What is Composition in Photography?
Color
• Composition in photography simply means arranging
elements within it in a way that suits the core idea or goal
of your work best.
• Composition is a way of guiding the viewer’s eye
towards the most important elements of your work,
sometimes – in a very specific order.
• They’re not ‘rules’ – just things to consider when
setting up a shot
Elements of Composition in Photography:
In photography, the term subject is simply the
object (or person or critter) that is shown in the image.
But a single photograph can show several things — which
one is the subject? The subject is the focus on the image,
both literally as the sharpest point in the photograph and
in a more figurative sense.
1. Points
The simplest element of composition is a point. A
point is just a small area of interest in a photo, or the
intersection between areas of interest.
Points matter in photography because they are one
of the most fundamental ways to draw our attention
to add interest to a particular area.
2. Lines
Photographically, anything that connects two parts
of a photo or stretches across your composition is a
line.
3. Shapes
Shapes can be anything, from the crescent moon to
the shape of a smiling face. Each variety of shape has
its own emotional impact on a photo, and it’s
impossible to generalize. A circle might be peaceful,
a heart evocative, a triangle dynamic, and so on – but
the only thing to be said about every shape is that
they have the power to attract our attention.
4. Texture
The texture of an object plays an important role in
determining its emotional impact, as well as the
amount of attention it draws.
5.
Color makes a big difference to the composition
of a photo, as well the mood. Each color brings
its own emotions to photography. The colors in
an image and how they are arranged can make
or break a shot.
Bright colors can add vibrancy, energy and
interest, however in the wrong position they can
also distract viewers of an image from points.
Warm colors are red, orange, and yellow. They
are active, jumping to the front of an image and
conveying more movement and excitement.
Cool colors are green, blue and violet. These are
calmer colors, with a bit more gentleness to their
nature
6. Tone
Tone can refer to hues and intensity of color, it
also relates to the brightness and darkness of an
image, as well as its contrast.
Brighter regions of a photo attract the eye. So do
those with high contrast – both lowlevel contrast
(sharpness) and broader juxta positions of light
and dark.
7. Distance
The simplest relationship between elements of
composition is the distance between them.
8. Balance
Balance, related closely to the concept of visual
weight. Visual weight is the amount of attention
each object in your photo attracts. Every part
your photo has some amount of visual weight to
it.
Balance is about the arrangement of visual
weight in a photo. A balanced photo has similar
levels of visual weight between the left and right
halves; an imbalanced photo has more weight on
one side or the other.
9. Space (Positive and Negative)
Positive space is any part of the photo that
attracts attention. Areas with significant visual
weight are usually positive space.
Negative space is the “filler” between regions of
positive space. It doesn’t necessarily fade into
the background like cool colors tend to do, but it
isn’t the portion of the photo that attracts the
most attention.
Photos with high amounts of positive space feel
crowded, while photos with high amounts of
negative space feel empty.
10. Patterns
n photography, patterns are everywhere. This
isn’t just something small like a texture that
repeats itself throughout the photo, but really in
any repeating element at all. Even the reflection
of a mountain in a pool of water is a pattern –
one which should not be underestimated, since
it ties the photo together.
Patterns tie photos together. They give photos a
reason to exist – a strong statement for why the
photographer took this photo and not some
other.
Patterns are arguably more obvious in manmade
scenes, like architectural photography. But even
natural scenes and living creatures have
patterns, like feathers on a bird or waves
crossing in the sea.
Camera Lens Characteristics
All lenses filter and focus light so that it hits the
sensor or film strip correctly. However, there are
a variety of other f actors that determine how a
camera lens affects the look and quality of the
final photo.
Focal length
Lens focal length tells us the angle of view—how
much of the scene will be captured—and the
magnification—how large individual elements
will be. The longer the focal length, the narrower
the angle of view and the higher the
magnification. The shorter the focal length, the
wider the angle of view and the lower the
magnification.
Aperture controls the brightness of the image
that passes through the lens and falls on the
image sensor.
Depth of Field. the distance between the nearest
and the furthest objects that give an image
judged to be in focus in a camera. For example,
landscapes are typically shot so that everything
is in focus, so photographers will shoot at small
apertures (e.g. f11 or f16). The depth of field
varies with the type of lens, due to maximum
aperture.
Telephoto lenses
Telephoto lenses have
long focal lengths, starting
at 85mm, and allow you to
photograph subjects from
a distance. They are
significantly heavier and bigger than other types of
lenses, and more often than not require the use of
camera accessories such as tripods or monopods.
Wide angle lenses
Wide angle lenses are
those with a short focal
length, commonly
ranging from 14 to 35mm.
The broader field of view
allows you to capture
more of the scene in a single exposure. Because of
this, wide angle lenses are particularly popular in
architecture and landscape photography.
