Bresson, a master photographer, teaches you how to compose a picture.

Lead: Talk show host Charlie Rose visited Bresson in Paris and asked her what a good photo composition is. Bresson gave an ill-considered answer. Geometry. ? Next, we will see how Bresson uses everything he sees through the landscape window. Geometry? Formed most of his important works.

1. Master-slave relationship

Anyone who has taken photos knows that putting a bright subject on a dark background or a dark subject on a bright back will make the focus you want to highlight jump out of the background and highlight what you want? Theme? Expressed, but this does not mean that we just put an object in front of the photo, or use the so-called lens with full aperture (that is, the background is like cream, which is difficult to distinguish in Paris). If we regard Bresson's works as vague, we can still clearly see the theme or theme he wants to express in the photos. When shooting, you should clearly know what is a master and what is a slave, so that people who appreciate the photos know where to look.

In addition to the reference photos, there is a picture below to illustrate the master-slave relationship. What is the meaning of this picture? War? Your reaction to this painting should be the same as mine. What kind of painting is this? What's the theme? But if you look at the analysis chart below, you will know that the painter planted a bunch? Spear? What theme does he want to highlight in the painting? War? The so-called master-slave is not only a clear subject and background, but a skilled general? Theme? Stand out from the photo. Usually, the street view is chaotic, and the obvious master-slave relationship becomes more important. Sounds simple, right? Try next time.

Look for similarities

This is a very popular way for street photographers to draw materials. In addition to interesting theme contrast, photographers can also enhance the story in the picture in this way. For example, in the following photo, the mother holding the child is cut out of the picture. Generally, when we see this photo of mother and son, we will be attracted by their expressions and so-called affection. But do you find that the mother's fingers, the child's shriveled ribs, fingers and arms in this photo have a strong relationship with the skeleton of the rear carriage wheel? What is the theme of this photo? Skeleton/bone/bone? The subject and story that the photographer wants to highlight is the shriveled body of the thin little boy. If the photographer takes a picture of the mother's face, the audience will be misled by the key points that the photographer wants to express, and will be attracted by the affection between mother and child. It may be a good story, but what the photographer wants to express is the little boy who is miserable and skinny because of famine.

As mentioned earlier, when shooting in the street, we usually forget the background and focus on the theme in front. There are many lines, shapes and colors on the street. If we can take the background into account when shooting, there will be more possibilities for photos and the composition of our works will be greatly improved.

Make full use of light and shadow

Street photography has an advantage that other photography styles do not have, that is, rich and diverse light sources. Experienced street photographers are good at observing light sources. They make good use of the relationship between light and shadow to highlight the theme. The contrast between light and shade is strong, which can not only highlight the theme in the light, but also strengthen the objects in the shadow. Making good use of light and shadow can enrich the level of photos.

When I try this kind of street lamp lighting, there is a way to strengthen the relationship between light and shadow, that is, to minimize the aperture and then measure the light in the bright place, which can make the contrast between the bright place and the dark place stronger.

Learn to wait

When it comes to street photography, most people imagine a photographer walking around the street with a camera, flying like an eagle, looking for a subject with sharp eyes, but this impression is only half right. In fact, another skill of street shooting is like cheetah? Wait? Wait for the right time, space and time, then press the shutter and take a decisive moment.

If you read more of Bresson's works, you will find that he is very good at capturing those moments, and many photos will make people look at it? How did it happen? Bresson was really lucky to take so many wonderful moments. This admiration for The Secret Behind in these wonderful moments is that Bresson knows how to wait for the right people and things to enter his photos in the right place.

Many people, including myself, are always busy when they start street shooting? Looking for? Does the subject think the street beat is leaving? Capture? And grab the pictures that are easy to miss, but this is only half right. The other half of the skill is to learn to observe carefully, wait patiently and go? Create? Then the picture you want, for example, if you see a very interesting scene, please try to stand there and wait, wait for an interesting person to pass by, observe through the viewing window, and then press the shutter quickly at the right time. Street photography is more than just? Capture? Pictures, including? Create? Pictures, and the secret of creating pictures lies in skill? Observation? And then what? Wait? .

Understand the diagonal

What do you often hear in photography teaching? Picture scale? What did the newspaper say? The golden rule? It is to cut the picture into three equal parts and concentrate on one third, but Bresson's works rarely see this proportion. What method does he use to cut the picture? Overlapping squares? Just like the picture below, the proportion of the whole picture can be cut into two squares, but the middle is overlapping.

If you look at some photos below and try to look at Bresson's works in the way of cutting in the above picture, you will find that most of his works are called? Overlapping squares? Composition. Composition. Besides? Overlapping squares? Apart from composition, most of his works are based on? Diagonal? Try to draw a diagonal line on his photography, for example, from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, and you will find that almost all the subjects fall on this diagonal line. Bresson studied painting, so his composition has a solid foundation.

I remember when I was studying in the United States, there was a class devoted to painting analysis in the Renaissance. After several classes, I was very surprised to find that almost all paintings are filled with a lot of geometric figures, such as triangles, squares, rectangles, diamonds and so on. The main body of each painting falls on the lines of geometric figures. I never thought that I could apply the composition in painting to street shooting. After reading Bresson's works, I recalled the basics of painting appreciation I learned in the past. It's eleven o'clock at night.

conclusion

Do you remember that at the beginning of the article, a talk show host Charlie Rose visited Bresson and asked him what a good photo composition was? Bresson answered this question like this: Geometry. ? In fact, the host then asked another question:? Is your photographic talent natural? Bresson replied:? This needs to be cultivated? .

Michelangelo once said: Assuming people know how hard I keep practicing in order to master painting skills, they won't be too surprised to see my excellent works. ?

All skills need to be practiced, including street photography, such as observation, composition, waiting, when to press the shutter, blind shot's focus, integration into the rhythm of the street, and mastering the best aperture under random light sources. These can be strengthened through long-term practice. As mentioned above, Bresson didn't shoot so many classic works at the beginning of photography. He took tens of thousands of photos before he got some amazing works. I remember a street photographer sharing his experience. He said that he might take 10,000 or 20,000 photos a year, but there may be less than ten works that really satisfy him and want to share.