements are bunched together in one area of the frame, the other areas become empty and uninteresting. Viewers generally spend more time looking at images that contain points of interest throughout the frame.

Figure 1-2 shows compositional balance in one of its simpler forms. You can see how the eagle provides a counterweight to the mountains. If the eagle weren’t flying through the sky, your eyes would only be drawn to the mountains — and, as a result, you probably wouldn’t spend too much time viewing the image. Chapter 12 provides more detailed descriptions of balance and techniques on how to achieve it.

135mm, 1/250 sec., f/8, 125

Figure 1-2: Balance is achieved by positioning elements evenly throughout the frame.

Gaining Control of Your Compositions

You can’t create great compositions without making some important decisions — from how to set up your camera and choose which angle you shoot from to what elements make it into your shot. Many — if not most — of these decisions become second nature to you as you gain experience with your camera. However, as you dip your toes into the compositional waters, you have a lot to consider, so this section alerts you to the kinds of decisions you need to make when you compose a photograph.

Working your basic camera settings

The best photographers can pay attention to their scenes and concentrate on creating the finest compositions possible without having to worry about their cameras producing bad technical results. In other words, they’re familiar and comfortable with the settings and technicalities of their cameras. To improve your own compositions, you too need to know what your equipment is capable of and how to use it.

Most digital cameras offer various automatic and manual settings. Each of these can be used to produce great images; often it’s up to the discretion of the photographer as to which one works the best. The automatic setting is fine in some situations, but you also need to be comfortable manually controlling your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. (If you’re in the dark on these terms, they’re explained in Chapter 3, which also gives you information on your camera’s automatic settings.)

Regardless of whether you use automatic or manual controls, you should always check the results of your image quality by referring to your camera’s histogram. The histogram warns you if your highlights are blown out or if your shadows are underexposed. See Chapter 3 for more on using histograms.

Confidence is key, especially when you photograph people. Get as familiar with your equipment as possible so you can achieve appropriate exposures the first time. This way you can spend more time communicating with your subjects or taking in the beautiful scene you’re photographing. Having your face constantly buried in the camera’s LCD display screen causes you to miss photographic opportunities.

Choosing the lens that fits your message

Your lens determines what information is available to the camera’s digital sensor. With digital SLR cameras, lenses are interchangeable so you can choose the appropriate one for the scene you’re photographing. Most digital point-and-shoot cameras are equipped with a zoom lens that enables you to zoom in for tight shots and zoom out for a wider angle of view.

You can choose from the following three main types of fixed lenses:

Wide-angle: These lenses reveal a more peripheral view and allow you to capture a large area of your scene. Using this type of lens is ideal when you want to fit as much information as possible into your frame. Elements that are closest to your camera will appear much larger than those that are farther away when using this lens type.

Normal: These lenses reveal an angle of view that’s similar to what you see with your eyes. They don’t capture as much peripheral information as a wide-angle, but they do produce an image that’s most true to the way something looks in real life.

Telephoto: These lenses have a narrow angle of view that captures a smaller portion of your scene. This type of lens causes elements to appear larger in your frame than the other two lens types. Telephoto lenses are ideal when you’re far from your subject but want to get a tight shot of it.

Chapter 3 tells you more about lenses.

Using perspective to enhance your message

Your perspective is determined by your camera position in relation to the elements of your scene. It’s how you see your subject and everything else in your frame. In a three-dimensional world, the way you see things changes when you move up, down, and side to side. Changing your perspective enables you to position everything in your frame in the way you see most visually pleasing or appropriate for your message.

The elements in a scene and the relationship of those elements to each other within the frame determine the message that a photograph conveys.

If you’re on a road trip with your family and come across a national landmark, you’ll probably take a photograph to prove you were there. The message of that photograph is “Hey, look at us; we were there.” In this situation, your perspective is critical for revealing and manipulating the relationships of a scene’s elements in your frame.