Fish eye lenses
Fish eye lenses are ultra-wide-
angle lenses with a focal length
between 4mm to 14mm. They’re
most commonly used in abstract
photography, as their unique
mapping gives the image a
convex appearance that distorts straight lines. The lowest
focal lengths can result in circular images that provide a
180° view.
Macro lenses
Macro lenses have a unique
internal structure that allows
them to capture close ups with
accurate detail, sharpness, and
contrast. The purpose of this type
of lens is to display subjects at life
size (1:1) or larger. They’re primarily used to capture
beautiful nature photos, but are also significantly popular
in fields such as product and fine art photography.
Regardless of the distance the photographer is from their
subject, macro lenses do not perform well in far distances.
In other words, you won’t be able to get a sharp focus in
a broad frame.
Tilt-shift lenses
Tilt-shift lenses can be tilted and
shifted to manipulate the
vanishing points of the scene.
This is achieved by modifying the
position of the optics in relation
to the camera sensor. They’re
used to alter perspectives and
reduce lens distortion, as well as
to focus selectively. This type of lens is not commonly
used by the regular public, but rather in specialized
photography careers such as architecture photography
and fine art photography.
Prime and Zoom lenses
Prime lenses have a fixed focal
length, while zoom lenses provide a
range of focal lengths you can easily
change. Zoom lenses are much
more flexible and allow you to
photograph a wide range of
subjects without having to change your gear. However,
zoom lens tend to be slower and rarely match
Standard lenses
These lenses offer a fairly
accurate representation
of what the human eye
sees, both in terms of
visual angle and
perspective. As a result,
images are perceived as
more natural than those
taken with other types of camera lenses.
What is flash sync?
For the flash to light the image, it has to synchronise with
the camera’s shutter, otherwise, the flash won’t fire at the
same time the image is being taken. “Sync” is simply short
for synchronization. On the de fault flash mode, the flash
is synced to go off for the duration of the image. Flashes
can’t fire as quickly as cameras can snap a photo,
however. The term flash sync is used inside a camera’s
technical specifications to indicate the highest shutter
speed that can be used with a flash. On most DSLRs, the
flash sync is about 1/200 or 1/250. What happens if you
use a shutter speed over 1/250 with a flash? In most
modes, the camera won’t let you adjust the settings any
higher than that with the flash on, but manual mode is an
exception. If you use a shutter speed higher than the flash
sync speed in manual mode, you’ll wind up with a black
band across the bottom of your image.
What are flash sync modes?
The term flash sync is also often used to describe
different flash modes. The default flash mode fires the
flash at the beginning of the shot. In other words, the flash
is synced to go off at the beginning of the shot. But, not
every flash mode fires this way.
Front Curtain Sync This is normal regular default flash
sync, where the shutter fully opens, and then the flash
triggers im mediately. This is the normal and default
everyday sync mode, which typically enforces a Minimum
Shutter Speed with Flash of about 1/60 second when in
camera A or P or Auto modes. Because, if using flash, we
don't need shutter to be any slower, the flash will
illuminate things.
Rear Curtain Sync Commonly used at very slow shutter
speeds to make long blurred trails in the ambient light,
and then the flash to freeze the moving subject making
the trails. Rear Curtain sync puts subject at the end of the
long blur trail, with the trail following the motion
naturally, instead of seeing the blur leading out in front of
the subject.
Flash timing and motion trails
Rear curtain sync The shutter opens, the motion trail is
record ed, then the flash fires to capture the main image
of the car just before the shutter clos es.
Front curtain sync The flash fires as soon as the shutter
opens, capturing the main image of the car, then the
exposure continues without flash cre ating a motion trail
that appears to be in front of the car
Slow sync flash prevents that black background. Using
this flash mode, the camera fires the flash for just a short
portion of the shot. When the flash fires, the subject is
well-lit. But when the shutter stays open even after the
flash has fired, the ambient light in the background is
captured, similar to how you would capture a long
exposure shot of just the background. Slow sync flash
then, is essential for using the flash without overpowering
the existing light. Of course, since it is used with a longer
shutter speed, you’ll need a tripod to steady the shot.
WHEN SHOULD I USE SLOW SYNC?
LOW LIGHT
Imagine you're taking a photo of some friends standing in
front of some scenery at night. Normally you'd have two
choices. You could use your flash to illuminate your
friends, but you'd probably end up with a pitch black,
underex posed background. Or you could use a slow
shutter speed to capture the background, but probably
end up with blurry friends. Not ideal either way. With slow
sync flash you can have the best of both worlds. You'd use
a slow shutter speed to correctly expose the background,
and then a burst of flash to capture your friends in sharp
detail. Because the subjects in the photo aren't moving it
doesn't really matter whether you use front or rear
curtain sync. Most people tend to use rear curtain, and
that's the default setting on most cameras. Ideally you
should use a tripod to keep the back ground sharp, but
you can also get some nice effects by hand-holding your
camera.
