by Brenda Tharp
AUTUMN REFLECTIONS, MAINE. A longer focal length viewpoint and vertical framing combine to create a pretty reflection of the fall colors off the point of this lake, almost filling the first frame with colorful details. When composed horizontally and as a wider view, the expanse captured put everything at a distance. Less of the whole scene, in this case, provided a stronger picture. 70–200mm lens at 75mm, f/ 20 at 1/6 sec.
HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL?
The next time you review your pictures from a field trip, examine the ratio of vertical images to horizontal ones. You’ll probably discover that many are horizontals. I make a lot of vertical images, yet I am still surprised by how many horizontal images I create versus vertical ones.
Does this matter? Only if an image would be stronger if you were to compose it vertically rather than horizontally. As a general guideline, horizontal framing accentuates the width of the scene or a subject, and vertical framing emphasizes the height of it. Framing can have an emotional impact on the image, as well. Sitting empty on a page, a horizontal rectangle is more peaceful, because the longer two lines dominate the space and suggest a feeling of calm. A vertical rectangle expresses more vitality, as the longer two lines are upright and suggest strength. When you compose a scene, pay attention to the dominant subject and its orientation. Generally, vertical objects, such as trees, express more strength and energy if framed vertically to accentuate that attribute. But there are always exceptions, and it’s a great idea to look at both vertical and horizontal compositions of your scene or subject, before settling on the first one that came to mind.
When I find a good location with great light, I try to find ways to create exciting photographs with both orientations. I use design, perspective, and composition techniques to make both images visually arresting.
ACHILL ISLAND, IRELAND. When framed horizontally, the stream brings you through the scene in a relaxing manner, and you feel the depth of the scene. When the image is framed vertically, the rushing stream becomes dominant, its energy pulling you to the background. Since it serves as a visual pathway through the scene, it connects the foreground and background together and also expresses depth. Both orientations work, yet express different qualities. First frame: 24–70mm lens at 25mm, f/ 20 at 1/6 sec. Second frame: 24–70mm lens at 38mm, f/ 18 at 1/3 sec.
composition checklist
Walk around with your camera and explore through the lens to find the best spot for making the picture. Don’t settle for “first choice.” The first place you stop is usually not the best.
Think about what you’re trying to emphasize and find the best angle of view and point of view you can to do that. Be willing to bend and stretch for your point of view. Don’t be lazy!
Utilize design and perspective.
Preview the depth of field, and check for background distractions through the viewfinder.
Do a “perimeter check”—scan the edges of the frame for extraneous “stuff.” Your viewfinder may show you less than what you get on the sensor, but you can check that on the LCD if you make a quick “snap.” While you can certainly crop that little bit later, it’s good to get a “clean” composition in-camera if you can.
Check for similar tones (or colors) that overlap and may not separate enough to stand out from each other.
Watch for bright areas such as sky, sunlit patches, or reflections. They can create a strong distraction as the eye is always pulled toward bright areas of a scene.
Watch for “the hand of man” in your nature landscapes—telephone poles, road signs, or airplane vapor trails that can cause distractions or visual clutter. And don’t forget about the visual clutter you can remove—bits of trash, dead leaves, twigs—anything that is distracting.
Watch for small distractions in macro compositions—pollen “dots” on petals, bright highlights from water drops, stray threads of cobwebs, moving bugs.
WORKING THE SITUATION
24–70mm lens at 24mm, f/ 10 at 1/100 sec.
Photographers often don’t get the most they can out of a situation. They make one or two pictures, and think they’re done. As an exercise, the next time you’re in a well-photographed location, challenge yourself to see what’s around you in a different way. Make the “predictable image” first, if you must, but once you’re past that, get into the scene. Zoom with your feet, not just your lenses. Try different focal lengths and different points of view. Return at a different time of day or night, if possible. Pay attention to the light of the day and decide if it could be better earlier, later, or at twilight. If the light is great and the location is great, you have the main ingredients for dynamite photographs. Spend a little extra time to make the most of it.
When I’m on assignment, I need to make as many good compositions as I can, until the light—or my memory cards—runs out. That doesn’t mean that I run around frantically. Well, okay, sometimes I do get a bit frantic, but I still work a composition carefully to make the best image I can before I move to the next point of view. Since I submit pictures to stock photo agencies, I will try to make several good compositions, starting with the one I feel is the best. For photographers wishing to develop their vision, exploring the subject is essential. When you review your pictures, you’ll see where you started, and what you ended up with, and the results will be very educational.
PONTE VECCHIO, ITALY. Late afternoon was partly cloudy, but I headed to the river in hopes of capturing some golden light at sunset, and got lucky. I knew that later the breeze would calm down, smoothing out the water, so I waited, as I wanted to capture the bridge and reflection with those moody clouds at twilight. 24–105mm lens at 40mm, f/ 16 at 10 seconds.
CREATING RHYTHMIC COMPOSITIONS
If you listen long enough to someone tapping out a rhythm, you’ll be able to pick it up and tap along in time, even if you don’t know the song. You probably wouldn’t be able to pick up the rhythm with just two or three taps, though, because rhythm is established over time.
