Composition – Finding the Evidence!

More than 200 years!

I want to share the secrete of composition! I am not going to tell you the types of composition here but the real fact behind a great photograph. Firstly, make sure the viewers of the photograph believe that the photographer know why he/she has included the elements in image. Even when they have a very little knowledge of composition. For example, if I included a big part of image with a dramatic cloudy sky & a short part with land. They may amaze with the colors & patterns of cloud, & reply “WOW! What a colors!” Here I made a decision of including a big sky because the clouds move me on. At the same time the image is composed by “One third rule.”

This is what called intuitively shooting. Always shoot what moves you. Many times people come to the point where they want to make a good image but they fails to express their feelings in image.

So how to show what you want to express??

Here are some good tips to shoot what you love & to tell a story.

•  Just walk around the location first. Then find a story – It simply like a tree or old house or anything which moves you.

•  Don’t settle & grab a camera a shoot it with middle exposure!! This is crap!!!

• Wait & watch the elements. i.e. objects around it. What makes your subject more beautiful? Ask yourself! Again ask yourself! Again ask the same Question? 

•  Then you will find something. I called it “EVIDENCE” which is the proof of living. It refers details, texture, color, patterns & other objects related to it.

• Then think about the perfect lighting. The day time in which it will look the best. The plain/cloudy sky, colors in the sky at golden hours. Or it can be a flash or other light source which adds the mood. Think about everything.

• Then find arrangement of subject in your camera frame. – Composition.

• You don’t have to think much about composition as you shoot frequently. And I am sure till this process your composition is already done in your mind.

•  So shoot it!

Is this the lengthy process?? No really no! As you practice it you will do it within 10-15 minutes only. For sure, it is better than taking a hundreds of images and finding none of them is a best shot of day! So go to the location find the stories & come home with having some best story telling shots.

:) Happy shooting!

Flower Photography

What does the Flowers photography means to me -

                          The ultimate Beauty on the Earth is Flowers. They are delicate & gressful. So how to capture these beauty photographycally. Here is the key to capture the flowers amazingly & to get stunning images - The first thought - Means how do you react when you see that flower, What is the special feature of the flower which moves you. That's the WOW facter. 

Morning beauty

                          Some flowers are saturated, some are desaturated. See the details, find the beauty spot. capture it. Composition - look for it but around and related to that beauty spot. 

Yellow ring

Beauty of Bunch

change your position up-down, left-right. Don't add the clutter, wash it out use large aperture. See the colours; find the complementory color, find the harmonious colour. check both.
                          Add little rain, use water spray to add water droplets. It refreshes the viewer. Remember less droplets better works than the rush. 
                          
So, Chase the Beauty of flower - Find related Context to make the story.
Keep Visualizing!!
 :)

Breaking the Rules...How to do that??

        Yes tell me, how much you think about the rules & about breaking them?

Basically, there is no single rule which is restricted to use in photography. I can justify the meaning of photographic rule – By experiencing the human eyes behavior & how they analyses things & understand them, there are certain guide lines for making a good photograph these guide lines are become Rules. So rules aid you in the composition of a good visual storytelling photograph.

         So the good photograph is one which has good visual ingredient. If you can show the story effectively, you don’t have to bother about rules. They come later! The rules are only to guide viewer where to see first & then how to traverse throughout the image. One can engage viewers by providing the details, for longer & deep understanding of image.

Here we go…

Lazy evening  -  malvan, Maharashtra by me

In the above image the person is sitting at exact midpoint. This is against the rule of third. But still the image works perfectly. Because, it has good context it draws viewer eye to certain elements. There are two pillars, the first one is little shorter than the next pillar. This helps in transition of eyes movement. The bright light from the right upper corner and the coconut tree all are included purposely. They complement each other.

          The net with bottom border helps to keep the attention concentrated to that person only. Finally the clear early evening sky and somewhat silhouetted scene defines the mood. Finally, relax, lazy& the idle pose of the young man & the little details in dark made this photograph visually pleasant. 

          If it was shoot silhouetted with no details in the shadow, then it may would look somewhat boring from my perspective.  

Here is the destruction of above image for better understanding.

The subject is at midpoint exactly breaking the rule of third!

 Look at he visual moment in image.

 graphing of visual movement

It does not distract viewer.First we see the human figure then the two pillars on right. After that the last pillar takes our vision to the bright part of extreme top right. Then the fifth element is coconut treetop which is alone in the entire left side & the vision comes back again to the subject by referring the white border of the net. Here net helps to engage the viewer by providing grid in the scene. 

          Always keep Compositions in mind but photograph the subject with its context. Don’t think about rules; think about subject, the story behind it, its expression, its feeling. Your minds vision will automatically compose the scene as you practice more & more. For creative exercise read photography magazine, watch great artists work, find critics… That’s all making your soul grow as a photographer!

          Here is the secret! Human eyes can see only a 3º degree of angle. Let's have an example, watch your left hand palm & now without shifting your sight can you tell me the details on the thumb of the same hand. No we can't!! So, the conclusion is that we see things rapidly and then we make the whole image in our mind. Winning images are simple, easy to understand & has a great lighting too.

Mantra to success: In composition, include the elements which are really helping to say something about the subject and its environment. Otherwise exclude them!

Ohh...I made a mistake!

Vaibhav was preparing for portrait shoot

It's all right! Just never repeat it. Mistakes are useful; it’s a process by which our soul grows. It helps us to understand how elements (the objects) are dependent on each other & how the arrangement of them is matter. See, even if we can't change the physical location of objects, we can change our position. Moving left or right, up/down can help us for better composition.

:) take care! Keep composing!

Ansel Adam had Said...

It is my intention to present - through the medium of photography - intuitive observations of the natural world which may have meaning to the spectators. -Ansel Adam

Layers of vision is the photographic exercise which is the soul of every good photograph. I would really like to talk about the thoughts which come, when we see something and raise the Camera to capture that moment. Vision is more important than the device that captures it. So, no matter what camera you use or where you belongs to, the thing matters is your intuition and the aesthetic of that moment.

Lot more things to discuss & to be share. It's a interactive process of giving & taking!

Take care! keep framing!!!

:)