In Figure 2–6, you see two scenes. The top image includes distracting elements; the bottom one shows an improved version of the image that I created by cropping at the time of the photograph. The original image, which shows a young woman doing yoga in an urban setting, was designed to appeal to young professional types who would be drawn to the idea of living in a modern condo building in downtown Miami. The scene was fairly cheap and artificial-looking, so I wanted to create a more natural look that included some of the surrounding city. These two images provide the same subject and environment, but the message was idealized by minimizing the details in the final image.
Both photos: 50mm, 1/320 sec, V3.2, 50
Figure 2–6: Cropping into the scene eliminated distracting elements, creating a stronger message.
Finding and Creating Effective Compositions
The more you pay attention to and look for beauty in your surroundings, the more motivation you have to create photographs. After you take the images, go through them and determine what was successful and what wasn't — and why. Experience is the key to being good at anything, especially at creating excellent photographic compositions.
Here are a few ideas that you can use to enhance your skills as an observer and photographer:
Corner yourself. Choose a place or specific scene and force yourself to take as many pictures of it as you can think of. Change your camera angles and your distances to the different elements. Focus on different things in the scene and pay attention to the qualities of light, color, and textures in the area. By sticking to that one scene, you may start to notice things about it that you would normally overlook. Starting to notice those things is how you develop your eye. You could probably create an entire body of work just from shooting in your own backyard. You just haven't seen the potential there yet.
Limit your shots. Approach a scene and allow yourself to take only one photo. Before you take the shot, make sure you've observed the entire scene and know that you've found the composition that best suits your outlook at that time. Pay attention to how the light is affecting your scene. If it seems like things will get better as the sun moves through the sky to the west, wait to take the shot. If clouds are rolling in, and you feel that you may lose your good light, take the shot before the clouds set in. Be aware of all compositional elements present in a scene so you can make wise decisions. Later, if you revisit the same scene, take another single image and compare the differences between how you felt about the scene the first time and how you felt the second time.
Limit your time. Approach a scene and allow yourself only a specific amount of time to get as many great shots as you can. This exercise helps you think on your toes and waste little time in getting the shot you want.
Look for inspiration in the work of other photographers. Sometimes looking at another artist's work helps you realize a brand-new approach to photography and better equips you to see the potential of elements all around you. Most professional photographers have Web sites that display their best works. If you like a particular photographer's style and know his
name, you can perform an online search to find his portfolios. Otherwise, you can search for nature photographers, portrait photographers, fashion photographers, travel photographers, and so on based on what kind of inspiration you're looking for.
Chapter 3. Getting to Know Your Equipment
In This Chapter
^ Matching the lens to the job F Getting your exposure right %. Equipping yourself with the necessities
omposing beautiful photographs and understanding your photographic equipment go hand in hand. Composition, like any task, is easier and more effective when you have the right tools and use them correctly. You wouldn't choose a screwdriver over a hammer when you wanted to drive a nail, and in the same way, certain lenses and camera settings make more sense for certain compositions.
Camera equipment may seem overwhelmingly technical to you at first, but after you get to know your gear, it likely will become as familiar as using a hammer or screwdriver. So be sure to read the manuals that come with your camera and lenses in order to better understand all the settings and what they control. This chapter guides you to the parts of the manual that help you take better photos right off the bat.
The more time you spend getting to know your gear, the more natural your understanding of it becomes. A photographer who constantly fidgets with his camera controls is one who misses many great photographic opportunities. You want to develop an understanding that frees you and allows you to notice your surroundings, compose images, and communicate with your subjects.
Making the Alt-Important Lens Choice
A good camera lens can cost almost as much as (or in some cases more than) your digital SLR camera body. You may purchase a new body every few years based on the upgrades in technology, but your lenses will stick with you through time. So, before purchasing a specific lens, make sure it will be useful to your style of photography. Each type of lens is useful for different purposes, and knowing the benefits of specific lenses can help you choose the right tool for the job. The lenses you add to your camera bag should be based on the style of photography you mainly are involved in.
A lens can allow your camera to see an entire scene (including what's in your peripheral vision), or it can magnify a scene to provide a narrower angle of view. It also can provide a view that's similar to what you see with your eyes.
A lens's focal length (the distance in millimeters from the optical center of the lens to the digital sensor) determines how much the camera can see. A lens's curvature determines its focal length. More curvature causes the light to focus at a shorter distance and produces a wide angle of view. Less curvature causes light to focus at a greater distance and produces a narrower angle of view. (For more information on focal length and how it affects your composition, read Chapters 8 and 9.)
When choosing a lens, you can select a fixed lens or a zoom lens. Both can be helpful in certain situations. I introduce each in the following sections.
Workinq With a fixed lens
A fixed lens is one that contains only one focal length. Fixed lenses are designed to work perfectly at a specific focal length, and all their scientific and technological qualities are directed toward doing so. They're lighter than zoom lenses because they require fewer moving parts, and they tend to shoot faster — that is, they have a larger maximum aperture, which allows more light to come in and creates a faster shutter speed.
When I shoot fashion shots or portraits, I use only fixed lenses. I have time to study my scenes and compose my images, so I don't need to zoom in and out while shooting.
Here are the different types of fixed lenses you can choose from with regard to 35mm digital SLR photography: