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:

– 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?