Friday, January 22, 2010

Refining your photos and Bringing out your subject

In order to pull in your viewer, you need to have an interesting subject. Not only must you find an interesting subject, it is necessary that you photograph it in such a way that actually is interesting. How does one make an appealing photograph that catches the eye? Here are several hints or suggestions I hope you find useful:

1. Fill the frame with the subject. If you have an interesting subject, then you should display it. It frustrates your viewer when the subject that he or she finds so interesting is so small! Also, when you fill the image frame with your subject, you are cutting out the clutter that detracts from it which brings us to...

2. Cut the clutter. The worse thing you can have in your image is clutter because it takes the viewer's eye away from what you intended them to see. The best way to cut clutter is to carefully frame your subject which involves finding different angle, background, lighting, etc. Flowers for example can be difficult because of surrounding vegetation gets in the way and finding the best angle can at times be quite challenging. Capturing an interesting shot many a time will necessitate the need to work more patiently and carefully.

3. Be patient, be passionate, and persevere! Last weekend, I lead a workshop and we went to a seemingly boring area. After meticulously searching all over the place, one lady found a small face on a pole about 2"-3" tall - who would have guessed! When you find an interesting subject, it's not so often that you will stumble upon the best possible lighting and angle. Generally, you will have to "work" the camera to you get something satisfactory.

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