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: contact@markwoodwardphoto.com, 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:
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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.
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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’
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 4
– Leading lines.
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Fences, roads/road markings, hedges, rivers…..
Lead towards the subject
Come in at angles
Pointing the eye
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 5
– 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 – 6
– 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 – 7
– 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 – 8
– Contrast.
– Add interest by using contrasting colours or features. That then
becomes the subject.
– Look for opposite colours.
– Break the other rules!
COMPOSITION TECHNIQUES – 9
– Ignore the rules!
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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 ROUNDUP
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1 . Simplify.
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2. Fill.
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3. Avoid the middle.
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4. Leading lines.
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5. Diagonals.
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6. Space.
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7. Backgrounds.
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8. Contrast.
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9. Ignore all these…
– 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?