The same thing happens with rhythm in photography. You can begin to establish a rhythmic feeling with just three or four similar objects repeating in your frame, but the rhythm will be stronger if you have more. Whereas time is needed in music for rhythm to develop, in photography space is needed for the repetition to repeat enough times. Those repetitions also need to be in a measured beat—which in photographic terms means the objects are a relatively equal distance from each other in the field. While visual rhythm is often equated with wavy or curving lines, a row of trees can express rhythm if the repetitions create a measured movement for the eye to follow, as seen in the picture on this page. If you compose so the repeating elements extend beyond the frame, you strengthen the effect, as the mind assumes the repetition continues and so the rhythm flows on, too.
ARCHWAYS IN FLORENCE, ITALY. The repeating archways created a strong rhythmic pattern. By filling the frame, I emphasized the rhythm, suggesting to the mind’s eye that it continues outside of the picture space. 100–400mm lens at 400mm, f/ 29 at 1 second.
You can use any focal length to create rhythm. A wide-angle lens provides lots of space to develop the repetition and it may be too much space for the amount of repeating elements. A telephoto lens gives you less space, but you can optically compress, or “stack,” objects to establish rhythm more quickly. Creating rhythm still requires you to consider all the other factors of composition, perspective, and design, yet it can be the final crescendo in a well-designed photograph.
HANGING FERN, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. The gentle S-curves of these fern leaflets repeat from left to right in the frame, creating rhythm in a very simple composition. Here, too, the mind’s eye assumes this repetition continues outside the frame. 24–105mm lens at 75mm, f / 4 at 1/13 sec.
ALASKA. A rhythm developed from the repeating shapes of the wake pattern, a measured “beat” even though it appears to get compressed in the distance. 100–400mm lens at 250mm, f/11 at 1/200 sec.
{CHAPTER SIX}
WORKING WITH COLOR
“In my photography, color and composition are inseparable. I see in color.”
—WILLIAM ALBERT ALLARD
COLOR TOUCHES US ON A DEEP LEVEL AND EVOKES an emotional response. It has the power to create mood in a photograph. Pictures made in the blueness of twilight convey a mood of tranquility and calm. Photographs of bright yellow objects convey a mood of cheerfulness, or aggression.
Each color has its own attributes and visual weight. Warm colors tend to advance and cool colors to recede. Red feels heavy, whereas blue feels lighter, even deep hues. Think of how we respond to colors in nature. The earthy brown, beige, and ochre hues of a meadow in autumn represent a return to the earth. In spring, in the very same meadow, the lime-green hues of new shoots and leaves represent rebirth and growth.
You can employ these attributes to give impact to your photographs. Color is an element of a creative photograph, just like line or shape. You can emphasize or de-emphasize colors by your choice of point of view, focal length, and composition. You can visually arrange colors in your frame to create harmony or tension. You can use contrasting colors to accentuate your subject, or make color the main subject of your photograph. If you develop an awareness of the properties of color and how colors relate to one another, you can make better color photographs, no matter what your subject matter.
IRIS, CALIFORNIA. The vibrancy of this iris drew me in one morning as I was having coffee in my kitchen. Violet and yellow are complementary opposites on the color wheel. 100mm macro lens, f/ 8 at 1/30 sec.
THE PROPERTIES OF COLOR
SUNFLOWER, FRANCE. Why is a sunflower cheerful? Its bright yellowness elicits a positive emotional response. 16–35mm lens at 35mm, f/ 8 at 1/125 sec.
The gestalt of colors comes from our experiences with these colors—for example, our experiences with fire, sun, sky, water, and snow. These experiences define how we respond to color, regardless of subject matter.
Yellow, the brightest of all colors, radiates light in a photograph, especially when set against darker colors. It advances visually when set against any other color except white. Yellow is emotionally vigorous and somewhat aggressive, yet often cheerful. It radiates warmth, and at the same time suggests we use caution. Think of flames, and the worldwide use of yellow in caution signs. Because it is so strong visually, yellow can dominate a composition, even if only a small portion of the frame. This is true even when yellow is darker in value than other colors.
Red is bold and expresses energy, power, passion, and vitality. Blood is red, and so are stop signs and extreme danger signs. Bright red roses almost seem to pulse when they are in a bouquet. When set against cooler colors, such as green or blue, red advances visually and has a kinetic energy. Like yellow, red can dominate a photograph depending on its proportion of the frame. But used carefully, red can be a great focal point—as in a red boat, or a barn.
Blue is not as active as yellow or red and is often referred to as a quiet color. Blue has a distinct coolness, sometimes even a cold quality to it. But it can also feel ethereal and express a tranquil mood. Blue can easily dominate other cool colors, but it stays in the background when warmer colors such as yellow and red are around.
The secondary colors—green, violet, and orange—also have emotional attributes. Green is the most prevalent color in nature, and its attributes and symbolism come from this association. It expresses growth, and expanding from that it also communicates progress and hope; fresh yellow-greens, rebirth and youthfulness. The lush green of a rain forest generates a feeling of growth and bounty.
