Designs and Composition in Photography

Last time I talked about the types of shot in photography (if you haven't read that yet, please see it first - http://chamedits-chamaltatis.blogspot.com/2011/06/types-of-shot-in-photography.html), and now I wanted to continue by discussing the designs and compositions in photography.

Before going further it's better first to take a look at the parts of a photograph. These are the:
1. Foreground - any element in front of the subject.
2. Subject - the main element shown in a photograph.
3. Background -any element at the back of the subject.

Parts of a photograph

Of course it does not necessarily mean that every photograph must have these three parts (but subject must always be there). Some photos have subject and background only without a foreground. Some macro shots (extreme close up shots) has even no foreground and background because the subject itself fills the whole frame.

macro photos does not have foreground and background

Having those parts of a photograph in mind we can now think of good compositions. However, unlike other kinds of art like drawing, we cannot control the scene that we can capture in our photograph. Though there are photographers who let the subject act and arrange the whole environment, this is not the case in general. In most cases, we only capture what is already there. So we might ask, "How then can we make compositions and designs in photography if we only capture what is already there?" Well, that's exactly what we are going to learn here. And the challenge in filling your camera's frame with subject, foreground and background, is different from that of painting or drawing a canvass in a piece of paper. Of course you cannot control those elements but there is something you can do as a photographer like placing yourself in a right angle, zooming only to the particular part of a scene, and others (well talk about them in detail as we go). As an old photography book says, "See how the camera sees." In making a composition, we must bear in mind that the subject is the main thing that we wanted to show. Therefore, the foreground and background must not be more "attention-getting" compared to the subject.

Okay, I don't want to hold you any longer so let's just jump in and talk about those designs and compositions I'm talking about. They are as follows:

1. Lines and patterns
- you might be walking in the street and as you can see, trees are lined in a horizon in the side in the same pattern. Those trees are good subjects to show the beauty of lines. Other good examples are electric posts, window bars, pile of sacks, etc. We can also see rhythmic patterns of objects in a certain scene. I usually capture objects in a rhythmic pattern from the grocery stores and markets. For me, this is a good place to capture patterns because many similar objects for sale are placed together.

2. Framing
-this technique is the use of foreground (or even background) elements to frame the subject.

In framing, you don't have to use straight objects to create a frame. Like here, I used the plant to frame the subject

3. Textures
-examples are rough surfaces of structures such as monument, building posts, etc.

4. Simplicity
-as I said earlier, we must see to it that the subject must be the main thing to be seen in a photograph. If we place foregrounds and backgrounds or so many elements, the one who is looking at your photo might not know what you really wanted to show. Well, just make it simple. That's it! Instead of photographing many elements, why not focus on a single subject with a plain background? In placing foregrounds and backgrounds, be sure that they are just supporting details (like supporting actor/actress in a movie) in a photograph and they must not distract the attention of the subject (or your main character).

5. Rule of thirds
-this rule might be the most crucial among others so I placed it at the last part because I wanted to discuss more about it.
-Rule of thirds is a rule that is being followed not just in photography but also in painting, landscape, and other artworks (even in song writing). "The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections" (Wikipedia). 
-In application, artists give 1/3 or 2/3 of an element in a certain scene. In landscape for example, the space for a swimming pool of a mansion house is 1/3 of the whole area. If we also see the paintings of a certain scene, the sun is not placed in the middle, rather, it is in the 1/3 on the whole painting. In song writing, most songs are composed of three stanzas with one chorus. This chorus is placed after the first stanza or basically the 1/3 part of a song. If my explanation is still not enough, you can of course do more googling to be more enlightened.

in rule of thirds, divide the whole frame into 9 and place your subject in those intersections of the imaginary lines

This is a photo of a flower that I placed in the rule of thirds area with those guidelines

The photo without the guidelines

Here are some particular examples under this rule however, to show more what I mean:
a. Symmetry vs. Asymmetry
-Oops! For those who hates math, don't worry, we'll not talk about complicated geometry here. This comparison is just referring to balanced versus imbalanced scene. There is no such thing as better thing to do here. It just depends on what you wanted to emphasize. If you wanted to show perfect balance, use symmetry to capture the scene with the same things in both left and right side. The downside here however is that it makes your subject look flat or 2-dimensional. If you wanted to make your subject look more 3-dimensional, it is better to make it asymmetrical or imbalanced using the rule of thirds. In shooting a building for example, don't place yourself in a perfect front of that building. Go to either the right or left side of the building to show the "3D-ness" of it.

symmetry shows balance

A building photographed in front looks flat

Photographing buildings from the side makes it more dynamic and interesting

b. 1/3 sky; 2/3 earth or 2/3 sky; 1/3 earth
-In photographing landscapes with mountain ranges and sky as a background, it is better to divide or place the horizon in the 1/3 or 2/3 of a scene. Dividing the scene perfectly does not look more dynamic (it may look boring actually). We must then place either the sky or the earth a bigger (2/3) part in photograph.

