The orientation
Horizontal:
It’s also called landscape format. This format corresponds to the human vision, which scans the space from the left to the right and offers better control of the camera. It is used for landscapes, general scenes & a group of people…
This orientation adds a sense of stability, depth and distance to an image.
Vertical:
It’s also called portrait format. The eye scans the image from the top to the bottom. This format is used for images representing people, portrait or actions taking place within situations of height. This orientation gives a sense of proximity and action to the image.
The viewpoint
The photographer must choose a particular position for the subject to demonstrate the inspiration the subject provides for the photo.
The further away the viewpoint, the more a photographer shows a certain distance from the subject. The opposite is the case if the viewpoint is very close to the subject. In that case the photographer shows a certain intimacy with the subject.
There are 3 different points of view:
Eye Height:
The photographer positions himself a the same height as the subject. This is the most neutral viewpoint.
At this height, the represented subject is not distorted, the perspective is respected.
High angle shot:
The photographer shoots from above the subject, camera aimed to the bottom.
The photographer dominates the subject, which gives a sensation of isolation of the subject. This viewpoint stubs the perspectives out and distorts the subject a bit.
Low-angle shot:
The photographer stays below the subject, camera oriented to the top. It gives the subject a sensation of domination and power.
This viewpoint supplies a bigger importance to the foreground but can distort the image perspectives a little.
According to the chosen focal, the viewpoint of the photographer varies as well:
The shorter the focal (high angle), the more the depth of field, but the perspective will be distorted (fisheye).
The longer the focal, the more the perspectives are stubbed out and the depth of field will be smaller.
The shot’s values
General shot:
It represents and shows the subject in its environment. It allows the image to bring out the subject’s place in connection with the environment where its located. The short focal is advised to get a maximum depth of field.
Whole shot:
More close-up than the general shot, the subject becomes identifiable. The subject and its environment take the same place in the image. Short focal advised.
Middle shot:
The subject is represented more closely and in its totality. The subject becomes more important than the scenery. You can use a short focal for going close to the subject or a long focal and staying far from the subject.
American shot:
The subject is framed at half thigh (it’s called American shot because of the western history; the cowboys were framed so that their revolvers would be on show). This shot isolates the subject and reduces the depth of field. It’s better to use a focal long enough, because high angles would distort the subject.
Close-up shot:
It isolates the subject and gives value to some parts of the subject. For portraits, there are two types of close-up shots, waist shot and chest shot which gives value to the upper part of the model, above the waist or the chest.
Close up:
It gives value to certain details of the subject and doesn’t show the scenery.
Very close up:
It gives value only to a very small part of the subject and allows isolation of the detail.
It is important for close up and very close up, to lighten the subject well, to achieve volume and texture that are realistic for precise details.
Composition rules:
The third rule:
The third rule comes from the gold number rule, which allows you to determine the ideal proportion of a subject in an image.
This gold number allows theoretical lines to be established which cut the image in three horizontal and vertical equal parts. They are the force lines, which compose the third rule, often used for the framing of a picture or a video.
The ideal proportion in photography is 1 third for 2 thirds.
If you frame the subject in the center of the image, it will lead to an obvious symmetry, so it appears a little boring. There will be a lack of dynamism and interest. It’s better to frame the subject in the third part of the viewfinder to add dynamism to the image.
Those lines which divide the image meet together in 4 points in the center of the picture. Those points constitute the strong points of the image. The eye will be naturally attracted to those points. So it’s important to place the dominating elements and details of the subject in those zones. If you ad useless details in those points, it could harm the readability of the image.
Moreover, some scientific studies show that we all have the same reading when we look at a picture. This reading is determined by our culture. In occident, the eye reads an image from the top to the bottom and from the left to the right; this is the reading in Z. This scan from the left to the right explains why an image with horizontal dominant features seems more restful and vertical dominant features more tiring.
The eye is attracted by precise zones of an image. There are strong points, or the center of the image, but the eye may also be attracted by the zones with the biggest shapes or the zones, which appear to be the closest in the image.
It’s important to remember that the eye is unconsciously attracted by other regions of the image because of other parameters: clearness, foreground, diagonals of the image, colour more or less attractive…
Balance and distribution of the masses:
To get a pleasant and harmonious image, it must be composed in a way that balances the different masses and volumes represented.
Thus, the bigger masses attract the attention more easily than the smaller ones. The colour of those masses and the distance between two masses and their respective positions are are likewise important. So it is advised to emphasise on the different strong points of the image, being careful not to blur other important masses.
On this picture, we can see that the important elements are near the strong points, the masses are balanced, the rock takes up the diagonal on the left and the sky and the sea take up the diagonal on the right.
The zone – which is very contrasted and dark – on the rock, is balanced with a clearer zone and blurred on the right. The colours are balanced. It is important that the blue area, which is the dominant feature, takes more space than the mountain to make the image clearer and pleasant to view. If the rocks took more space than the sky and the sea, it could darken the image and would make it less relaxing.
We can notice that the subject appearance in the diagonal line of the image is recalled and intensified by the rope.
On all those pictures, there is an element, which unconsciously attracts the human eye first. Effectively, the eye is automatically attracted by the people represented in a scene.
On a portrait, the eye is automatically attracted by the look (its eyes) of the model represented. This works for animals too.
Exposure:
The exposure of a photo corresponds to the amount of light that is received by the film or by the digital sensor of the camera.
Three parameters determine the amount of light received by the camera:
-Sensitivity, which determines how the light will be received and absorbed by the camera.
-The opening, which will regulate and control the amount of incoming light.
-The shutter speed will determine the duration of the exposure of the film or of the sensor.
An image with a good exposure is an image that shows maximum detail in both bright and dark areas.