Say you get everybody out of the station wagon to have a look at the Grand Canyon. While your family is looking over the edge, you ask them to turn around for a picture. You have three elements to consider, the subject (your family), the background (the Grand Canyon), and the foreground (the parking lot). Your perspective is going to determine how much of each of these is going to be included in the composition and what relationships they have with each other. I describe the details of perspective in Chapter 8; however, the following list introduces you to some of your options in the Grand Canyon situation:

Step close to your family. This perspective shows more detail of who they are and less detail of the environment around them.

Back away from the family. By backing up, you make your family smaller in the frame and show more of their surroundings.

Use a wide-angle lens. With this lens, you can include as much of the scene as possible — your family, the background, the station wagon, and even some other tourists in the area.

Use a long lens. When you use this type of lens, you can crop in specifically on the family and their immediate surroundings.

Choose a high angle. If you choose to shoot from a high angle — maybe by standing on top of the station wagon — you show the family and a view that looks down into the canyon.

Figure 1-3 shows a scene that I photographed with two separate perspectives. Each image in the example reveals different aspects of the environment. The perspective on the left approaches the subject from far away and has an emphasis on the surrounding environment, thus distributing compositional importance to all the elements in the scene. The perspective on the right approaches the subject from a nearer vantage point and distributes more importance to the subject. This perspective is more descriptive with regard to the subject and is great for isolating the star of your photograph.

24mm, 1/200 sec., f/4, 100 70mm, 1/250 sec., f/6.3, 100

Figure 1-3: Because of the differing perspectives, the messages in these images also are different.

Pulling together the elements of composition

Your composition for a particular scene is basically a recipe. You consider certain factors automatically — what you focus on, how wide your angle of view is, and which perspective best represents the scene, to name a few. But other variables are unique to each situation, such as how many subjects to include, what mood the scene’s color scheme and lighting create, whether your subject is still or in motion, and so on.

In order to best determine these variables, you simply have to practice and build your skills. Most photographers go through phases as they build their compositional skill level. Doing so enables you to really master one area before moving on to the next. You can pay special attention to any specific compositional element, but here’s the order I suggest:

1. Keep an eye on your focal point.

By using the techniques in this book and your camera’s owner’s manual, ensure that your subject is always your focal point. Don’t settle for results in which your subject is blurry (unless you’re using your artistic license to do so, which is discussed in Chapter 12).

2. Concentrate on creating compositions that have depth.

To create depth, include foreground elements, a subject, and a background. Your subject is in focus (you mastered that in the first step), and you have foreground and background elements to create a supporting scene that enables viewers to work their way through the image.

Figure 1-4 shows an image with foreground, middle ground, and background elements. Your eyes are drawn into a photograph that displays this technique.

24mm, 15 sec., f/5.6, 800

Figure 1-4: Depth helps to draw a viewer’s eyes into a photograph.

3. Pay attention to color in your scene.

Color plays a major role in determining how people feel about images. Being in tune with color is essential to relaying messages in a photograph. Pay attention to color in your scenes, and you’ll eventually notice it without trying. Look for scenes that predominantly reveal a single color, or seek out scenes with complimentary color elements. In other words, find a scene in which the colors contrast by existing on opposite sides of the color wheel. I talk about color in more detail in Chapter 6.

4. Start paying attention to the design elements you find in Chapter 4, including the following:

• Lines: Elements that lead a viewer’s eyes from one area of the composition to another

• Shapes and forms: Elements that take up a specific space in the frame in a particular way

• Scale: The size and weight relationships of photographic elements

• Patterns: The repeating elements and mirror images

You have many elements to consider when you compose an image. You don’t have to include each one in every image, but do consider them. You’ll eventually develop the ability to analyze a scene and determine which elements are appropriate for telling the story of the scene through your eyes. The elements that you use to create an image should be only the ones that are necessary to support your message.

