Tom Clark - Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

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/B, 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 autofo-cus feature. Chapter 3 tells you much more about how to use your equipment.

igure 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.

Having a pair of eyes rather than just one eye gives you the capability of depth perception, the ability to recognize three dimensions. Depth perception helps you understand distance relationships even when you have minimal information to work with. Because it has only one lens, a camera perceives depth differently than your eyes do — it can only perceive two dimensions.

Although your camera produces two-dimensional images, it can recognize three-dimensional space because its lens can focus at different distances. A camera image with one element in focus while another is blurry represents the way your eyes observe a scene. You can use this technique in conjunction with certain compositional techniques to maximize the representation

of three-dimensionality (or depth) in a photograph. The following clues in a composition can tip off a viewer about how much distance is between different elements:

Merging elements:You experience merging when two or more elements intersect based on your viewing position. When one element physically blocks your line of sight to another element, you can assume that the position of the element that you see is closer to you than that of the blocked element. Figure 2–5 shows an example in which mountains merge in front of other mountains that are farther from the camera.

Size relationships:When you know the typical size of something in a photograph, you can use it to reveal spatial information. If two adults are in a scene, you can assume that they're of similar size (give or take a foot). If one of the people appears to be much larger in the frame than the other, the viewer recognizes that the larger person is closer to him.

200mm, 1/500 sec, f/5, 100

Figure 2–5:Showing merging elements to establish a sense of distance between them.

" Tonal gradation:You use shadows, highlights, and tonal gradations to reveal three-dimensional surfaces in a photograph. Tonal gradation takes place when you see a gradual change from brightness to darkness. When you look down a well, for instance, the light reveals details at the top, but the light falls off as you look deeper into the well. The darker it gets, the deeper you're looking into the well.

You're responsible for everything that appears in your chosen frame. So only those items that affect your message should be included in your frame. In other words, if something causes a viewer to ask, "Why is this here?" you know you should have either found a way to exclude it from your photograph or have an explanation as to why it's there.

When you look at a scene, ask yourself which elements convey your message and which ones may distract from it. Remove the distractions whenever possible. The most basic method for eliminating something from your frame is to crop it out as you're taking the photo. You can do so by zooming your lens, by moving closer to your subject to include less of the scene, or by moving your camera to the left or right or up or down. (Chapter 8 gives you tips about revealing and hiding items in a scene.) You also can remove some distracting elements during postproduction editing, but you should only use this method as a last resort (refer to Chapter 18).

In Figure 2–6, you see two scenes. The top image includes distracting elements; the bottom one shows an improved version of the image that I created by cropping at the time of the photograph. The original image, which shows a young woman doing yoga in an urban setting, was designed to appeal to young professional types who would be drawn to the idea of living in a modern condo building in downtown Miami. The scene was fairly cheap and artificial-looking, so I wanted to create a more natural look that included some of the surrounding city. These two images provide the same subject and environment, but the message was idealized by minimizing the details in the final image.

Both photos: 50mm, 1/320 sec, V3.2, 50

Figure 2–6:Cropping into the scene eliminated distracting elements, creating a stronger message.

The more you pay attention to and look for beauty in your surroundings, the more motivation you have to create photographs. After you take the images, go through them and determine what was successful and what wasn't — and why. Experience is the key to being good at anything, especially at creating excellent photographic compositions.

Here are a few ideas that you can use to enhance your skills as an observer and photographer:

Corner yourself.Choose a place or specific scene and force yourself to take as many pictures of it as you can think of. Change your camera angles and your distances to the different elements. Focus on different things in the scene and pay attention to the qualities of light, color, and textures in the area. By sticking to that one scene, you may start to notice things about it that you would normally overlook. Starting to notice those things is how you develop your eye. You could probably create an entire body of work just from shooting in your own backyard. You just haven't seen the potential there yet.

Limit your shots.Approach a scene and allow yourself to take only one photo. Before you take the shot, make sure you've observed the entire scene and know that you've found the composition that best suits your outlook at that time. Pay attention to how the light is affecting your scene. If it seems like things will get better as the sun moves through the sky to the west, wait to take the shot. If clouds are rolling in, and you feel that you may lose your good light, take the shot before the clouds set in. Be aware of all compositional elements present in a scene so you can make wise decisions. Later, if you revisit the same scene, take another single image and compare the differences between how you felt about the scene the first time and how you felt the second time.