Sensitivity:
It is measured in ISO. The ISO scale measures the sensitivity of the surfaces where the light is sent during the shooting (digital sensor or film).
The higher the value (ie. ISO 1600), the more sensitive the camera becomes to light. In this case a small amount of light provides a correct exposure.
Vice versa, if the ISO value is low (i.e. ISO 100) a well-exposed image will require a very bright light.
Under exposed
Good exposition
Over exposed
The opening and the focal:
When light enters the camera, it passes through several lenses, separated by the diaphragm.
Thus, by varying the opening we will let in more or less light on the film or sensor.
The opening will be decisive for the exposure of an image but also for its depth of field.
In fact, the smaller the opening, the larger the sharpness area, thus more depth of field. Vice versa, the wider the opening, the smaller the image’s depth of field in the image (with fixed focal).
On the front part of a camera, you will find figures like these: 1-1.4-2-2.8-4-5.6-8-11-16-22-32. You may set the camera on such numbers. The higher the numbers, (11-16-22-32) the more the diaphragm opening is reduced, therefore less light enters. Note that with a fixed focal, the difference between an opening value and the next (i.e. 2 and 2.8) will let two times less light enter.
The opening of the diaphragm goes together with the choice of the camera focal length. The focal length of a lens determines the enlargement of the image. A greater focal length allows you to zoom in more, therefore catching more details of a subject. However, the choice of a high focal length can determine image distortion. In fact, a high focal length tends to bring all elements of foreground and background at the same level. This brings elements closer and reduces high ground and volumes of an image. A short focal length can distort perspective as vision is much broader (i.e. fisheye).
Very short focal length; perspectives are Distorted (fish-eye effect)
Very long focal length, the background is totally blurred, there is no depth
Closing speed:
It’s also called the time of exposure, and it determines the time during which the sensor or the film will be exposed to the light, which enters in the lens. This time of exposure is controlled thanks to the shutter; it is expressed in seconds: 1 second – ½ s – ¼ s – 1/8 s – 1/15 s – 1/30 s – 1/60 s – 1/125 s – 1/250 s – 1/500 s – 1/1000 s – 1/2000 s.
With a constant sensitivity and opening, the faster it is, the less light enters and the slower it is, the more light enters.
So the closing speed allows managing the exposure of the film or the sensor but it also allows the control of movement represented in an image. Indeed, the faster it is, the more the movement seems to be static. On the opposite side, with a slow speed, the image will restitute a sensation of move, blur…
Warning, with a slow speed, it’s sometime very difficult to stabilize the camera and to get a correct render.
Fast closing speed, The move seems to be static
Slow closing speed, long exposure, move and speed feelings
The depth of field and the adjustment:
The depth of field is a determining element of an image. It is the distance which separates the first and the last clean plan of the image. It allows to target what zones will be clean and what zones will be blurred. It gives value to certain elements of the subject and gives significations and sense to the reading of the image.
The depth of field depends on two parameters:
- The distance between the subject and the photographer, which determines the adjustment
- The opening of the diaphragm which determines the exposition (according to the chosen focal)
Thus, if we keep the same opening and the same focal, the bigger the distance between the subject and the photographer is, the more depth of field there will be.
Still with the same focal, the bigger the opening, the less depth of field there will be and the less clean zones there will be on the picture. On the opposite side, the more we reduce the opening, the more depth of field there will be.
With the same opening and the same distance, the bigger the focal is, the less depth there will be.
For a portrait, if we use a small focal (28mm), we need to go very close to the subject to get a good depth, it will lead to image distortions.
If we choose a big focal (200mm), the depth of field will be correct but we will need to move away from the subject which can sometimes raise problems.
So it is advised to use middle focal (between 50 and 100 mm) to realize portraits with an interesting depth of field and a middle opening. This choice of focal will place the photographer at a distance of 2 to 4 meters from the subject.
For a landscape, the choice of a big focal doesn’t allow you to get an important view and depth of field, so we need to reduce the opening a lot to get a correct depth of field. It is advised to choose a small focal, which will enlarge this view and will subsequently increase the depth of field with a middle opening.
Once all those parameters are taken into account, the photographer can choose the clearness he wants to attribute to his picture and put forward some elements of the subject.
Thus, he will be able to drive the reader to specific zones and details by creating a very clear foreground and a background, for example.
Image without a big depth of field.
Focal point is on the shoe on the foreground
The look is attracted by this red mass, which is the only clear element of the image.
The other blur elements (people) are placed in strong points of the image and on the force lines, which attracts the look toward them and accentuates the message the author wants to deliver.
Contrasts and colours:
The contrast of an image corresponds to the difference of density between the brightest and the darkest colours of an image.
So, a well contrasted image is an image which has the maximum of intermediate colours between the true black and the true white.
It is necessary for the photographer to set up his camera exposure before shooting in order to restitute a maximum of contrast and details.
The contrast of an image depends mainly on the quantity of light received and its orientation. Indeed, too strong a light will produce dense shadows and vice versa. So, the place of the photographer regarding the light source is very important to get good contrasts and beautiful colours.
The choice of the contrasts allows the photographer to inspire the image with energy, to improve the render and to accentuate the message he wants to deliver.
An image with soft contrasts will give a sensation of calm and sweetness whereas a much contrasted image will be stronger and expressive, more disturbing too.
Warning, don’t inspire too much energy with too many strong contrasts; it will often lead to oversaturated colours and blurry outlines, which will harm the quality of the image.
So it’s very important to find a good balance of the contrast to show precise details in high lights and the low lights and, at the same time, inspire the image with energy.
Not enough contrasts, the image looks fogged.
Image well contrasted, colours are respected
Image too much contrasted, lack of visibility of the details in the shadow zones.