1/3 sky; 2/3 earth

1/3 earth; 2/3 sky

c. Line of sight or line of action
-This works in capturing side-views of a subject. Here, the place where the eye is looking (for example) must have a wider space than the back of a subject. If your subject is a person running, the area he or she is facing must have more space than the area he or she is leaving.

Line of action

Line of sight

That's it for now guys. It's good to start with the basics. As beginners, I suggest that we must first apply this rules. But after a while of doing such, we must not also be bound by these rules. Try breaking the rules at times to get something "out of the box".

Just keep on following this blog. I'll be showing some more advanced and tricky compositions soon. See you around!

Novels vs. Movies

                 When the epic war film “Troy” acted by Brad Pitt was shown in 2004, I remember my English literature teacher giving her negative reaction about the movie. She said that why is it that they changed a lot of things from what was originally written in the book. The same thing happened when episodes of Twilight was made a film from the book written by Stephenie Meyer. Almost all those who read the book are saying that the story in the book is better than what was shown in the film.

                However, for those are really not that patient in reading a lot, they just watch the movie and do not really care if how is it written in the book. Since the films are highly visual, some prefer to watch rather than to read a very long novel for a long time.

                Those who were born before us (including my English teacher before) refutes that books are still the best and young people must learn to read and they must not be lazy just watching movies. They also say that reading novels sharpen your imaginations unlike movies that you don’t have to imagine since you can already see it.

                Of course our grandparents are right but what will the young people of today say about this. Well, they may answer and say that movies are better because it is more entertaining, unlike reading a book that will bore you to read for a long time. Moreover, if you’re reading a book, you’re just alone and you don’t have any company to laugh or cry with in case you are being carried by the story of what you’re reading.

                Well, there is really no better in novels and movies. They are just two kinds of medium that can tell a story. It’s just either riding a taxi or private car to go to your destination. Either way, the important thing is that you reached the place where you wanted to go. But for you to whether ride in a taxi or in your private car is your own preference depending on your situation.

                To understand however why novels are so complete but relatively long and movies incomplete but short and more entertaining, we have to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the two.

                Let’s start by talking about novels written in a book. Many may refute and say that books are really better since they are the original “vessels” that contain the story. They are right about that because that is the strength of books. In making a book, you are really not that limited on how many pages you wanted to make. You can tell everything in details since your “vessel” can contain many information. Another strength of novels is that, you can write anything that comes your imagination. That is because you will not have any problem in the production. Whether you wanted the earth to explode or have lovers kissing has no difference in the typing and printing of the book anyway.

                With all those good things about the book, it has also some downsides. Details written in a book is complete but you also need a long time to read them. Aside from that, you really need to concentrate and do the reading all alone (it may make you a loner at times). And during those times of reading, you missed the opportunity to socialize with others.

                So how about movies? Well, almost everybody out there loves watching movies. Aside from the entertainment value, watching also gives us the opportunity to hang out with our friends. That is because if books are for just one audience, movies can accommodate more viewers to enjoy the show. It is also shorter that one only needs “one seating” to watch the whole story. Because it is also highly visual with sound effects supporting it, one will not be bored in watching.

                While movies are entertaining, it has also some limitations. Unlike books that they can contain more details of the story, films can just have the general scenes of the story to tell. Movies are usually two hours in length because it is the usual span of time for watching for us human beings.  Sitting down for a very long hours straight watching is of course not practical. So when the film makers made the movie Twilight, they have to omit or change some of the scenes and include only those that are practical for production. We have to understand that in film making, there are lots of considerations. A writer can imagine a fantasy scene that he can write for a book but may not be practical for moving picture. Of course you’re lucky if you have a very good visual artist who can do all those stuff in the post production. You have to consider also however if your time and budget is enough to cover all those needs. Basically, producing a movie is far more expensive than producing a book. So we cannot blame film makers to modify the story (of those novels converted into film) a bit to suit their needs and situations.

