How to highlight the theme in photographic works

How to make photos stand out from the main body? This is the second of the three basic principles of the New York Institute of Photography about

How to highlight the theme in photographic works

How to make photos stand out from the main body? This is the second of the three basic principles of the New York Institute of Photography about good photos. If you want to attract people, you should let people's eyes have a foothold in the photos and let people's eyes stay on the picture. This requires the subject to stand out and attract the attention of the viewer.

Novices always like to cram everything they are interested in into one picture, which is as bad as traffic jams. Whether we like it or not, we have to give up something, so as to highlight what we want most, make the theme clearer and the picture more concise.

This time, the concept of "composition" is not introduced, but we hope to focus on some practical technologies and how to use these technologies to focus the audience's attention on what we want to express more effectively. It is worth mentioning that we can't "method" for the sake of method, otherwise we will make the same mistakes as "composition rules"

Starting form: let's talk about the layout first.

The center of the picture is the most prominent position, but it is not necessarily the most suitable position. Let the subject appear in which part of the picture, which is exactly the problem to be solved by the "layout" trick. In the traditional composition rules, there are trisection and golden section. These layout rules can make the picture more "beautiful" or "comfortable" to some extent, but this does not mean that we can't put the subject in the center or edge of the picture.

So where is the mystery of layout?

To sum up, there are only two kinds of main layout: central layout or eccentric layout. The photo of the center of the subject can be rigid, stable, calm, absurd or even hidden, and is often used to shoot a single person or animal looking directly at the camera. The off-center layout will be more flexible than the center layout.

When the subject deviates from the center of the picture, there will be another question that we need to consider: which side of the subject should leave more space? Left or right, or lower left or upper right … Look at the difference between the photos below.

When the theme has no direction, whether it is up or down, the right side of the picture will look "comfortable" because we are used to reading from left to right, and the right side is the turning point of the line of sight. If the subject is on the right, the line of sight will turn back to the screen when it touches the subject. If the subject is on the left, the line of sight will slide out of the picture to the right.

Based on the same reading habit from left to right, "the subject is from left to right" will look more "comfortable" than "the subject is from right to left". Of course, this law can be broken like other laws, and we can do the opposite and convey the opposite visual effect.

For example, in the picture below, the subject is arranged in the left third of the picture when shooting, which makes the picture "traditional" and "dull" to show the sense of tranquility that the subject is resting.

First: make the main body bigger by leaning forward.

This trick is very simple, practical and effective. This is because using this trick is the most direct expression. Some people don't want to use this trick, because it is too direct, too simple and unchangeable, and they would rather find some complicated and fancy ways to be unconventional. However, if we pay attention to the photos in this world, we can easily find that most of those excellent photos have this trick-"making the subject bigger in front".

The so-called "making the front of the subject bigger" means making the subject as close to the camera as possible than other objects, so that the subject will occupy a larger area in the picture. There are two ways to get the subject as close to the lens as possible than other objects. Famous war photographer Robert? Kappa once said: If you don't shoot well enough, it's because you are not close enough to the war. This is exactly the first method we are going to talk about: get close to your subject.

When we approach the subject, we should pay attention to the perspective deformation in the picture. If you don't want the perspective deformation of the subject, such as big nose and small ears, you should keep a certain distance from the subject. This distance is at least ten times the depth of the scene along the optical axis of the lens. For example, when taking a portrait of the head and shoulders, the distance from the nose to the ear is about 15 cm. To make the ratio of nose to ears look normal, you have to stand 1.5 meters away to shoot. When shooting a portrait sitting in the front position, the horizontal distance from the knee to the ear is about 40 cm. If you want the scale to look normal, keep the shooting distance away from 4 meters.

But when we want to emphasize a certain relationship or thing through this deformation, we can use close-up shooting to achieve our goal. For example, when shooting at close range, exaggerating the boxing power can make the fist huge.

Each method has its limitations, even the simple and practical methods mentioned above are no exception. Approaching may mean attacking and invading. If we shoot an animal, when the distance is less than the acceptable safe distance, it will probably attack us or run away, leading to the failure of shooting. The situation may be more complicated when shooting people, especially strangers.