Chapter 2

Developing an Eye for Composition

In This Chapter

Understanding the mechanics of sight

Taking a look at how a camera “sees” a scene

Techniques to improve your compositional creativity

No doubt you’ve come across photographs that have caught your attention and caused you to stop and stare. Images like these can have a haunting quality that draws you in and brings you to a certain place. They can alter your mood or clarify your thoughts. The ultimate goal of a photographer is to create these types of images — the ones that speak to people.

The ability to combine a subject that’s relevant to your intended message, a mood that drives the message, and an image that’s overall aesthetically pleasing makes you a better photographer. Composition is the key to unlocking this ability. So, in this chapter, I show you how to develop your photographic eye and recognize (and later apply) effective compositions when you see them.

You know something good when you see it, so how do you translate that same effectiveness onto your digital sensor to share with other people? You start by observing your surroundings with a watchful eye and a sharp memory. When something looks good or interesting to you, take some time to ask why you’re drawn to it. If you can figure out what attracts you to a particular scene, you may have a chance to translate that attractiveness through one of your own photographs.

Studying What the Eye Sees

Your eyes are extremely sophisticated lenses that have the ability to refract light focused onto your retina and interpret it into image-forming signals. Understanding how the eye works and how people see helps you create compositions that show a scene in the way you want people to see it. Your camera and lens were designed to work in a similar way to your eyes, so understanding one helps to understand the other.

You have the option to limit what viewers see or you can reveal everything — it simply depends on your message. When approaching a scene, your eyes scan the area and find certain elements that stand out to you. By noticing these elements, you can figure out what’s significant about a scene and why it’s worth photographing, and then you can determine how to relay those important elements to other people.

When you look at an object, it’s the only thing you see clearly; everything else is out of focus and lacks detail because your eyes set a focus point based on distance. If two objects are at separate distances, you can focus on only one at a time. Figure 2-1 shows how your eye sees and why only one thing can be in focus at a time.

Your eyes are easily distracted because they have to constantly focus on the various elements of a scene in order to take in the whole picture. So once an element is recorded and understood visually, your eyes move on to the next element. When you’ve looked at all the elements in an area, you have a general idea of what the entire scene looks like even though you only can focus on one element at a time.

The following sections outline the different things your eye focuses on when you look at a scene.

Contrast

When you first glance at a particular scene, the first thing you notice is whatever sparkles or stands out the most. Contrast is what causes something to stand out to your eye; it’s the difference in visual properties among objects that are close to each other in proximity. In the visual sense, contrast is created by tonal differences (blacks and whites, shadows and highlights, darkness and lightness, and so on) and complementary colors that reside on opposite sides of the spectrum. For more about contrast, check out Chapters 6 and 10.

Figure 2-1: The human eye focused at different distances.

The area in a scene with the most contrast most likely grabs your eye’s attention first. The same concept applies to composition. A viewer of a photograph is naturally and instinctively drawn to the area of the image with the most contrast. When that area also happens to contain your subject or other information relevant to your message, your composition begins to make sense.

Distance

The eyes can focus on only one particular distance at a time. So, in order to take in all the information surrounding you, your eyes scan the area and your brain puts the information together. This way, even though you can see only one element at any given time, you still know what other elements exist, so you have a good idea of where you are and what’s going on.

A person views your photographs in a similar way. Her eyes go to the area that stands out as having the most contrast, and then she scans the rest of the image to see what the whole story is about, examining everything in the frame. Creating a good composition means leading the viewer to specific areas that support and complement your message.

Patterns

Patterns stand out to your eyes as visual elements. Even in chaotic scenes, you can spot a pattern if it exists. Because they contain repetitive elements, patterns tend to have a visual significance and draw attention. A pattern’s visual significance can be used to your advantage when composing a photograph. It has the ability to draw a viewer’s attention or to lead his eyes to your subject.

For example, as you look down the hallway in a hotel, the doors all look the same, but they gradually appear smaller in the distance until they lead your eyes to the end of the hallway. (You can find more information on using patterns in your compositions in Chapter 4.)

