Method of constructing time by using foreground and background

Foreground is an important factor in photographic composition. As an integral part of photos, they can highlight the main body and increase the sense of space and depth of photos. I have sorted out the usage of foreground and background in composition for you, hoping to help you.

Foreground and background are important factors in photographic composition. As an organic part of photos, they can highlight the main body and increase the sense of space and depth of photos. Therefore, in photographic composition, the correct use of foreground and background can make the scenery in the photo more harmonious and unified, thus being more artistic.

Andreas Faninger, an American photographer who used to be the photography pillar of American Life magazine, has been in contact with many contemporary photographers for more than 20 years and learned a lot about photography from them. In the book "Principles of Photographic Composition" written by him according to what he learned, there are many incisive and original opinions about photographic composition. He pointed out: "The relationship between subject, foreground and background is one of the most important visual factors that affect the impression of the picture. If the subject and background overlap (such as a dark statue against a tree background), there is an annoying background (telephone lines or wires crossing the sky) to grab the line of sight, or there are messy shrubs, parked vehicles unrelated to the subject, or a long empty road. It can usually be prevented by changing the position of the camera to change the relationship between the object and the foreground or background. In order to move the unpopular background out of the lens, you can move the lens slightly to both sides or shoot from a lower position, so that the subjects can queue up in the sky.

"If this is not enough, changing the lens with different focal lengths and changing the distance of the subject can also bring satisfactory results. Going back to a farther place and shooting with a long focal length lens can often remove the unpopular parts of the empty foreground and background. On the contrary, if you get closer and shoot with a wide-angle lens, you can achieve the same effect, although the perspective relationship between the two pictures is very different. In the former case, the sense of spatial depth appears smaller and more compressed, but the actual proportion between the subject and the background can be preserved more or less. In the latter case, because the near object is unusually large and the far object is unusually small, the depth will appear enlarged. " The third method is to try to hide (and sometimes remove) the unwelcome part of the background or foreground, which is called' selecting the focus': instead of minimizing the aperture, it is adjusted to the extent that the subject only shows proper definition and the background or foreground is unclear. The larger the aperture, the longer the focal length of the lens, the shorter the distance between the subject and the camera, the greater the distance between the subject and the background or foreground, and the greater the difference between the subject clarity and the background or foreground ambiguity. "(The larger the aperture, the longer the focal length and the shorter the depth of field. )

Farninger pointed out that when solving the relationship between subject and background, experienced photographers can actually choose among three types of backgrounds: "The first is inappropriate background, which should be prevented. It is harmful to the subject because it is too prominent, too tacky and too bright, too similar to the color and tone of the subject, too miscellaneous, or simply too unsightly. This background can be dealt with by the above method.

"Secondly, it is the background of achromatic color, which has nothing to do with the subject. It is relatively simple, and the color and tone are comfortable and not prominent compared with the subject. Typical examples are white, gray, black or monochrome cardboard, painted walls and sky.

"The other is the comprehensive background, which is directly related to the shape of the subject or a part of it. For example, deliberately use some heavy shadows as part of the composition to beautify the subject. It is also possible that in some cases, it is difficult to determine which is the subject and which is the background. At this time, these backgrounds are only an important part of composition.

"Other integrated backgrounds include interesting clouds that complement the scenery, messy and exciting things in the studio as the background of artists' portraits, the bride and groom on the background of wedding cakes, and so on. The successful combination of these themes with background and prospect has become one of the good composition foundations. "

American photographers B. Clements and D. Rosenfeld and their book Photographic Composition also attach great importance to the background treatment of photographic composition. They pointed out that background is a subtle but powerful component. The background space has a profound influence on the sense of unity of the picture. Sometimes, there is a space around the subject, which seems to bring the object closer. Because this part of the space is often much larger than the space between any two objects. Of course, this does not mean that the background of every photo must be large, but it shows the role of background space in changing the image of the object. If the objects are closely spaced, you can make the background smaller. At this point, the small background area seems to add more "heaven and earth" around each object, reducing the feeling of crowding and density. Crowding and being too loose are also not conducive to composition. Of course, if the space between objects is large enough to weaken the sense of unity and appear loose, then the background space can also be enlarged.

