Photography T&T #2

This week is on the eye.  As a photographer, you should always be striving to take pictures that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye (we talked about this in my last photography post).  We want to draw the eye to the main object we wish to highlight.  There are several ways of doing this.  First, however, you need to create a picture that looks proportional.  We can do this using a rule called the "rule of thirds."

The rule of thirds is basically that you are just breaking your photo up into three parts, hence the name.  It is more pleasing to the eye for an object to be filling up 1/3 of the space (this is called "positive space").  All other space (ie sky, backdrop, etc) is called "negative space."  When your main object is filling 1/3 of the three chunks of space, the photo looks more beautiful and proportionate overall.  This rule is really quite simple and one that you probably already use even if you have never heard of the actual definition before.  The photo of my horse that I posted in the last T&T was a pretty solid example of a photo using the rule of thirds.  You can edit your cammara settings so that 4 bars show up when you are taking a picture.  These lines provide a basic view for taking a good picture that demonstrates the rule of thirds.

Notice how the bee and the flower take up about 2/3 of the picture, forming positive space.  1/3 is negative space in a nice neutral color that draws the focus on the bee.

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Alright, now we can move onto lines.  Lines, bending or straight, should be utilized to draw the eye of the reader to a final destination: the main subject of the picture.  Railroad tracks and fence lines are GREAT for practicing using lines.  

This picture(to the right), though it does not have a subject on the end, really draws your eyes to the horizon.  We follow the train tracks till we can no longer see them.

The picture on the left is also a fairly good picture, but its main focus is on the first post of the fence.  Taken at a more dramatic angle with a large lens, it would visually lengthen the picture and give it more depth.

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Finally, we have lighting.  The way the light shines on an object really sets the mood for the picture.  For instance, when you were little, I am sure you tried shining a flashlight under your chin to create a spooky look.  The shadows under your eyes become more pronounced  and your face looks dark and mysterious.  This is all simply due to lighting.  Generally, if you want to take a picture that pleases the eye and shows a dark and a light side of an object (take a face, for example), align the light so that it is facing on the left side of the object.  That way the darkness will gradually flow over to the right side.  Since we are used to reading from left to right, it appears the most natural way for our eyes to view a light/dark picture.  If you wish to make your picture look more choppy, spooky, or dark, you may shine the light from the right to the left.  

Hope you have success with your photographing.  Again: try to use these techniques in your every-day photography and have fun with these!

In Christ,

Lillian

We we created in His image; now lets reflect His creativity!