 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Geometric Shapes and Lines
Nationally recognized
professional photographers in Canada often take about seven to ten years
to acquire a ‘Master of Photographic Arts’ status. At this level,
visualizing light and composition becomes a reflex. The internalizing
of artistic considerations coupled with mastery of all technical aspects
of photography results in the consistent capturing of great images. In
schools you only have a few years to help students master the art of photography.
Sometimes you are so busy simply getting some photographic coverage of
an activity that the ‘artistic’ considerations fail to come
into play. Nevertheless, as discussed in previous newsletters, there are
some basic guidelines that are helpful in capturing more dymanic photographs.
One such guideline involves the use of lines within an image.
Lines come in many forms. They can simply be a straight line. They can
form a circle or triangle. They can form an s-curve. Lines can be formed
by natural elements such as trees and streams. They can be formed by specific
facets of architecture such as doors, arches, hallways, railings, windows,
etc. Lines can be formed by the arrangement of people in a group compositon
or by the arrangement of an individual pose. Models are seldom born with
the natural ability to pose. This is a skill that is mastered. It is a
skill that you can teach your students.
The girl standing by a window at Grant MacEwan College makes excellent use of a circle to keep your eye trapped within the image. The girl has been placed in the lower right quadrant of the composition to make use of the rule of thirds. Note how the hand railings also direct the viewer’s eye. The back-lighting was supplimented with fill flash to establish a natural balance of illumination indoors and outdoors. Often students do not realize the limited latitude of photographic materials and end up with a silhouette of a person with a properly exposed exterior. The lighting is a little tricky but with digital imaging it is easy to use your fill flash and immediately check the lighting balances.
The outdoor photo of the person walking on the bridge pathway again makes excellent use of the rule of thirds in placement of the subject. Diagonal lines have been used very effecively in directing the viewers eye to the subject. In addition, the overhead structure of the bridge acts as a natural frame to the picture and again helps keeps the viewers eye trapped on the image itself. Shadows resulting from a sunny day also provide beautiful lines. Note how the girl is walking on one shadow line. We also converted the photo to black and white in Photoshop and added a little color to the girl to provide additonal emphasis on her.
Look at the girl sitting on a ledge. There is an expression that goes like this -- if it bends, bend it. In other words, when working with people, you can get so many natural lines and triangles. People often stiffen up and stand straight when they know they are being photographed. Offer a few suggestions to improve their overall appearance. Better yet, go to a telephoto length with your camera and wait for natural triangular poses. You see people pose in this fashion all the time when they are relaxed. Just make a mental note of looking at people in a classroom or library. You will see elbows on a table and a hand positioned under the chin. Guess what - you have a beautiful triangle. In the above photo the girl has brought her knees up to form a beautiful triangle. Placing her hand next to the chin forms another triangle. Extending the other hand back to the ledge forms a third triangle. All these lines combine to create a great photograph. Have fun with lines.
