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This is the second part of the guide to spicing up your photography, where I’ll run through some simple techniques to make your photographs more interesting. You can find the first part here.
In this part, you can still use any camera you want, even a crappy handphone one with no zoom.
Part 2
A. Subject The subject of your photo is whatever you want people to look at, to focus on. If you’re a porn photographer, you want people to focus on the girl and not on the mattress, for example. If you frame the shot such that viewers are amazed at the thick, firm, hard, bouncing mattress, you’ll be fired.
There are many ways to get people to focus on the right subject. Most people do it by filling the entire screen with their subject, like their face. An easy and more sophisticated approach would be to use the depth technique we learned the last time.
(You can find the first part of the guide here)
+ Show Spoiler +In this picture, the subject is the girl eating dinner in a kebab restaurant in Paris. It’s the kind of shot most of us would take. In this photograph, the subject is the same girl eating breakfast at the Hotel Ideal Sejour in Cannes. I used the lines on the tablecloth to give the photograph extra depth. Then when you look at the photo, the lines draw your eyes to the girl and her breakfast tray. In this photograph, the road draws the eye towards the Louvre Museum. If I could take it again, I would get the girl to walk along the road to the museum and turn her face towards me.
Now you try it! Just plonk a friend on a staircase or by a supermarket shelf and take a picture. Basically, you take the same kind of shot you would have taken after reading part one and put a subject at one end. Couldn’t be easier!
B. Framing
Another way of getting the subject to stand out is by using something to “frame” it. Here’s a super obvious example:
+ Show Spoiler +In this picture, the outline of the window frames the face and crucifix of the statue. This was taken at the Sun King’s Palace at Versailles. As you can see, this can be taken with any camera. It’s just a matter of realising there’s a picture there. Here’s another example. On the way to the Great Wall of China, the minibus stopped at a “jade factory” (aka tourist trap). Here’s a shot of the “artisan” (aka sweatshop worker) shaping a piece of jade. Her hands and the jade are framed by her body and the machine. It also helps that the jade and hands are more brightly lit than the rest.
C. Putting it together
A photograph doesn’t only have to use one trick. Sometimes you can cram three or four into a single shot. As we go deeper into the guide, I hope to show more examples of pictures that used more than one trick.
Here’s an example where everything from parts 1 and 2 are put together.
+ Show Spoiler +This is the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, where lots of famous people are buried. Lots of people come to take pictures with the tombstones of their heroes like Marshal Davout and Molier. My wife wanted a picture with Chopin’s grave. Here’s what most people take: And here’s what I took: I used the tombstone to provide some depth. The straight line leads the eye to the subject’s face, and the face is framed by the metal and the roses. You can even see the name "Alfred Chopin" Edit: typo, should be "Fred Chopin", short for "Frederic Chopin". My mind was elsewhere) so you know where this has been taken.
As you can see, there is no expensive camera at work here. It's just a matter of looking at thinigs in the right way, and almost anyone can do that.
The next part of this guide will cover foreground/background shots. You’ll find it hard to do that with a simple camera, so it’s time to go shopping for a decent one! Check out the list of attributes I listed in part one of the guide.
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Im not really into photography, but in the two "normal pictures anyone would take" you can see the girls breasts, in the other two you cannot. I sir will stick to the pictures normal people take.
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Depth. Look out for pretty colours, they are amazing if u have it right
Focus on forground, pull to back, take. Foreground = clear Background = fuzzy win
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I need to work on framing. I never really incorporate that intentionally into my photos well. :\
EDIT Also, for the simpler snapshotty shots, a straightforward and "flat" composition is perfectly fine. As long as the photo itself is well-taken (well composed overall), adding depth and odd angles (which you seem to do with a lot of your photos) kind of changes the way a viewer approaches the photo...I dunno, I can't seem to articulate this properly.
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On July 31 2009 18:07 PH wrote: I need to work on framing. I never really incorporate that intentionally into my photos well. :\
EDIT Also, for the simpler snapshotty shots, a straightforward and "flat" composition is perfectly fine. As long as the photo itself is well-taken (well composed overall), adding depth and odd angles (which you seem to do with a lot of your photos) kind of changes the way a viewer approaches the photo...I dunno, I can't seem to articulate this properly.
I know what you mean and I agree. The vast majority of my photos are simple and straightforward, but since the purpose of this guide to focus on very specific tricks you can play around with, I've chosen the extreme ones.
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No offense, but there's nothing exceptional in those pictures, those are the basics they teach you in the first week of any photography class.
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On July 31 2009 18:03 evanthebouncy! wrote:Depth. Look out for pretty colours, they are amazing if u have it right Focus on forground, pull to back, take. Foreground = clear Background = fuzzy win or just use manual focus
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On July 31 2009 18:03 evanthebouncy! wrote:Depth. Look out for pretty colours, they are amazing if u have it right Focus on forground, pull to back, take. Foreground = clear Background = fuzzy win That's something different. What the OP is talking about is depth in giving the photos a true sense of space, as opposed to being flat.
What you've showcased is Depth of Field, which is a cool byproduct of messing with the ratio between focal length and aperture. It helps shift perspective and can help direct the viewers eye to the intended subject.
Two different things.
On July 31 2009 18:42 The Storyteller wrote:Show nested quote +On July 31 2009 18:07 PH wrote: I need to work on framing. I never really incorporate that intentionally into my photos well. :\
EDIT Also, for the simpler snapshotty shots, a straightforward and "flat" composition is perfectly fine. As long as the photo itself is well-taken (well composed overall), adding depth and odd angles (which you seem to do with a lot of your photos) kind of changes the way a viewer approaches the photo...I dunno, I can't seem to articulate this properly. I know what you mean and I agree. The vast majority of my photos are simple and straightforward, but since the purpose of this guide to focus on very specific tricks you can play around with, I've chosen the extreme ones. Ah, I see. For sure. (:
On July 31 2009 19:25 Sadistx wrote: No offense, but there's nothing exceptional in those pictures, those are the basics they teach you in the first week of any photography class. Then I guess this is for those who have never taken a photography class... -____-;;
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On July 31 2009 19:25 Sadistx wrote: No offense, but there's nothing exceptional in those pictures, those are the basics they teach you in the first week of any photography class.
Isn't that the point? i'm a huge newb to photography so this is immensely helpful, and I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of TL were like me.
In Part 1 he even says its just a basic guide.
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Nice thread
neverGG should add to the comments ^^
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On July 31 2009 20:46 PanoRaMa wrote:Show nested quote +On July 31 2009 19:25 Sadistx wrote: No offense, but there's nothing exceptional in those pictures, those are the basics they teach you in the first week of any photography class. Isn't that the point? i'm a huge newb to photography so this is immensely helpful, and I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of TL were like me. In Part 1 he even says its just a basic guide.
Exactly, who needs to read a guide if youre already attending photoschool anyway?
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I like them and find them useful because I haven't attended any photography classes and just bought a new camera
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Nice photos from Paris....
btw your documentary about SC WCG is really nice~~
to bad my parents wont see it T_T
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The easiest way is to point the camera at a beautiful woman with little clothing on.
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