How to highlight the subject in photographic composition

Introduction: "A good photo must have a subject that can attract attention". This is the second of the three basic principles of good photos by the New York Institute of Photography. If you want your photos to be attractive, you need to let people's eyes rest on the photos and stay in the picture. This requires the subject to stand out and attract the viewer's attention. Let’s take a closer look below.

Beginners always like to cram all the things they are interested in into one picture, which is as bad as a traffic jam. No matter whether we are willing to give up or not, we always have to give up something, so as to highlight what we want most, and make the theme clearer and the picture more concise. This time we do not introduce the concept of "composition", but hope to focus on some practical techniques and explore how to use these techniques to focus the viewer's attention more effectively on what we want to express. It is worth mentioning that we cannot "method" for the sake of method, otherwise we will make the same mistake as "composition rules".

Start: Let’s talk about layout first

The center of the picture is the most prominent position, but it is not necessarily the most appropriate position. Let the subject appear in which part of the picture, this is the problem that "layout" solves. Among the traditional composition rules, there are the rule of thirds and the golden section. From a certain angle, these layout rules can make the picture more beautiful or look more comfortable, but this does not mean that we cannot put the subject in the picture. the center or the edge.

So what is the secret of layout?

To sum up, there are only two situations for the main layout: central layout or off-center layout. The subject-centered layout photo can express rigid, steady, calm, absurd or even mysterious content. It is also often used to shoot a single person or animal looking directly at the camera; an off-center layout will be more flexible and changeable than a central layout. .

When the subject deviates from the center of the picture, there will also be a question that we need to consider: Which side of the subject should we leave more space on? The left or the right, or the lower left or the upper right? Let us take a look at the following What's different about photos?

When the subject has no direction, whether it's up or down, it will look "comfortable" on the right side of the picture because we are used to reading from left to right. On the right is the turning point of the view. If the subject is on the right, the line of sight will turn back into the picture when it hits 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 left-to-right reading habit, it will look more comfortable if the subject is on the left side of the screen and faces to the right than if the subject is on the right side of the screen and faces to the left. Of course, such a rule can be broken like any other, and we can do the exact opposite to convey the opposite visual effect.

For example, in the picture below, when framing, place the subject in the left third of the picture to make the picture more traditional and plain, so as to show the peaceful feeling that the subject is resting.

The first axe: Move forward to make the subject bigger

This trick is very simple, very practical, and the effect is very significant. This is because the expression expressed using this move is the most direct. Some people think this trick is too direct, too simple, and unchangeable, and think it is not powerful enough, so they are reluctant to use it. They would rather seek some complicated and fancy methods to be new and different. However, if we pay attention to the photos in this world, it is not difficult to find that most of those excellent photos include this trick - "Push forward to make the subject larger".

The so-called "Move forward to make the subject bigger" refers to making the subject closer to the camera than other objects, so that the subject occupies a larger area in the picture. There are two ways to get your subject closer to the camera than other objects. The famous war photographer Robert Capa once said: If your photos are not good enough, it is because you are not close enough to the war. That's the first method we're going to talk about: get closer to your subject.

When we get close to the subject, we should pay attention to the perspective distortion in the picture. If you don't want the subject to have perspective distortion (such as a big nose and small ears), then 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 frontal portrait of a head and shoulders, the distance between the nose and the ears is about 15 centimeters. To make the proportion of the nose and ears look normal, you need to stand 1.5 meters away when shooting. When shooting a frontal sitting portrait, the horizontal distance between knees and ears is about 40 cm. If you want the proportions to look normal, the shooting distance should be kept 4 meters away.

But when we want to emphasize a certain relationship or thing through this kind of deformation, we can use close-up shooting to achieve the goal. For example, the power of a boxer's punch can be exaggerated, and the fist can be made extremely huge when shot at close range.

Every method has its limitations, even the simple and practical method we mentioned above is no exception. Proximity can mean attack and violation. If we photograph an animal, when the distance is smaller than the acceptable safe distance, it is likely to attack us or run away, resulting in failed shooting. The situation can be even more complicated when photographing 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 a telephoto lens to bring the subject closer to the area it occupies in the picture. bigger. The second method usually does not have the problem of perspective distortion, but because it is far away from the subject, there may be some walking people, running cars, etc. between the camera and the subject as interference factors.