FERN CANYON, PRAIRIE CREEK REDWOOD STATE PARK, CALIFORNIA. The rich green hues in this picture represent growth and life, and are refreshing to look at. 70–200mm lens at 125mm, f/ 16 at 2 seconds.
Violet, less common in its pure form, expresses mystery and is often said to have properties of healing; a similar color, purple, has rich associations with royalty and religion; and orange, like the yellow and red it’s derived from, expresses heat and energy, as in fire. The orange light of sunrise evokes a feeling of warmth and energy.
The individual properties of color can be used creatively but must be managed carefully in your compositions. For example, if you have too much yellow in the frame, it will weaken any other colors. If you have a warm color juxtaposed by cooler colors, the warm color will stand out, even if small in the frame, due to the more aggressive properties of warm colors. Colors will also take on a different look according to the colors they are next to. Red is perceived as very different when against yellow as opposed to green. Color therefore can define your composition and make it more interesting, if you are aware of these facts.
SNOW PLANT, SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA. These brilliant red plants emerge just after the snow melts in the mountains. Their bold color attracts hummingbirds and photographers alike when they pop up through the leaf litter on the forest floor. 100mm lens, f/ 8 at 1/60 sec.
Many colors may exist simultaneously in a scene. Recognizing the visual weights of colors can help you select the proportion of each color element to use. For example, red is visually heavier than blue, so an image that has a lot of blue on the bottom and red on top may seem improperly weighted. Blue and green are fairly equal in visual weight; yellow is visually less heavy than other colors. Varying intensities of each color will produce different effects, too. For example, pink is a lighter, more delicate hue than a heavy red. Pink and red both express energy, but in different ways. Pink is a ballerina; red is a floor-pounding flamenco dancer. So you can see that strong colors will be more energetic, while pastel colors will present a gentler view of the world.
RED BOAT AND REFLECTION, MAINE. The red is very strong on this boat, and since red is visually heavy, I didn’t want too much of it at the top of the frame. Its proportion, coupled with the larger area of multiple colors in the reflection, creates a balanced frame. 70–200mm lens at 200mm, f /9 at 1/60 sec.
To find out what your personal color palette is, review images you have made. Try to discern whether you favor bold or pastel hues in your photographs and what colors attract you and in what intensities. This can be the beginning of your discovering your personal style.
AUTUMN TREES, ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH. Yellow dominates, even with other strong colors around it. This wall in Zion is a favorite area of mine. The trees somehow get enough soil to live on for years on the small ledges and crevasses of these rock walls. 70–200mm lens at 189mm, f/16 at 2 seconds.
COLOR HARMONY
Have you ever noticed how stunning red berries are against green leaves? Or how pleasing red-orange sandstone is against a cobalt blue sky? Color harmony is important in photography, even if we don’t always get to choose the colors of our scene. For every color, there is an opposite color, and the two form a complementary pair. On the color wheel, orange sits opposite blue, violet sits opposite yellow, and green sits opposite red.
CACTUS, ARIZONA. The brilliant contrast of the red spikes against the green flesh of the cactus made this a stunning subject to photograph. I diffused the light with a translucent panel close to the cactus, and the colors just glow as a result. 100mm macro lens, f /16 at 1/2 sec.
Of course, photographs that contain only reds, oranges, and yellows can be wonderfully energizing, and photographs that contain only blues, purples, and greens can be soothing to the eye and uplifting to the soul. The contrast of cool and warm colors in a picture, however, creates the natural balance the eye seeks and often results in an emotionally pleasing picture.
I use these color fundamentals in my photography, and I watch the way colors affect my images carefully. If there’s a red or yellow object in the scene that isn’t the subject or part of it, I position it carefully and control its proportion so it won’t dominate the frame. I might even choose to eliminate it. However, if I need to add scale to my scene, I try to have a red or yellow object that will draw attention against a color-contrasting background so it stands out. I love to photograph scenes in which complementar
y colors are present, but I’ve also learned to work with the colors that are there in any situation.
Try this exercise. Pick a color, then spend a day photographing that color everywhere you encounter it. Look for its complementary color as well. For example, if you pick red, look for situations in which you can contrast it with green. As you make your photographs, experiment with the concepts of dominance, balance, and proportion with relationship to that color.
WATER ABSTRACT, CALIFORNIA. Sunset’s colors and blue sky are all reflected in this motion blur of a rushing river. The natural color pair of orange and blue, even with other similar warm hues mixed in, makes this an eye-pleasing abstract. 100–400mm lens at 350mm, f /13 at 1 second.
MONO LAKE, CALIFORNIA. The soft pink above the mountains and the blue sky directly overhead created a pleasing warm-cool contrast to this scene. I enhanced them a bit with the polarizer, to bring out this contrast. 24–105mm lens at 32mm, f/ 16 at 25 seconds, Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue Polarizer.
GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING. The blue and orange contrast of this geothermal pool makes it visually interesting. 70–200mm lens at 190mm, f/16 at 1/25 sec.
{CHAPTER SEVEN}
THE EXPRESSIVE IMAGE
“The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.”