There are a number of rules that apply to photography as well as to painting. Some rules are made to be broken while others try to keep you out of trouble, but in the end, most try to help you create better, more interesting pictures, both painted or photographed. CENTER OF INTEREST A physical object, a person(s), building, flower, or other subject is most commonly used as a center of interest. Most pictures need a center of interest; something the eye can latch onto and identify. But note that a center of interest does NOT mean placing the object in the center of the picture. Creating a composition with unequal spaces challenges the eye and makes the photograph more dynamic. Our eyes tend to find and fixate on brightly colored or sharply defined objects; objects that are isolated from the rest of the image; objects that have visual signposts pointing to them; objects that yell look at me, objects that are larger than the rest of the picture. Try zooming wide or up close to improve the composition, or sometimes just changing your position by moving a foot or two this way or that makes a big difference. Try to avoid having objects intruded onto the subject or center of interest. It is not always necessary to have a strong, brightly lit object or person as the center of interest. Think of some of the mood pictures you have seen, or the sunsets, or night shots. More often than not these pictures may combine a weak or spread out (think of a running stream) married to a background that creates feelings that can range from one of serenity, overwhelming beauty to that of utter despair. Focus and depth of field (DOF) are often used together to create a center of interest; a point the eye will easily find and stick to. The eye tends to dismiss parts of an image that are out-of-focus and to fixate on the sharply focused parts. Two things influence both focus and DOF, the closer the camera is to the subject the smaller the DOF and the more critical the need to have a sharp focus. DOF can be increased or diminished by changing the aperture setting or the zoom. A large opening yields a very shallow DOF and thus requires more critical focusing. A small opening increases DOF and offers a little more leeway in obtaining exact focus. An extreme long zoom has a narrower DOF. PORTRAIT VERSUS LANDSCAPE Almost all cameras are, by design, easier to use in the LANDSCAPE mode, i.e., the camera s longest axis is held parallel to the ground. Turning the camera on its side (portrait mode) is required when trying to take portrait pictures. Remember to turn the camera with the flash closer to the top if you are going to use the flash. Strong vertical lines or images like a person (or two) standing alone, tall trees fully framed, a ladder or a post all generally benefit from being presented in the portrait view. A common exception to this would be the necessity to include an important element that is off to one side in the picture. If that element is important, remember to have the subjects face towards that element unless that part of the picture is behind the subjects or well off to the side. If the element is just to establish a setting, then the element can be out of focus and/or off to a side. It is easier to create a portrait view from a landscape image than it is to create a landscape view from a portrait picture. COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 1 of 7 08/21/11
Landscape views are generally best for broad expansive nature scenes such as a sunset, mountains, farmhouses, and rural scenes. These shots may benefit from having some object close up or to partially frame the picture or to create a sense of depth to the picture, These pictures are best when there is a foreground, a mid-ground and background areas.. THE RULE OF THIRDS maybe the most important of all composition rules Divide the scene into both vertical and horizontal thirds (see example below) Action moves INTO a picture, not out of it. The LCD on some cameras can display this type of grid to help the photographer in placing the center of interest. The intersections of these imaginary lines suggest four options for placing the center of interest. The option you select depends upon the subject and how you would like that subject to be presented. Consider the path of moving subjects and leave space in front into which the subject can move. Most portraits benefit from having the subject s eyes at one of the four points looking into the picture. This grid, if available, may be displayed either through using the MENU or possibly by pushing the DISPLAY button. The display button may offer several options, one of which is the grid. You can also apply the rule of thirds to the placement of the horizon in your photos. Try placing the horizon in the upper or lower third of a picture, but not dead center. Remember that these are only guidelines. So if you don't like this subject placement, try another. Avoid having a vertical lines (or even a horizontal line) dissect a photo. If