Tom Clark - Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

around town, you would convey the message that you can find a lot of places to get a drink in the city.

Suggestive backgrounds or supported elements:If your subject is not supported sufficiently by its environment, you can add details by creating a multiple exposure, like the example in Figure 17-5.

I came across the bird in Figure 17-5 in my backyard one morning. It was lying on a piece of wood and seemed so peaceful, as if it randomly fell out of the sky in the middle of a pleasant thought. I didn't want to move the bird to a different location, but the wood bench it was positioned on was too harsh to tell its story alone. By compositing an image of the sky onto the scene of the bird, I was able to give a sense of the bird's more natural environment, which contrasts with the wood. Without the sky, this image would be a literal depiction of a bird that has fallen onto a hard, wooden surface. With the inclusion of the sky, this image is more of a tribute to the life of the bird.

Photo of bird on mood: 70mm, 1/30 sec, f/5, 100 Photo ofsky:70mm, 1/500sec, f/5, 100

Figure 17-5:Composite images help to say more about a subject by including multiple descriptive backgrounds.

Before digital photography, if you wanted to make a collage you had to cut out images from your photographs and paste them onto a board to create a compilation that conveyed your message. The collage could showcase your childhood, your summer at camp, your trip to Arizona, fashion, or whatever. However, with the advent of digital photography and photo-editing software, you no longer need scissors or paste to create a collage. Even better, you don't have to destroy any photographs. Plus, you can alter the sizes of different elements in the collage very easily. Chapter 18 gives you the technical details you need to use computer software in this way.

You can approach composing a collage from various angles. You can either create a clean composition that has a clear purpose, or you can create one with many different messages. I explain each approach in the following sections.

Producing a clean, one-message composition

To create a clean composition that conveys only one message, you place the important elements in areas of strong compositional relevance based on the rule of thirds (see Chapter 5 for details). You choose to include elements because they have a clear purpose and work together to provide a cohesive message.

For example, you may create such a collage as a flyer to advertise an event or show, as pop art (like Andy Warhol's popular reproductions of Marilyn Monroe), or for a model's comp card. A comp card, which is used to obtain modeling work, is a compilation of photographs that shows the model's talents and attributes. Figure 17-6 shows a comp card that I designed.

Top photo: 50mm, 1/125 sec, f/2.8, 200 Bottom left photo: 50mm, 1/200 sec, f/4, 50 Bottom right photo: 50mm, 1/125 sec, f/4, 100

Figure 17-6: The back of a model's comp card.

Crafting a muttimessage composition

Another type of collage is one that's chaotic and serves the purpose of many messages at once. You would most likely find this type of collage on the wall of a high school student or in someone's scrapbook. The design can be free and doesn't have to follow any rules of composition. However, if you're experienced with creating good compositions, you most likely apply certain design principles to this type of image without even thinking about it.

When putting together chaotic compositions, arrange the elements so they fit together and have a sense of flow. Try to make a balance between the various elements in your collage based on the ideas discussed in Chapter 12 on creating harmony out of chaos.

One of my favorite ways to create artistic photography is with old or cheap film cameras. Many photographers use photo-editing software to create the looks that are produced naturally with these cameras.

One interesting camera I use is an old Brownie camera made by Kodak. It takes 120 medium-format films and provides images that look as though they were taken decades ago — and you don't even have to digitally alter them. When you get the film from this type of camera developed, askforthe negatives to be scanned onto a disc. This way you can open the files on your computer and make minor digital adjustments, but you don't have to go out of your way to make them look as if they're vintage. The camera naturally takes care ofthatforyou.

Consider the example in this photo. The contrast levels were digitally adjusted but other than that, the image got its look and feel from the camera.

Another camera I'm fond of using to create artsy images is the Holga. These are considered toy cameras because they're made from plastic and are inexpensive. The Holga takes 120 medium-format films and is known for having light leaks and producing unpredictable results. But don't let those so-called problems stop you from experimenting.

Try using a camera that's unpredictable. You may find it to be therapeutic to take photographs that aren't guaranteed to produce any specific quality of results. As a professional photographer, I spend so much time worrying about the technical aspects that I enjoy myself more when I'm not concerned with them.

Focal length unknown, 1/50-1/125 sac, aperture unknown, 400

In this photo, I put together a collage of some portraits taken with my Holga. I used Photoshop to create the collage, but the effects in the images were created by the light leaks from the Holga.

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All photos: eOmm, III25 sec, f/B, 400

In This Chapter

Fixing composition imperfections digitally

Editing to make your subject stand out

Sometimes the images you compose have problems that you can't fix by changing your perspective or futzing with lighting. Maybe a power line runs through your shot but adds nothing to your message and isn't necessary for your composition. You obviously can't take down a power line in the real world, so you have to take it out digitally in post-production.

Photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Google Picasa, GIMP, and Corel Digital Studio 2010, provides photographers with limitless abilities to manipulate images. This chapter shows you how to use this type of software to enhance your compositions by eliminating unwanted elements, cropping, perfecting your perspective, drawing attention to your subject, and optimizing balance and harmony. I focus specifically on Photoshop, but many of the other available software programs provide similar features with different names. Check your program's manual for more specific information. To get more detailed information on Photoshop, you also can check out any of the books in the Photoshop For Dummies series (Wiley). You also may find it helpful to consult Digital Photography For Dummies, 6th Edition, by Julie Adair King and Serge Timacheff (Wiley).

Try not to rely too heavily on retouching. It can be time consuming. As a general rule, always create the best image possible while shooting, and never intentionally leave yourself something to digitally fix unless you have no other choice. Sometimes taking care of a compositional issue while shooting can save you hours of time at your computer.

Whatever photo-editing software you use, experiment with it! One of the beauties of this technology is discovering your own favorite way to achieve an effect. You'll find many ways to perform the tasks in Photoshop and other software programs. This chapter simply gives you a few ideas that help you focus on the things that typically need to be fixed in postproduction.