Recap: Perspective

Perspective is all about angles. Taking a picture of something from above looking down usually devalues it, while looking up usually gives it greater significance.  Closeups of of normally small objects like flowers can give attention to details, or give it greater prominence.

We also looked at some forced perspective photography which positions something up close and something far away to give interesting illusions. It also takes advantage of abnormal camera angles.

 

 

 

Recap: Leading Lines and Diagonals

A useful technique in photography composition is the use of lines. Lines can be found naturally anywhere, such as roads, tracks, and buildings. The use of lines that all converge at a single point, such as a road leading into the horizon, helps give a feeling of perspective. Lines can also be used to lead the eyes to focus on a certain object.

Diagonals, especially when used to cut across horizontal and vertical lines, adds a sense of dynamics or motion to a photo.

Recap: Rule of Thirds & Frames

Today we went over 2 techniques in photo composition: The 'Rule of Thirds' and 'Frames.' The Rule of Thirds is when you apply a grid to a photograph that is split up into thirds horizontally and vertically. Main objects in the photograph should line up with the points where the lines cross. Similarly, natural lines such as the horizon should be close to one of those lines, rather than in the middle. This helps creates a naturally pleasing photograph. Here is an example of a picture with the Rule of Thirds:



Framing occurs when the main object of a photo is surrounded by a frame that is part of the picture. A frame can occur on 2, 3, or all 4 sides of a photo. Here is an example of a frame:



Here are some student photographs that show off the Rule of Thirds and framing:

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Recap: Simplicity & Contrast

This week, students started learning the basic skills of photography composition. In this series called "Elements of Expression," various techniques taught are tools, not rules. They are intended to be useful guidelines that are used as elements to help photographers express their message.

Today, we went over the elements of Simplicity and Contrast. Simplicity is the art having a single object be the main focus of the photograph. This can be accomplished by having a plain background, removing any other unnecessary objects from the frame, or zooming/cropping in to the object of focus. Here are some professional examples of simplicity:





Contrast is the technique of making a part of a photograph stand out. An easy way of thinking about this is opposites. There are many different forms of contrast, but here are 3:
1. Black & White - putting a very dark and very light object/background next to each other
2. Color - Using opposite colors
3. "Bokeh" or blur - Students briefly touched on this effect, and practiced it with their cameras. It is the technique of having one object in sharp focus, while everything else is blurred.

Here are some examples of photographs using contrast. Can you name which types they are?