FAST MOTION
Slow sync flash is really effective for sports and action
photography. It allows you to capture the subject in tack-
sharp detail but also get some motion blur in the shot. This
gives your image a sense of speed and is much more
pleasing than the "frozen" effect you get with normal
flash. Because the subject is moving, the flash curtain
setting makes a real difference. Rear curtain is generally
your best bet because it will freeze the subject at the end
of the motion, with the blur behind them. This results in a
photo with a "natural" sense of movement.
How Slow Sync Flash Works?
The slow sync flash mode lets you select the
synchroni zation of shutter speed and the
power/duration of the flash. When you use slow sync, the
shutter remains open much longer to allow in more light
for your expo sure. This means that your main subject
needs to re main as still as possible, or if they move
slightly their edges will be soft. The flash fires at a specific
moment during the longer exposure (which you can
select) and the flash duration is much shorter than the
shutter speed in “standard” flash mode.
Red-Eye Reduction
This is regular front curtain sync, but it delays the shutter
about a second while the flash flashes about three times,
trying to cause the subjects eye pupils to contract smaller,
hoping to prevent or reduce the red eye. However, the
best way to reduce red eye is to provide more distance
between flash and lens, at least about an inch of
separation for each foot distance to the subject. Red eye
is caused by the direct reflection from the retina inside the
eye, and a flash at a wider angle will eliminate that
possibility from reflecting back.
Learning Exposure For Photography
The science behind photography is
all about how a camera captures
light, so understanding how to
control exposure is essential to
becoming a good photographer. In
this video we’re going to go over
the 3 pillars of expo sure that make up the exposure
triangle. When you un derstand these 3 components,
then you will have a mas tery in both the technical and
artistic aspects of photog raphy.
Understanding Exposure
Shutter Speed The shutter speed controls the duration of
light that reaches the sensor. When you take a picture the
shutter door opens, revealing the sensor for a duration of
time that you or the camera chooses, then closes. The
duration is measured in seconds or fractions of seconds.
This could be 1/100 of a second, or 1/10 of a second, or
three seconds, or five minutes.
First, as you would expect, a long shutter speed (several
seconds) lets in a large amount of light. If you take a
normal daytime photo with a 30-second shutter speed,
you will capture an image that is completely white. The
opposite is true, too; a quick shutter speed only lets in a
small amount of light. If you take a photo at night with a
1/8000-second shutter speed, the photo will be
completely black.
Take a look at the series of examples below. Here, 1/25
second was too dark (“underexposed”), and 1/3 sec ond
was too bright (“overexposed”). This should give you an
idea of the brightness differences with shutter speed:
Second, the only other big effect is the motion blur in your
images. In photography, motion blur is the purposeful
streaking or blurring of an object in motion in a photo for
visual effect. It's a great technique for cap turing
movement in a still image, and is often used in both
nature photography and sports photography. Shutter
speed is the most critical factor to consider when
capturing motion blur. A shutter is the curtain in front of
the camera sensor that opens to let light in when you take
a shot. A fast shutter speed will freeze motion, while a
slower shutter speed will cause your subject to blur.
Aperture You can think of aperture as the pupil of the
lens. By widening or narrowing itself, the aperture
controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor.
Aperture is measured in fractions or f-stops, like 1/2.8 or
1/4, but lenses will only show the denominator: 2.8, 4, 5.6,
8, etc. This is why the lower the aperture number, the
wider the aperture gets
Aperture and Exposure
The larger your aperture, the brighter your photo – the
more light you capture. Again, your pupils work just like
this, too; they open or close to let in different amounts of
light. So, when you are trying to expose a photo properly,
it is crucial to pay attention to your aperture setting. A
large aperture lets in more light. Apertures like f/1.4 and
f/2 practically let you see in the dark. On the flip side, a
small aperture like f/16 (with nearly closed aperture
blades) lets in far less light.
Aperture and Depth of Field
The other important effect of aperture is on depth of field.
Depth of field is the amount of your scene, from front to
back, that appears sharp. In a landscape photo, your
depth of field might be huge, stretching from the
foreground to the horizon. In a portrait pho to, your
depth of field might be so thin that only your subject’s
eyes are sharp. To be specific, small apertures (like f/11 or
f/16) give you a large depth of field. If you want
every thing from front to back to appear sharp, those are
good settings to use. Large apertures (like f/1.4 or f/2.8)
capture a much thinner depth of field, with a shallow
focus effect. They are ideal if you are trying to isolate just
a small part of your subject, making everything else
blurred.
ISO As you can see, that is a significant difference. The
photograph on the left has a larger depth of field, which
means that more of the scene appears sharp from front
to back. However, the f/2.8 photo on the right has a
pleasant shallow focus effect. In this case, it is arguably
the better image.
ISO is a measurement representing the sensors sensitivity
to light. The higher the ISO number the more sensitive
your sensor will be to light, which means that at higher
ISO’s you would require less light to get to a proper
exposure.
PARTS OF DSLR CAMERA