I decided I really needed something to do and I think it'll help me organize my thoughts to have something to focus on. I'm going to work up some "stand alone" tutorials for photo composition that I hope are interesting and helpful to those who happen across them. Since others have already covered different aspects of photography, I'd like to focus on those elements that determine the aesthetic quality of the finished photo and how we get there. What is it that makes a photograph excellent, average, or, worse---poor? I'm going to be critiquing my own photographs to demonstrate the various elements involved and how they influence the composition. If you have the desire to learn and use these basic principles I feel certain the quality of your own photographs will be greatly improved and you'll be proficient in recognizing those elements that work together to produce an amazing photograph and better still, you'll be the one taking them! You'll learn the standard rules and basic techniques of good composition that photographers use to get the results that wowed you when you first saw that fabulous photo!
Because our purpose is to improve the quality of our photography the first thing we need to do in order to reach that goal is to learn to look at our photographs more critically. There are a number of consistent elements that are easy to learn and use when setting up your compositions, i.e., your photos. These are sometimes quite obvious, but, at other times those elements are more subtle and require a more thoughtful approach to discern them. My hope is to impart to others what I've been taught and learned for myself through trial and error. While my area of study was Fine Art with only one semester involving photography classes, the basics of composition are exactly the same in both. Photographs are two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional world.
One of the best ways to improve is to practice "seeing" differently, not only by practicing, but, just as importantly, by viewing the work of accomplished photographers. You may not always be able to put your finger on why certain photos illicit an emotional response, but, you will be able to point out the techniques they used to achieve it. After mastering the basics of good composition you can comfortably enter the realm of your personal creativity and who knows where that could lead? Probably to breaking the rules!
While I don't consider my own photographs worthy of honors, back in the day of dark rooms and fine art classes, I did win recognition for my better work. For decades I set my camera aside and only recently picked one up again. Soon after I got into the world of daylilies I thought I might try hybridizing and for my records as well as just the beauty of them, I wanted to document every daylily I had this past year---the good, the bad and even the ugly. After wearing out the Nikon L820 doing that before I'd even had it a year, I realized I'd already outgrown it and wanted something better---lucky for me my dear husband bought me a Nikon D7100 for Christmas this year! (It's also a gift for my Birthday and Anniversary and Valentine's Day and Ground Hogs Day and any and all other Days as well!) I feel like a kid about to bust waiting on Christmas to get here! But, it matters not what camera you're using as their sole purpose is to capture a moment in time and that moment is translated the same way no matter what camera you're shooting with. My tutorials will be solely on composition, so, it'll be up to you to learn the various setting on your individual cameras. I want the tutorials to be able to stand alone if someone should happen across them in a year or two so I'm going to break them down into smaller segments within the general outline. A few will likely be shorter as some things are just pretty much cut and dry, but, hopefully they'll all be informative and helpful. I think if you approach the tutorials as building blocks you'll be able to put them all together in the end and everything will flow together naturally. After learning the Basics of Good Composition, I feel confident that no matter what type of camera you're using you'll soon be taking your best photographs in no time at all!
So, just to clarify some things. I'll be using my own photos to demonstrate what I'm talking about and will be critiquing them for the various elements I'll be covering, using them as examples. As the thread progresses, hopefully other people will be participating and can offer their critique of my photos also. If we progress into others posting their own photos for review, (I guess we'll see if there's enough interest), please don't bring any tender feelings to the forum. If you're easily offended, it's best you don't participate past what I'll present using my own work. You'll learn plenty to use on your own without participating any further than you feel comfortable with. It may be it never garners enough interest to get to that point.
Let me put together an outline and I'll get started. I may be talking to myself, which I do anyway, but, hopefully a few others are interested too.
Feel free to ask questions and talk about that days topic as you like as well as any additional thoughts you might have. I'm going to move through the outline and on to the next whether the discussion is still ongoing about a previous one or not.
Thanks to Dave and the Administrators for hosting such an AWESOME website! It's a great resource and it's the first place I come to look up any daylily or iris I'm interested in. The database here is like nothing else I've seen on the web---it's just fantastic no matter what plant your looking for!
Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the tutorials!
p.s. I'll begin the first one in a few days and will be discussing "Lighting" as it's the single most important element in a photograph apart from the subject. So, the first part of the outline is as follows:
Lighting
Sunlight
Indirect light
Diffused Light
Directional Light
Intensity of Light
Quality of Light
Color of Light
The Golden Hours
Talk to you in a few days!
