Photography assignment areas of interest

In this thread I will list out some of the techniques that help a photographer accomplish great photographs. I will not go in to great detail of each one, but know that we will be focus around these topics when we do our practice rounds on THIS THREAD. These can be considered "guidlines" as opposed to "rules". Many call them rules and always walk inside the confines of them, but, as a photographer, you have to know when it is a good idea to break these guidlines/rules to achieve the shot that you want as a photography artist.

Lets begin:

-Rule of Thirds and the Golden Mean:

The idea of rule of thirds is not a new concept, in fact, it is an ancient concept that has been used in art for many years. Artists such as Rembrandt, the King of light, and Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet are just a few of the classic artists who have used these techniques to better showcase their works of art.

In simple terms, the rule of thirds says that if you intersect an overall frame (cameras are traditionally 4:3 ratio) with 2 lines horizontally, and 2 lines vertically and space them so that they create 9 equal parts, then if you place your subject in one of the intersecting lines, you will have a more powerful composition than simply placing your subject in the middle.

The real point of this task is to look for a pre-defined composition in the environment around you and to realize when you can break the rule and to come to terms with the fact that you don't always have to follow this technique to get a good shot

You can read some more on these techniques here:
http://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/draw...oportions.html

Here is a page where there are a lot of articles written about these tequniques:
http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/

-Leading Lines:

Leading lines plays well with rule of thirds many times. In simple terms, leading lines help the viewer "enter" in to a photograph and gives your eye direction as to where to travel within the frame. This typically lends well to an overall macrocosmic leading line, but can be executed in a microcosmic way as well if done properly. You need to keep an eye out for diagonals that cut through a frame, or s curves that may end in one of the leading thirds quadrant.

For a small piece on Leading lines, please click here:
http://blog.fotonomy.com/tips/creati...leading-lines/

-Foreground Interest:

Foreground interest is exactly like it sounds like. Even though photographs are two dimensional in nature, a picture with "foreground interest" can create depth in the image and draw the viewer into it in the same manner that a leading line can. Typically, this technique is better used with wider lenses, but it isn't necessarily limited to them. The focal point can many times be the actual foreground interest or it can be the rear interest that is the focal point. You want to have a sense of connection between the two objects. They should not be two seperate indvidual objects that have nothing in common.

Here is a very brief article on this subject:
http://www.photoanswers.co.uk/Advice...ound-interest/

Those are the basic ones I would like to emphasize here for our purposes, but there are more advanced techniques as well that we can discuss if you are up for it.

Some of these include:
-Perspective
-Shape/outline Silhouette
-High Key/Low Key
-Symmetry
-Pattern
-Texture
-Macro photography

Let me know if you have any questions.

I would like to add to this that photography is all about light. Large apertures let in lots of light, but also create a shallow depth of field (either the front, middle, or back plain of the photo will be in focus with the rest out of focus), and conversely really tiny apertures cut out light, and create a photo with all the photo plains in focus.

Light can detract or enhance a photo (especially a portrait) with a portrait you don't want a super bright spot on the chest or hands if you want the face to be your subject as those bright spots will draw your eye away from the main item the photographer is trying to show.

Light can enhance a photo by illumination a section of a photo or sometimes a shadow can enhance the photo (shadow being lack of light) Look for example of a portrait where half the face is lit and the other half is in shadow.

Changing your angle to the light (notice the key element is still light) can change perspective, mood, and even composition of a photograph.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dagray

I would like to add to this that photography is all about light. Large apertures let in lots of light, but also create a shallow depth of field (either the front, middle, or back plain of the photo will be in focus with the rest out of focus), and conversely really tiny apertures cut out light, and create a photo with all the photo plains in focus.

Light can detract or enhance a photo (especially a portrait) with a portrait you don't want a super bright spot on the chest or hands if you want the face to be your subject as those bright spots will draw your eye away from the main item the photographer is trying to show.

Light can enhance a photo by illumination a section of a photo or sometimes a shadow can enhance the photo (shadow being lack of light) Look for example of a portrait where half the face is lit and the other half is in shadow.

Changing your angle to the light (notice the key element is still light) can change perspective, mood, and even composition of a photograph.

Dave

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Great points Dave. With technology being the way it is today, there are a lot of apps on the market that do the DOF calculations for you in a snap! If you plug in numbers, it will tell you, you have an area of ___inches that will be in focus and the rest will blurr out. Pretty cool tech. The wider an aperture on a lens can go, the more blur, or "bokeh" one will get on their OOF (out of focus)areas.