Relationships between subjects and supporting elements

When you come across a scene, you determine what your subject will be by deciding what you think is the most important or visually striking element present. Some photographers see things differently from one another and may create images with different messages. For instance, when you see a family eating Thanksgiving dinner, you may think the person who’s carving the turkey is the subject. Another photographer may think the turkey itself is the subject. A third photographer may think the empty bottles of wine in the background should become the subject.

Because the subject is your main focus in a composition, you place your lens’s focal point on the subject when you take an image. By placing your focal point on your subject, you’re instructing viewers to look at that area primarily. (For information on how to manipulate your focal point, head to Chapter 3, and for more on using focus as a compositional tool, see Chapter 7.)

Other areas in your composition may contain details that reveal important information about your subject based on your message. These are known as supporting elements in a scene. After you know what your subject is, you can determine what your supporting elements are based on what you see to help tell the story of your subject. Say, for example, you’re photographing a leaf falling from a tree. If your viewers can see other leaves lying on the ground, they know this isn’t the first leaf to fall from the tree. And if they see other leaves still on the tree, they know this one leaf won’t be the last to fall. However, if the ground were covered with leaves and the tree was bare, this falling leaf would produce a different story. You determine what your supporting elements are (and what you will include in your photograph) based on what you want to say about your subject.

You don’t want the supporting elements to stand out more than your subject, but you do want them to be apparent enough to draw attention on a secondary level. A good composition draws a viewer in to the subject and then leads her to the supporting elements in the most visually appealing way. Attention to this type of detail is important for making your message as effective as possible.

I took Figure 2-2 during a fashion editorial shoot based on urban camping in Miami. The model, who’s the subject, is shown as if she’s trekking through the city like a hiker would hike through the wilderness. She wears a hiker’s pack, so you get the idea that she’s hiking; however, the supporting elements tell you where she’s hiking. One look at this image and you know that she isn’t in the wilderness. The texture of the ground in the foreground and the bridge overhead confirm that the hiker is in an urban environment. The river, a supporting element, is important in this image because it makes a connection to hiking in the backwoods (hikers typically stay near a water source when going on long journeys through the wilderness).

50mm, 1/60 sec., f/4, 400

Figure 2-2: A subject surrounded by elements that support her story.

The relationships, both physical and suggested, between your subject and the supporting elements in a scene help clarify your message. Here are some examples:

Two elements side by side appear to be equals in a composition; one element in front of another appears to be more important in the composition than the element behind it.

Sometimes taking out one element makes another element unnecessary to your message.

An element that stands out (such as a red umbrella in a sea of blue ones), becomes more significant and changes your message.

Figure 2-3 shows a nontraditional composition. The subject (the tree) is split in half by the edge of the frame. Because you can see only a portion of the tree, the most you glean is that the tree has certain shapes, textures, and colors. However, the relationship it has with its own shadow shows you the tree’s full shape and gives you an idea of how much distance exists between it and the rock wall.

135mm, 1/100 sec., f/8, 100

Figure 2-3: The relationship between the tree and its shadow gives the viewer a complete sense of place and identity regarding the tree.

Seeing What the Camera Sees

A camera and lens see and record light much like your eyes do. For example, like your eye lenses, a camera lens refracts light and focuses it onto the digital sensor. And just like your retina, the digital sensor uses the light information to form images and record them. The distance from the lens to the sensor determines the distance at which your focal point will be. Figure 2-4 shows how the lens moves to and from the sensor to achieve focus at different distances.

You can change the distance of your focal point by rotating the focusing ring on your digital SLR’s lens or by using your camera’s autofocus feature. Chapter 3 tells you much more about how to use your equipment.

Figure 2-4: The camera lens focused at different distances.

In the following sections, I show you how to create an illusion of three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional photograph. In other words, I explain how to give viewers a sense of space similar to what they would get from the scene in real life. I also discuss how to control what viewers look at in your photographs.

Revealing three dimensions in a two-dimensional medium

Having a pair of eyes rather than just one eye gives you the capability of depth perception,