LENS FOCUSING Spreading light reflected from or emitted by every point of a subject radiates outward, and

those rays captured by the camera lens are projected onto the focal plane to produce an upside-down image.
The subject only appears sharp, however, if these rays of light intersect precisely on the sensor plane
(achieved by adjusting the lens’s focus control). If not, the rays are recorded not as points, but rather as
blurred dots. If the image is reproduced at a small enough size, then even dots may appear as points, but as a
subject’s image diverges farther from the sensor plane, so the dots recorded by the camera become larger and
larger, until, at a certain point, the image appears out of focus—the points have become large enough to
be seen as blurred dots ▲ Massed pattern Even the massive crowds in this street in Kolkata, India, are
organized. The receding parallel of the road, the glint in power lines, and the differences in scale of people can
all be used to make sense of what initially appears to be chaos. ▼ Rhythmic elements The ghostly silhouettes
of trees in Palaia, near Pisa in Italy, organize the space into an irregular but discernible rhythm of lights and
darks, with the more or less regular negative spaces between the trunks. Seen together, they create an
ambivalent mood—mysterious, yet calm. TRY THIS Look out for patterns whenever you have a camera at
hand. When you find an interesting example, take several shots, shifting your position slightly for each.
Examine the pictures carefully, and you may find that the shot you thought most promising does not give the
best result. Often, this is because our response to a scene is an entire experience, while photographs have to
work within the proportions of the format.
Chimping is short for “checking image preview” and seems very appropriate for photographers who
exclaim “Oo! Oo! Ah! Aah!” while reviewing their images on the camera’s LCD screen. If you allow yourself to
be distracted by the preview image, you will miss many shots. It also breaks the rhythm of shooting, and
interrupts the concentration you should be applying to the subject. Try to reserve your reviewing to rest
breaks and moments when you are sure nothing is going on. You do not have to go as far as some
photographers, who tape up their camera screens to wean themselves off the habit, but turn off the preview
and you will find you photograph more, and become more attuned to your subject.

Photographers have the good fortune to be able to build on the experience of centuries of painting and
graphic art with the unique visual tools of photography. Photographic composition arises through the joining
of elements such as angle of view, perspective, depth of field, color, and tone with the visual structures that
generations of artists have found effective in their work. Any photographic composition can be said to work if
the arrangement of the subject elements communicates effectively to the image’s intended viewers. Often,
the best way to ensure a striking composition is to look for the key ingredients of a scene and then adjust your
camera position and exposure controls to draw those elements out from the clutter of visual information that,
if left competing with each other, would weaken the photograph’s impact. Composition is not only about how
you frame the picture; it is also how you use aperture to control depth of field, focus to lead the viewer’s
attention, and expose to use light and shade to shape the image. If you are new to photography, it may help to
concentrate your attention on the scene’s overall