Sometimes the background is messy, and the photos taken may be damaged by things behind the subject. In this case, photographer calhoun thinks the most important thing is that you should be aware of this problem first. To improve the background, it is useful to change the shooting angle. In other words, you can rotate around the subject until you see an acceptable background in the scenic spot. You can also stand higher or lower to get more wonderful images. If you really can't change the angle or background, you can open the aperture and reduce the depth of field, so that the background is out of focus. This will make the background less conspicuous. If you are shooting in dim light, you may wish to illuminate the subject with a flash, so that the background will appear darker.

The most interesting thing about photography is that it can show three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane, that is, it can show the height, width and depth of things. As American photographer Arthur Goldsmith pointed out, "photography can't reproduce depth, it can only simulate depth." However, it can be simulated very realistically. "

In order to achieve this simulation effect better, some scenes must be used to create the illusion, so that the photo picture looks spatial and deep. The most common use is to use the foreground to guide the audience's line of sight to the main part. Using a wide-angle lens with the foreground can also exaggerate the sense of space and depth, but at this time, the foreground is best to guide the line of sight, such as using a winding mountain road to lead to the village and a row of the same trees to lead to the tower. When shooting, the wide-angle lens should be close to the foreground, and the closer it is, the stronger the sense of depth;

Another way to form a sense of space or depth is that the same scene appears in the foreground and background of the picture. Because the image sizes of the distant view and the close view are different, a sense of depth will also be formed. A row of the same poplars will change from big to small, and the picture will naturally have the illusion of depth. This feeling is directly related to the focal length of the lens. The shorter the focal length, the stronger the effect; Conversely, the longer the focal length, the weaker the effect. Goldsmith pointed out that the traditional way of composition is to frame distant objects with foreground objects as frames. He thinks it can also increase the sense of depth. Solid dark objects can highlight the main body, and the effect is usually the best. If you take black or silhouette into the foreground of the photo, you can emphasize the dull and plain background because of the strong contrast. For example, taking photos of the beach will have a good depth effect if the foreground swallows a black stone or drags it into the railing in the distant water.

Mike kipling, a British photographer, believes that anything can be used to add interest to the foreground when taking landscape photos, thus giving the photos a sense of depth. It can be trees, animals, buildings and vehicles, but it must be related to the overall situation:

"The use of wide-angle lens and low-angle shooting, as well as the distortion produced by this lens itself, can further highlight the interest of the prospect. When shooting in this way, rocks, flowers, gravel, etc. May appear in a larger proportion.

"To shoot interesting prospects, it is not limited to using wide-angle lenses, but also using long lenses can effectively use this technology. Telescope head can compress perspective and play a great role. The longer the lens is, the natural perspective of larger objects in the foreground and smaller objects in the background will be greatly reduced. Using a 200 mm lens can reduce the obvious distance between the two. If the depth of field is small, even if the aperture is small, all the objects in the photo are out of focus. At this time, the photographer should decide whether to focus on the foreground, the middle scene or the background according to the scope of the subject. "

Kipling pointed out: "If the background is monotonous and dark, you can create obvious depth on the screen with colorful foreground. This shooting technique is worth a try in poor light. You can use a bunch of brightly colored flowers to make up for the lack of light when shooting.

"Illuminating the background from the foreground can also improve the quality of photos. Choose a bright light to illuminate the foreground against a dark background, and you can naturally reach a point. However, you should be careful to use a camera that measures light through the lens, otherwise the foreground may be overexposed. You should measure the light according to the subject, then manually adjust the camera or use the exposure lock. "

How to make use of the prospect

1。 Guiding theme

The most common thing is to use foreground to guide the audience's line of sight to the main part. Using a wide-angle lens with the foreground can also exaggerate the sense of space and depth, but at this time, the foreground is best to guide the line of sight, such as a winding mountain road leading to the village and a row of the same trees leading to the tower.

Photography: Song Shiquan

2。 Strengthen contrast

If you shoot some black objects or outlines in the foreground of the photo. So as to form a strong contrast, and then emphasize the dim and plain background. For example, in the picture below, black stones in the foreground are used to highlight the sky behind, making the composition particularly vivid.

Photography: Song Shiquan

3。 Add interest

When taking a landscape photo, anything can be used to add interest to the foreground, thus giving the photo a sense of depth. It can be a tree, an animal, a building or a vehicle, but it must be related to the whole picture. Otherwise, the whole picture will become incoherent and destroy the overall artistic conception. As shown below, with wooden stakes as the foreground, it successfully brings out the distance of the sky behind it, and at the same time makes the composition no longer monotonous.