SESSION TWO.
COMPOSITION. MARK WOODWARD PHOTOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION– Session two – well done for making it this far!
– Homework from last week!
– Any ideas why I asked you to go find inspiration online?
WORKSHOP PLAN! – Introduction to composition
– Aspect.
– Composition ‘rules’ and when to use them.
– Perspective.
– Photo critique technique.
– Homework!
FIRSTLY…– Join the “James College Photography Tutorial Group” on
facebook!
– Platform to share photos weekly, post your homework, receive feedback on your images.
– http://www.york.ac.uk/colleges/james/photography/
– My contact details are: [email protected], on facebook at www.facebook.com/markwphoto and @markw_photo on twitter.
COMPOSITION– Good composition is about everything in the frame –
where should it be?
– It can mean the difference between a good and a bad photo.
– What’s bad about this?
COMPOSITION– Composition is defined as: The organisation and
placement of visual elements of a photo.
– But it can be more than this: perspective and aspect are equally important. (Some would argue they’re part of composition)
– Aspect: the ratio of the length of the sides. 4:3, 16:9, 1:1 are common.
THE RULE OF THIRDS– Rule of thirds is a very popular composition ‘rule’.
– Essentially, everything in the image should be on a line or crossover between two lines.
IN LANDSCAPES:– Split the horizon and land/foreground into thirds: either
two thirds sky and one third foreground, or the other way around.
– Look for important features, the setting sun, vertical or horizontal lines and apply the rule to them.
YOUR BEST COMPOSITION TOOL: CROP– Can totally change a photo – if you can, use it to:
– Remove distracting things– Make sure horizontal lines are horizontal– Change the aspect of a photo – what crop suits the
rules?– Portrait or landscape?
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 1 – Simplify.
– Keeping things basic creates dynamic images. – 3 elements to a frame.
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 1
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 2– Fill.
– Empty space can work well, but can also work badly!
– Think about your zoom.– Subject size. – Think: what is the subject?
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 3– Avoid the middle.
– Rule of thirds – SOMETIMES.– Look at ‘image balance’– Give the picture ‘space’
– Leading lines.
– Fences, roads/road markings, hedges, rivers….. – Lead towards the subject– Come in at angles– Pointing the eye
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 4
– Diagonals.
– Use them to introduce drama – horizontal and vertical lines often make a picture look ‘calm’.
– They’re essentially leading lines..– …but with the subject diagonal. – The ‘Dutch angle’ can work well..
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 5
– Dutch angle.
– Intentionallly strange perspective to make an image more dramatic!
– There’s a time and a place.
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 5
– Space.
– Give subject the space they need to move – as if the motion were to continue.
– Can really change the look. – Which way people are facing.
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 6
– Backgrounds.
– Two ways to get rid of backgrounds: zoom in and fast aperture.
– Shallow depth of field = blurry backgrounds– Zoom in = crop out background
– Longer focal length = shallower– depth of field.
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 7
– Contrast.
– Add interest by using contrasting colours or features. That then becomes the subject.
– Look for opposite colours. – Break the other rules!
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 8
– Ignore the rules!
– Sometimes images work because they don’t follow any rules.
– More likely to find an image – works because it obeys the– rules rather than because – it breaks them…
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 9
– 1 . Simplify.
– 2. Fill.
– 3. Avoid the middle.
– 4. Leading lines.
– 5. Diagonals.
– 6. Space.
– 7. Backgrounds.
– 8. Contrast.
– 9. Ignore all these…
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES ROUNDUP– There’s no reason to include
any of them in your photos, you can make great images without..
– …but if you think about one or more of them when you’re taking a shot, it’s more likely to be one you’ll keep.
PERSPECTIVE– A very powerful tool for making interesting photos
instead of boring ones.
– Shoot low and high – don’t just take images at eye height.
– Live-view can be a great advantage, as can tilting screens.
FORCED PERSPECTIVE– ‘Forced perspective’ is using the perspective of the
photo to create interesting images.
– Takes creativity to imagine them but again, find inspiration online!
HAVING SAID ALL THAT…– Rules are not rules, they’re ‘rules’.
– As composition technique number 9 states.. Great images can be made by breaking the rules and throwing it all out the window.
– Perfect example: reflections work
– really well in halves, not thirds.
QUICK PHOTO BREAK/COMPETITION– Go take two photos of something.
– One, as if you were going to do it as you would normally
– Two, the same subject, but obeying the rule of thirds!
PHOTO CRITIQUE TECHNIQUE – Post some images to the facebook group, get some feedback!
– Post one, go comment on two.
– Three steps:
– Look at the photo for at least 10 seconds, look at everything individually as well as a whole.
– What do you like and dislike about the photo and why: – Technically (lighting, colour, focus, etc)– Visually (interesting subject, strong feelings, composition)
– Suggest one improvement (different crop, brighter)
PHOTO CRITIQUE EXAMPLE
THANKS FOR LISTENING.
– Homework!
– Take 3 photos that obey at least one of the compositional ‘rules’ (it can be number 9 if you want..)
– Post them on facebook for others to rip them apart! – Comment on other peoples images using the style
mentioned previously. – Any questions?
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