So we thought of the second method in this axe: when we can't get close to the subject, we can use the telephoto lens to bring the subject closer and make it occupy a larger area in the picture. The second method usually does not have the problem of perspective deformation, but because it is far from the subject, there may be some people walking between the camera and the subject and sports cars as interference factors.

Second: use the guide line to highlight the main body.

We call the place where heaven and earth meet "horizon", the river "curve", the straight street "straight line" and the visual direction "line of sight" ... thick line, thin line, visible line and invisible line. It is an unacceptable fact that lines are everywhere in our eyes, but they do not exist in nature. Since there are no lines in nature, how do our brains recognize them? Ignoring the size of an object, we regard it as a "point"; It is very similar to "point", ignoring the thickness of the object, we regard it as "line". Lines can express length and direction.

In the picture, lines can directly represent the object, that is, the subject. If the line is the main body, how to highlight it may not be solved by our three axes this time. This time, we are talking about using the directivity of lines to guide our eyes to the subject. When the main body is not big enough and only has lines, this is one of the methods we often use.

When we do the practice of "guiding eyes with lines", we often encounter such a problem: we attach more importance to lines than to the subject, and as a result, lines are more eye-catching than the subject. In other words, the yogi just wants people to see the "subject" through lines, and what the "subject" is is not important. Then this is a method for the sake of method. It is difficult for people to notice other things except the lines that dominate the room.

The correct approach should be just the opposite: we pay attention to the "theme", and when there is a guide line on the spot, we need to consider whether to use it according to the theme. Therefore, when using the guide line instead of the main body, our suggestion is not to make the guide line too strong.

The chair not only guides the line of sight, but also provides an important performance for the characters to rest because of fatigue. From the above two cases, it can be seen that if there is some connection between the guide line and the subject, and this connection plays an important role in the theme expression, then the existence of the guide line will become more meaningful.

Third, highlight the main body with a border.

Use the gap between "lines" or between "lines" and the frame of the picture to "frame" the subject, so as to achieve the purpose of highlighting the subject. We call this method "using the framework to highlight the theme". When the theme is not very big, it is also one of our common methods to highlight the theme by using the framework. Of course, this method can be used not only when the subject is small, but also when the subject is large.

It's more like a picture in a picture. The difference is that the area surrounded by the border may be regular or irregular. If the frame is not only the main body, then the frame still needs to be clearly defined.

Just like using a guide line, if the frame is too strong, it will distract people and lose the role of highlighting the main body. This situation will often appear in the practice of "using frameworks". At the beginning, practitioners often frame for the sake of frames, as if telling viewers: "Hey! Look! The picture frame is here, and I used it to frame an object. "

Every time we learn a method, we get excited, and then we use it everywhere, whether it is suitable or not. Although sometimes the photos are taken badly, it is also a good way to learn. Make use of the psychological enthusiasm of "just learning" to carry out centralized intensive skill training. However, we should pay attention to it: we must think and summarize in the process of shooting a lot, and gradually master the place where this skill is suitable for application, so that the skill can be developed stably. In other words, when we use a framework to highlight the subject, we should know when it will be good and when it will be bad. The same is true in other aspects.

In this photo, the mountain shape of the shadow part forms a V-shaped frame, which sets off the inverted V-shaped gray mountain peak as the main body. This is a good example, but sometimes, when using a framework and it is not the main body, our advice is not to make the framework too strong.

Retract: the routine of playing with an axe

The method of highlighting the subject is far more than three axes, and other methods are inextricably linked with these three methods. Or another way of saying one method, or it can be used in combination with these three methods. For example, using light to highlight the main body is often a frame made of shadows or highlights to highlight the main body; Use repetition to highlight the theme, or it may be used with "Getting closer and making the theme bigger"

From this point of view, the method is a natural thing in shooting practice. As long as we pay enough attention to the theme, we can always find a suitable way to highlight it. After all, we want to express the subject, not the method. A good way is to highlight the main body and not cause interference. If you want to master these methods, again, act quickly.