                Personally I read books but I admit I watch movies more. Well, if you have a lot of times then it’s really good to read novels for us to know the details of the story. We cannot however deny the “more entertaining value” of movies. Movies might give up some details of stories from novels but it’s worth it if the visual presentation is rich and will cause us to have more social time with our families and friends.

Types of Shot in Photography

“If a picture paints a thousand words then why can’t I paint you…” 
                                                                                           -If by Bread

“Look at this photograph

Everytime I do it makes me laugh…”

                                                          -Photograph by Nickelback

                                                

These are just some of the many songs written about photographs.  Almost every one of us loves photographs. We look at them to remember the past. A photograph shows something that happened that can never be repeated. It can also show things that needless to say or write a lot of words to describe. It also captures artistic views in our environment that common people usually ignore.

            Anyone who has a camera can take pictures. It doesn’t really matter if you have an education about photography or have not. However, it is still better to learn (even the basics) the things about photography in order for us to have better pictures that we can share to others.

            Because of that, I wanted to share the types of shot in photography and the uses of each of these shots.

            There are six basic types of shot in photography but I want to divide them into two categories – according to distance and angle. Let’s talk about those types of shot in details for us to learn where we shall use them.

            In the distance category, there three types of shot. These are the Long Shot (LS) or some call it Wide Shot (WS), Medium Shot (MS), and Close up Shot (CS).

            Wide shot is a type of shot that includes almost everything that we wanted to show. It is a general view of a scene. It is usually used to establish the scene by answering the question “where are you”. That’s why when we are watching movies, a building is shown first before a person talking inside that building. Film makers wanted to tell the viewers that the person talking is within that building.

            Long shot is usually used in landscape photography. This is of course because photographers wanted to show almost everything in the scene of landscapes.

            Let’s go then to a shot that shows some part of a general view – the Medium shot. After establishing the scene, it’s now time to capture those parts of that scene a bit closer. We can now show people, trees, plants, or any interesting subjects in that particular scene.

After showing the general view and some parts of a scene, it’s now time to capture the details by getting close up shots. When you took a photo of a plant for example, you can also capture its leaves or stems to get the details of that plant.

            Close up shots also make us see things closer than how we normally see them. We may pass by a flower in a path way and do not mind it at all. But once photographed in a close up shot, the flower then shows its real beauty that we can appreciate.

                 How long, medium, and close the shots are relative. There is really no exact measurement of those shots. Whether the shot is wide or medium depends upon your reference. If your reference is a building, then a shot of that building will be considered a long shot and subjects inside it are medium and close up shots. However if your reference is the whole city, the building will then be considered a close up shot and the photo of the many buildings in that city is the wide shot.

            Knowing those types of shot according to distance will then guide us in photographing things. In documenting a birthday party for example, it is better to shoot first a wide shot of the place where the event will be held (it’s better to take several shots of at least three). After taking that wide shot, it’s now time to go inside that house and take medium shots of people in the party. It’s also good to take close up shots of details of the house, candles, peoples’ emotion, etc.

            In English subject, there is what we call the inductive reasoning which takes the reasoning from general to specific. In the same manner, in documenting events, it is better to start from a wide shot (general view) to medium shots and close up shots (specific). It is also good to take various shots of wide, medium, and close up to show variety of shots in the photo album.

 Okay let’s now learn also the types of shot according to angle. These are the High Angle Shot (bird’s eye view), Normal Angle Shot (man’s eye view), and Low Angle Shot (worm’s eye view).

            Let’s first talk about High Angle Shot. This is shot that is taken from above the subject. This use used to diminish the subject or simply to human subjects for example, it causes dwarfing. It is also used in landscape photography to be able to include almost everything in the viewfinder.

Normal Angle Shot is based on the angle people generally see things. This gives a natural look to subjects since it’s the angle where we normally see things.

The Low Angle Shot emphasizes height and power. A person photographed in a low angle (with matching facial expression of course) can show that he is proud of something. A small little plant shot from lowest angle possible can also show some heights despite its little stature.

Once again, the key here is to take the photos in the angle that suits the need based on what I discussed above. It is also better to take as many angles as possible if time allows. This will let you choose from many angles in case you’re not sure if what angle you should take the photo.