necessary, crop the line out of the picture. Cropping can also be used to adjust placement of the center of interest. USE OF A PICTURE ELEMENT(S) TO DRAW YOU INTO A PICTURE The Use of Repeating Elements, Fences Sidewalks The picture on the left illustrates repeating elements to draw the viewer into the picture. In this picture repeating elements also act to frame a subject. A fence, road, walkway, sidewalk can do the same thing to draw the viewer into the picture. Roads, fences, walks start at the lower right or left corner and move into the image connecting to the center of interest or lead the eye to the center of interest. If this picture was perfect I would have placed someone in a red or brightly colored jacket next to a post a third of the way into the picture. S curve - One of the most common and graceful lines used in composition is called the S curve. This graceful figure is frequently used to draw the eye into a picture. Have the curve start at one of the lower corners and travel into and across the picture. Some natural shapes such as rivers, trees, and elongated necks of birds all can form graceful S curves. COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 2 of 7 08/21/11
Frame the Image These pictures have the feeling of depth. Use anything that can be visually placed around the subject. These objects can either entirely or partially frame the subject. Examples of possible frames are doorways, windows, arches, bridges, tires, trees, branches, and even shadows. The frame itself may not even be close to the subject or may be out of focus. Some framing elements resemble the letters C, U, or L. Look for these features to isolate the center of interest Balance Good balance is simply the arrangement of shapes, colors, or areas of light and dark that complement one another so that the photograph looks well balanced. Being well balanced does not necessarily mean symmetrical. In general an asymmetrical style (of balance) is more interesting to look at than symmetrical balance. Removing distractions It's human nature for your eyes to instantly focus on your subject and ignore everything else when you look through the viewfinder of your camera or its LCD panel. Your camera, unfortunately, records everything within view. It can not discriminate between subject and background. It has no way of knowing, let alone warning you, that the planter is going to be a distraction in your otherwise interesting photo. A better image is shown here on the left. While this was a crop of the original image (shown above) it would have been smarter to have zoomed in to remove the planter that is a visual distraction. You'd think that something as obtrusive as that planter would jump out at you immediately, but it's not necessarily the case. Here, I used Picasa crolpping tool to eliminate the planter in the foreground. REMEMBER: Scan the four corners of the picture to look for clutter. Have you ever looked at your pictures and thought, "Why didn't I notice all of that crap in the yard?" Any background clutter in your photo pulls your eye away from the subject, from looking at what is really important. You avoid this problem by letting your eyes examine each of the four corners of the viewfinder. This simple exercise takes your eye away from the subject and forces you to consider both the foreground and the background. If you make a habit of examining before clicking you will time and effort and won't be COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 3 of 7 08/21/11
disappointed by noisey foreground or backgrounds again. Once you find the problem, think about how to fix it? While, at least in theory, removing the item is easiest. It may not be possible, especially If it is a large stationary object, you may need to move yourself, a unique concept. But sometimes neither of zooming in or moving yourself is an option that is available, then try using a shallow depth of field to blur isolate the subject. This takes careful focusing and a wide open lens to get both the foreground and the background blurred. NOTE: Bright lights can also add to clutter in an image. Look out for light that competes with your subject. Is your world flat? Avoiding Mergers and Near Mergers When you take a photo, you are turning a 3D world into a 2D one. In effect, you are squeezing everything the camera sees into a single visual plane. In the picture on the right note the blending of the head with the tree. You probably think no one could avoid seeing it before snapping the shutter, but I didn t. The merger of a tree with a head is so obvious, how could I miss it? Our minds tend to focus on the subject and ignore the surroundings. The camera doesn t, it compresses three dimensions into two and brings a tree twenty feet behind the subject into the same plane as the subject. In reality, in the picture on the right, you know, and can see that the tree is behind the girl, but if she had been fully lined up with the tree, you would not have any clue about where the tree was or if in fact it was growing out of her head. This problem intensifies when the object behind the subject is a similar color to the subject. To prevent this from happening in your photos, make it a habit to look behind your subject and detect any objects that may be a problem. Move yourself or your subject to put the distracting background somewhere other than directly behind. Use your digital camera's display to get immediate feedback and re-shoot the photo, if necessary. Juxtapositions Think of these as a visual oxymoron. These make great pictures by themselves but if they show up accidentally, they can easily ruin an otherwise great picture. These 3 photos were borrowed, but I think they clearly illustrate the point I was making. Photography literally means "painting with light," so as we explore the rules note that they apply to painting as well as to photography. COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 4 of 7 08/21/11
SIMPLICITY An important guideline is simplicity. Remember KISS Keep It Simple Stupid. Look for ways to give the center of interest the most visual attention. One way is to select uncomplicated backgrounds that will not steal attention from your subjects. Avoid having bright colored unimportant objects close to the main subject, it confuses the eye. Get close to avoid busy backgrounds. Changing your point of view or zooming in closer can eliminate a cluttered background (or foreground). General Rules for Shooting Couples If you re trying to shoot a picture of a couple (not a grab shot) you may want to think about several things. 1. The person closer to the lens will look bigger. Zoom range of about 60-70mm (35mm film equivalent) generally produces good portrait pictures. 2. Try to place the couple at an angle to each other rather than in a straight line 3. Try a shoot with their heads tilted towards each other, with hers turned towards her partner. Her eyes can even look downward so that you see her eyelids or locking back over her shoulder at the photographer.. 4. Try leaning the man towards the camera a little bit 5. Try leaning the women sideways (kind of an S curve) 6. The couple s heads leaning against one another. 7. Try a shot with the women behind the man, slightly off to the side with her head leaning against his. You can repeat this with the man behind the women and his arms wrapped snugly round her waist not hanging over her shoulders and over her breasts. Remember that distances are compressed, even though his hands may bea foot in front of her boobs, it may appear in the picture that he is grabbing them. 8. Generally the man is placed higher than the women, but not always (see #7) 9. The major light source should be about 30 degrees off and above from the camera producing a catchlight in the eyes. This is generally a more flattering look. 10. Avoid shooting up a nose. If you are slightly below the subjects, have then tilt their head down a bit so you don t look up their noses. 11. AVOID filtered shade. Subject should either be fully in shade or under a cloudy sky. 12. The couple should come close to filling the frame unless the surrounding is important. 13. The on-camera flash may be helpful but turn down the flash. Use flash exposure compensation (FEC) to reduce the flash intensity by 1 or 2 stops. Lookout for harsh shadows or over exposed highlights. Move subjects away from walls. 14. The subjects can face each other with their heads reasonable close 15. A v arrangement is also good with the subjects facing the camera. AVOID HAVING THEIR HEADS AT THE SAME LEVEL. 16. If doing full body pictures, the camera lens should be at least the chest height of the tallest person 17. Set your camera to take multiple images and/or bracket the exposure. 18. IF POSSIBLE AVOID USING THE FLASH, take pictures near windows with uncluttered backgrounds or outdoors in FULL SHADE, not filtered shade. Check white balance. 19. Full body shots work best with the subject turned somewhat sideways and leaning on something of appropriate height. This slims down the subject and gives a more relaxed look. 20. The body parts closest to the camera will look bigger so look out for enlarged heads, arms, legs, feet, or an oversized butt. COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 5 of 7 08/21/11
