Tom Clark: Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

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.

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/S, 125

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

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.

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.

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.