The second ax: Use guiding lines to highlight the subject

We call the place where the sky and the earth connect "horizon", think of rivers as "curves", and straight streets as "straight lines" ?. Call the direction of the gaze? The line of sight can be thick or thin, visible or invisible. Lines are everywhere in our eyes, but they don't exist in nature, which is a hard fact to accept. Since lines do not exist in nature, how do our brains recognize them? Ignoring the size of objects, we regard them as "points"; and "points" are very similar. Ignoring the thickness of objects, we regard them as "points". Think of it as a "line". Lines can express length and direction.

In the picture, lines can be directly represented objects, that is, subjects. If lines are the main body, how to highlight them may not be something we can solve this time. This time we are exploring the use of the directionality of lines to guide the eye to the subject. When the subject is not big enough and there are lines, this is one of our common methods.

When we do the exercise of "using lines to guide the eye", we often encounter this problem: we pay more attention to the lines than the main body, and the result is that the lines are more eye-catching than the main body. In other words, the practitioner just wants people to see the "subject" through the lines, and it doesn't matter what the "subject" is. So this is a method for the sake of method, and it is difficult for people to notice anything else except the distracting lines.

The correct approach should be exactly the opposite: we focus on the "subject". When there is a leading line on site, we need to consider whether to use it or not according to the theme. So, when using a leading line and it's not the subject, our advice is not to make the leading line too strong.

The chair not only guides the line of sight, but also plays an important role in showing the character resting due to fatigue. From the above two cases, we can see that if there is some connection between the guiding line and the subject, and this connection plays an important role in the performance of the theme, then the existence of the guiding line will become more meaningful.

The third ax: Use the frame to highlight the subject

Use the space between the lines in the picture or between the lines and the frame of the picture to frame the subject. to achieve the purpose of highlighting it. We call this method "Using the frame to highlight the subject". When the subject is not very big, using a frame to highlight the subject is also one of our common methods. Of course, this method is not only limited to when the subject is relatively small, but can also be used when the subject is relatively large.

This is more like a "picture-in-picture". The difference is that the area enclosed by the frame may be regular or irregular. If the frame encloses more than just the subject, then there still needs to be a clear distinction between priorities and priorities.

Just like using leading lines, if the frame is too strong, it will distract people's attention and lose the role of highlighting the main subject. This situation often appears in the practice of "using frames". Practitioners often frame for the sake of the frame at the beginning, as if to tell the viewer: "Hey! Look! The frame is here, I use the frame to frame it." an object. ?

Whenever we learn a method, we will be very excited, and then use it everywhere, regardless of whether it is suitable or not. Although it sometimes makes the photo look terrible, it is also a good way to learn. Utilize the psychological enthusiasm of "newly learned skills" to carry out intensive intensive skill training. But be careful: you must think and summarize during the process of shooting a lot, and gradually master the suitable application of this skill, so that the skill can be displayed stably. In other words, when we use a frame to highlight the subject, we should know when it will be good and when it will be bad. The same is true for other methods.

In this photo, the shadowed mountains form a V-shaped frame, which sets off the main inverted V-shaped gray-white mountain peaks. This is a good example, but Sometimes, when using a frame and it is not the subject, our advice is not to make the frame too dominant.

Closing style: the ax trick

There are far more ways to highlight the subject than these three methods, but other methods are inextricably related to these three methods. Or it's another way of saying it, or it can be used in conjunction with these three methods. For example, when you use light to highlight the subject, you often use a frame of shadows or highlights to highlight the subject; when you use repetition to highlight the subject, you may also use it together with "get closer to make the subject bigger"

In this way, In shooting practice, the method is a matter of course. As long as we focus enough on the subject, we can always find a suitable method to highlight it. After all, what we want to express is the subject, not the method. A good method is to highlight the main subject without causing interference. If you want to master these methods, again, pick up the camera and take pictures.