THOUGHTS AND RULES FOR PORTRAITURE It goes almost without saying it that sooner or later most of us will try to take a portraiture type picture. Trying to sum up rules in a page or two for taking good portrait pictures is nearly impossible, but I am going to try just that. NOTE: Some camera portrait settings will deliberately produce a soft unsharp image. Shooting pictures of just one person 1. Take the picture at the subject s eye level and focus on the eyes. 2. Have the subject turn 45 degrees away from you. Show both shoulders in the picture and have the subject look at you 3. Have the subject sit tall with their chin out slightly and slightly lean forward. Combining all three into one shot is difficult but it gives you an idea of things to try to get the best shot. 4. Some shots may be done shooting the image ¾ head-on. Here you want to see both eyes but the face is turned away from you. The subject is now looking off to one side. 5. Some head tilting works fine in women but in men it can be feminizing. 6. If the subject wears glasses look out for glare. Remove the lenses if they have an old pair or else have the subject hold the glasses in their hand. 7. Avoid shooting upwards into a nose. 8. Both hands under the chin can be interesting in women. 9. Set your camera to take multiple images and/or bracket the exposure. 10. AVOID FLASH IF POSSIBLE, take pictures near windows with uncluttered backgrounds or outdoors in FULL SHADE, not filtered shade. Check white balance. 11. Full body shots work best with the subject turned somewhat sideways and leaning on something of appropriate height. This slims down the subject and gives a more relaxed look. Shooting group pictures 1. Arrange subjects in an inverted V or diamond 2. Don t be afraid to arrange the subjects, turning their bodies and heads as needed. 3. Avoid having the tallest people at the ends 4. If necessary you can form a broad semi-circle so that each person is the same distance from the photographer. Have participants turn slightly towards the center. Subjects can overlap each other but not too much. 5. If doing full body pictures the camera lens should be at the chest height of the tallest person 6. Everyone has to look at you not at someone else or day dreaming. 7. Check focus and D.O.F. to make sure everyone is in focus and sharp 8. Avoid jamming people in too tightly. Give each of them some room 9. Check background and foreground carefully 10. Set the camera to take multiple images 11. IF POSSIBLE, AVOID USING THE FLASH. SUMARIZING - TAKING BETTER PICTURES 1. Check for clutter in the foreground and background 2. Check focus and D.O.F. with multiple subjects in the image. 3. Shoot level with the subject, at eye or chest level 4. Use the LCD display to judge pictures COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 6 of 7 08/21/11
5. Create a sense of scale. 6. Try Zooming. 7. Try changing shooting position 8. Avoid flash 9. If shooting outside avoid filtered shade 10. Check white balance, especially indoors EXPLORING DEPTH OF FIELD (DOF) In simple terms, DOF describes the range or zone in a photograph, from the nearest point to the farthest point that appears to be sharp, will produce a good SHARP image when printed, IN OTHER WORDS, IS IN FOCUS. Most digital cameras have SCENE modes that allow the photographer to manipulate DOF. PORTRAIT MODE may shift the aperture to very wide in order to have a shallow DOF in order to isolate the subject from the surroundings. LANDSCAPE mode will almost always shift the exposure algorithm to a small aperture to obtain the greatest DOF. The shifts in aperture will also cause changes in shutter speed. Three factors affect the depth of field: 1. focal length of the lens, longer lenses (100-500mm) have shorter DOF, wide angle lenses (20-38mm) have longer or wider DOF 2. distance from the camera to the subject, close yields a shorter DOF, distant yields a larger DOF. 3. the size of the opening of the lens (aperture - the f-stop) An aperture of f 1.4-f3.8 has a narrow DOP while f8-f22 have larger DOF. Notice the fence In the example on the RIGHT The upper half of the picture was shot at f 5.6 and the fence slats are blurred. The lower half of the picture was shot at f22 and the slats are reasonably sharp. Most point and shoot (P&S) digital cameras have very limited ability to control DOF. They have a tendency towards GREAT depth of field. As stated above, if your camera has scene settings, then the PORTRAIT scene setting has a shallow DOF while the LANDSCAPE scene has a greater DOF.. Increasing or raising the ISO setting can cause the camera to reduce the aperture while decreasing the ISO setting can cause the aperture to widen and thus decrease DOF. Shutter speed may also be affected when changing ISO speeds. A shallow DOF isolates the subject in the photo. A wide aperture (smaller f-stop number f2.8, f3.5, f4,) results in a shallower or narrower DOF. Use this to keep either the foreground and/or background out of The human eye tends to focus on images that are sharp while ignoring blurred images. Thus pictures of a flower or a face can easily be separated from a cluttered background by using a wider aperture. The smaller the number (f2, f3.5, f4) the LARGER the opening of the aperture while the larger the number (f8, f11, f16 etc) the SMALLER the aperture. If your camera has APERTURE PRIORITY you can control the size of the lens opening and thus DOF. NOTE: The PORTRAIT mode on some cameras deliberately yields a picture that is slightly out of focus, called a soft image. This is an attempt to minimize or hide skin imperfections such as wrinkles, large pores, or acne scars. COMPOSITION-DOF-portrait--rev-7pg Page 7 of 7 08/21/11