Basic photography—Art, composition, and computer principles

AEE 211February 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 wide-

angles 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 creative—maybe you want to distort

Giving perspective• Linear—Lines which converge into the

distance• Diminishing size—objects further away are

smaller• Aerial perspective—atmosphere creates

haze, which lightens objects farther away

Depth and perspective• Overlapping forms—overlapping objects in

a picture create depth and distance• Selective focusing—focusing 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– Overall—DEPENDS 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