Photo Design-Chapter 3-Photo Elements

photographic elements

Chapter 3 continued

Focus

• Sharp focus is an accepted standard• The question of where to focus is usually very

obvious, but can be used as a design element• Focus is so engrained into us that whatever is

in focus becomes the point of attention• You have to make the decision of what to

focus on what kind of depth of field you want.– In dark situations you may be limited to shallow

depth of field, but in brighter situations it is a choice you will need to make

Focus

• Focus contains a directionality from unsharp to sharp

• Think about your lens’s focal length and its affect on focus and depth of field

Focus and movement from focus

Selective Focus

• Choosing one specific are to focus on gives to viewer a clear idea of what the photographer wants them to look at

• Having the out of focus parts of the frame still be intelligible helps this affect also

• Selective focus is a decision in depth of field

selective focus

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Motion

• The range of sharp to unsharp can also be controlled with the use of motion and motion blur

• Motion blur can be caused by camera shake(a jerky ghosting effect), streaking from a moving subject, and panning…there are also combinations of these

• There is also a technique called rear curtain shutter technique in which the subject is blurred from a long exposure and then a flash is shot off at the end of the exposure to superimpose a sharp shot on top of the blurred shot

motion

motion blur

Moment

• Only completely static objects do not concern timing• Timing can concern milliseconds of a quick action or

the hours waited to get the best light for a shot• The “Decisive Moment” is that moment when the

elements in motion are in balance– Henri Cartier-Bresson

• This action, whatever it may be, inevitably affects the design of the photograph

• As a photographer, you must try to anticipate the composition as the objects move in your scene

Moment/repetitive action

anticipation

Optics

• Photography is made optically, so lens type is very important to the design process

• Focal length affects the geometry of the image as well as the focus and depth of field

• Some lenses can also change the shape of objects, like fisheye or tilt lenses

• The focal length affects the angle of view and thus affects the linear structure of an image as well as depth perception and size relationships

Wide angle optics• Shorter focal length means wider angle of view • Taken with little foreground there will be little change

made to the perception of depth, but with a foreground a wide angle lens gives and impressive sense of depth

• Wide angle also tends to produce diagonal lines which increases dynamic tension

• They also encourage a subjective point of view drawing the viewer into the scene

• On the edges of a wide angle lens there is a stretching effect which helps to envelope the viewer like a circle

• It also emphasizes that the scene continues beyond the frame

optics/wide angle

wide angle dynamic lines

wide angle perspective effects

Telephoto Optics

• Telephoto lenses have a strong tendency to compress objects – Make objects that are far apart appear

closer together

• With a telephoto lens, you are taking the photo from further away and this give a more objective view

optics/400mm

telephoto compression

Fisheye

• Circular fisheye allows you to see the round edges of the lense

• Full frame fisheye covers the entire sensor filling the rectangular frame

Tilt Lens

• Titling the lens tilts the plane of focus

• Even at the smallest aperture you can distribute the focus at will

• The sensor or film plane can also be tilted which will have this affect on the focus but will also stretch the image in the direction the sensor is tilted

tilt lens

Exposure

• Exposure also plays a role• Exposure is assumed to have one

possibility• We tend to look at the brightest thing in

the image first• High contrast calls attention to darks

and lights while low contrast allows the eye to wander over the image

lighter exposure

darker exposure

Flare

-happens when you point your camera at a light source

-Can take on many different appearances

-it’s helpful to have an object halfway block the light

-consider using a polarizing filter if you want strong starburst type flare

**Flare is technically considered incorrect

Flare

Flare

Flare

Glare

-glare is often mistaken for flare

FLARE AND GLARE ARE NOT THE SAME

-glare happens when a bright light is REFLECTED off of a shiny object

Silhouette

-you must have your subject in a relatively dark place with a strong light coming from behind

-you are using backlighting to make a creative exposure

-meter the light coming from behind your subject rather than on your subject

-bracket to make sure you got a pure silhouette

Silhouette

Silhouette