Basic photography

Art, composition, and computer

principles
AEE 211
February 24, 2003

What makes these

images effective?

Overview
Basic composition

Mood and atmosphere

Qualities of a good photo
Basic composition
Improving composition

Working with the computer

Files
Scanning
Printing

Creating mood
Overall feel of a picture
Created by

Perspective
Color
Focus (isolation and distance)
Weather and light
Sunrise/sunset
Misty, rainy days
Sun vs. overcast

Characteristics of a good
photo

Shape
Line
Pattern
Texture
Size and space

Shape
Tends to be noticed first, before texture and
pattern
Easiest and most recognizable composition
tool
Shape helps create a mood/character for the
picture
Search for the unconventional or surprise shape
in objects

Creating shape
Common
use backlighting to create a silhouette

Uncommon
side lighting with simple background
underexpose to focus on shape vs. color or
texture

Line
Lines create

Shape
Pattern
Depth
Perspective

Line leads the eye

Focal point/subject
Diagonals
S-curves

Line creates perspective

Lines into the horizon show depth and
perspective for the viewer
Vanishing point
Point at which lines converge and vanish in to
the horizon
Place off-center

Close-ups decrease perspective while wideangles can exaggerate it

Pattern
Orderly combination of shape, line, or color
Pattern can help echo the character of a
photo
Catching attention
Random patterns
Slight variation in a pattern
Pattern in common places

Texture
Adds realism (sense of touch) to a photo
Sharp (hard) light highlights texture
Especially important for close-up and b/w
shots
Side lighting highlights texture
Most portraits use front lighting to decrease
texture on skin

Using light for depth

Sometimes hard light is inappropriate for
illustrating shape and depth
Soft side lighting can give a sense of shape
and depth without high contrast
Portraits
Still life
When shape/depth is more important that
texture

Size and space

2D pictures distort depth, relative size, and
distances

Include reference item

Include parts of the fore- or background
Use a frame
Be creativemaybe you want to distort

Giving perspective
LinearLines which converge into the
distance
Diminishing sizeobjects further away are
smaller
Aerial perspectiveatmosphere creates
haze, which lightens objects farther away

Depth and perspective

Overlapping formsoverlapping objects in
a picture create depth and distance
Selective focusingfocusing on the
foreground and blurring the background

Improving composition

Rule of thirds
Simplicity
Angle and perspective
Framing

Have a strong center of

interest
Take pictures at different angles with
different compositions
Work around the rule of thirds

Simplicity
One strong center of interest
Foreground or background should be simple or
complimentary to center of interest
Include foreground or background for sense of
isolation, distance, depth, etc.

Avoid mergers

Cut offs
Avoiding cutting out parts or wholes of
people or main subjects
Avoiding cutting out the path of a moving
object

Give the object

somewhere to go

Working with angles

Low angles
Clear sky backdrop
Accentuate movement or action

High angle
Eliminate cloudy sky

45 degree angles will cut glare

Avoid centered horizons

Framing

Adds depth
Should fit theme
Helps subject fill the frame
Can block unwanted subjects from view
Watch focus on foreground

Focus on foreground in landscape

Focus on subject in portraits
Auto-focus should be centered on main topic
OverallDEPENDS ON CAMERA

Balance
Balance color and weight in a picture
Formal and informal
Symmetrical and asymmetrical

Symmetrical

Asymmetrical

Fill the frame

Would this picture look better if I was
closer?
Focus on subject
Detail

Start far and move closer

Fill the frame with objects that fit
Long range shots provide depth and
perspective

Digital issues
File formats
Scanning
Printing

Native file formats

Format used by computer program

Retains ability to edit within native program
Unreadable on WWW or graphics programs
Product families (Adobe, Microsoft, etc.)
Examples
.ppt, .doc, .mix

Nonnative file formats

General formats that multiple programs can
open
.gif, .jpg, .tif, .bmp

Formatting cannot be undone within a

program picture must be reedited
Save pictures in both native and nonnative
file formats

Resolution
Quality of the pictures on a screen, print, or
file
DPI = dots per inch (printer)
PPI = pixels per inch (screen)

More resolution means higher file size

Different file types contain more or less
information (resolution)

Resolution and bits

Tagged Image File Format

Very flexible and can be opened by most
programs
Saves as pixels
Scan as a .tiff or as a native file format if
possible

EPS files (vector)

Only some programs use: FreeHand,
Illustrator, CorelDraw
Saved as separate images not as pixels no
resolution lost with resizing
Use the Options button under PRINT in
PageMaker to save as EPS

Graphical Interchange Format

Great for the WWW

8-bit 256 colors (indexed color)
Usually set at 72 pixels for the WWW
Allows for transparency
NOT used in printing

Portable Network Graphic

24-bit (millions of colors)

Transparency with jagged edges
Alternative to the .gif
Newer computer programs only

Joint Photographic Experts

Group

24-bit color
Lossy compression
You can usually set your compression here
Best for WWW pictures

Portable Document Format

Embeds all data into a single file

Fonts
Format
Pictures
Text

Works on any computer with reader

Standardizes your document
Work on WWW and as attachments

Postscript files

Will print on any postscript printer

Do not need program to output data
Print to file
Make sure you know what kind of printer
you are dealing with

PNG GIF JPG - TIF

General rules
Scan a photo as a .tiff file
For web pictures, use .jpg
For print pictures, use .tiff or vector format
at a minimum of 300 dpi
When possible, scan/save the picture at the
size to be used 300 dpi will look poor if
enlarged

RGB Color
Red-green-blue
Monitors and scanners determine level of
the three to put on a pixel
Light directly into the eye = cannot look the
exact on paper
Out of gamut (cannot be printed in CMYK
format)

CMYK Mode
Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Key (black)
Commercially output documents or special
printers
Four-color printing
Process colors

Color bounces off object and onto your eye

Get a process book or color guide to select
(Pantone, Tru-Match, Agfa)

Comparing the two

RGB have smaller file sizes
RGB has some features that the other does
not
Convert between the modes at the end or
you will lose information

Understanding resolution
Resolved to our eyes = realism and
accuracy
Printer = DPI
Monitor = bit depth (colors displayable)
72 ppi is good enough for electronic photos

Understanding pixels
Picture elements (dots) per inch
Standard monitor displays 640 by 480
pixels
640 by 480
1024 by 768

More pixels requires more RAM, which

may mean lower bit depth

Enlarging with pixels