            In taking pictures I suggest that do not be limited by the rules. Try breaking the rules sometimes and keep on experimenting. Sometimes the best shots are taken from breaking the rules. As they say however “before you can break the rule, you must first know the rule.”

photo edits and layouts

I'm currently accepting freelance photo editing and layouting jobs. You can contact me in my email address chamaltatis@gmail.com for more details about my rates and speed of work. The following are some of my porfolios:

Igorot videos

Slow motion... Fade... Cheesy... Music videos... Movies about religious life and good morals...

These are some of the common comments we hear about Igorot videos (I hope I didn't say it negatively).

Note: (Well, I'm an Igorot myself and being in video industry for almost 4 years now (or even 6 if I include the days when we were sutdents), you can't blame me if I wanted to write something about Igorot videos. It might be that you will not agree with some of the things that I will say here and I understand and respect that. However, I just wanna say my opinions and my own observations about Igorot videos. Again, I don't mean to fight or hurt anyone. I ever I do, well I'm sorry but that's not my intention really.)

I'll try my best not to be biased here but I admit I can't help it in some point. Well that's normal if you don't agree with some of my opinions since we are totally different persons with different minds.

I remember the time when I was applying for the position of Video Editor before at ABS-CBN (that was last 2008). The sample I submitted was an Igorot music video I made. At first they did not say anything about it. Bu when I was already working there for a while, they made that video sample of mine a bit of a "laughing stuff". After editing a lot and learned a lot in video editing, I tried to look back to that sample music video I made and I realized it's really funny now. I didn't know it was funny before.

My point here is not to say that Igorot videos are funny. It's just sad to say however that many of our "kakailyans" (not all anyway) thought that video production can just be done by anyone as long as they have a video camera and computer to edit the video and cast of characters to act. They failed to realize that video production is a field that is needed to be learned and not anyone who wants to do it can just do it as he or she please. Of course I'm not saying that only those who learned video production can shoot videos (if it's just for our personal video, like for our family and/or friends, anyone can do it of course). What I'm saying is that it is better for those who wanted to make music videos and movies to learn the skills in this field before making one and selling one. It's just like a doctor needs to study medicine before he or she can work in a hospital.

I'm not actually belittling those fellow Igorots who are making shall we say "amateur" videos. I understand that  they were not given the chance to learn the principles in video production resulting in not so good outputs (I admit I had a lot of amateur works also before). In fact it's really not the professionalism sometimes. Anyway it's just for local audiences so I think few mistakes are just fine so long as the viewers enjoy them. My only concern here is that these videos are posted online and it is shown in the whole world, therefore, in my opinion, they must still be quality.

What I also don't like about the attitude of some of our fellow Igorot video makers is that they are so proud of what they are doing as if they are the only ones who know how to do those things. They even hide what they call "secret" ways of doing things they know that for me is somewhat funny. Almost all of those secrets I heard are things I learned since then but I was always happy to share them to others. I met a lot of really professionals and they are always happy to share what they know. What a shame that some of those fellows are so proud to hide what they call secret that almost every video makers know!

My real aim here is not to criticize Igorot videos. I'm just glad that I was given the opportunity to learn more in this field so I wanted to share some soon. Not just to Igorots who might be interested in this field but to anyone who might come across my lessons soon.

Aside from that, here is a product I wanted to showcase:

http://vimeo.com/16418002

Intermediate Photography

Okay, I got my GE x5 semi pro camera last month and after that, I started to learn how to use it by reading the manual and experimenting on many things. I'm really not a professional photographer so I admit I needed to learn a lot. It's good however that I learned some theories when I was studying back in college so I have a little foundation. I also read some books and browse the net to learn more things. My video shooting skill (because I do more of videos than photos before) also helped in some ways.

At first I was really having a hard time trying to achieve the looks I wanted to capture like having a depth of field and what not. I just thank those information posted in the internet. I came to learn more about how the aperture does that depth of field (and if you're using a GE x5 camera, it's good to combine it with the macro button).

What I like also with this GE camera is the panorama option. I was able to capture wide scenes without having to edit them. i also tried to play around with the shutter speed and I really love using the slow shutter speed at night. I'm glad I learned this shutter speed things when I was shooting videos.

Well, as of now I'm currently reading the book "The Joy of Digital Photography" and it's really a big help for me.It's good also that I know how to use Photoshop so I can do lots of post-productions in some of the photos I got.

More to learn yet and i realized this is a good hobby. I hope I have a more possessional camera soon but for  now, this GE camera serves my needs (it's what my money can afford to buy as well, he he).

Here are some of the photos I took so far that I some enhanced using photoshop: