Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Shoot what you feel

Look at other people's photographs. Famous photographs, things your friends have shot, anything. How does a photograph make you feel? How do you react?

If it makes you think a little, or feel a little, beyond the usual "what a pretty flower" or "what an awesome HDR", try to figure out why. What is it in the image that makes you feel that way?

Some elements of the visual vocabulary:

  • Darker vs. Lighter
  • High contrast vs. Low contrast
  • Color temperature (this applies to B&W too, as tonining)
  • Where is the subject in the frame?
  • Point of view (low, high, left, right)
  • Angle of view (wide, narrow)
  • What is emphasized, and how?


This might seem like art nerd wankery, and it is, but if you can learn to read the language a little, you've got a better chance at speaking it.

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