Dead-Center is Dead

Composition:

Dead-Center is Dead

Ok, so I’ll admit this right off the bat… I probably have hundreds of sunset pictures where the horizon is right smack dead-center. Maybe you wonder “what’s wrong with that?” After all, I think it’s a safe bet to say that MOST people will try to center their subject in the frame. Why? One reason that comes to mind is that the autofocus on your camera will focus on whatever is directly in the center of the viewfinder. The other is that in our efforts of perfection, we try to make things perfectly concentric. It all goes back to kindergarten… where we were encouraged to keep our coloring within the lines and being neat and orderly in everything we do. Perfectly centered works well with so many other things – shooting a rifle for example. In order to shoot our target, it is necessary to center the crosshairs exactly dead-center of where the target is. Thus – our target is DEAD! But we’re not killing our subjects here. We are making an aesthetically pleasing image of what we see, and putting your subject dead-center makes for a lifeless photograph. I suppose we could get in the psychology of why we like our images off-center (and I’m sure you can find plenty of articles on that) but I like simplicity. Let’s just suffice it to say that you don’t want your subject dead-center, and leave it at that. Now, there are some instances where you do want your subject to be centered – like on your driver’s license, passport pictures or mugshots… but since when are mugshots aesthetically pleasing or in any way artistic? Seriously though, there are some exceptions – which I will likely cover later – but in most cases, you will want to follow the rules… and here is one of those:

The Rule of Thirds

In photography (and in video) it is common practice to use what is called “The Rule of Thirds.” Once you have this rule impressed in your mind, you will wonder why you ever took dead-centered pictures in the first place. It may take some practice to un-learn what you have been doing (in my case for decades) and get into the mindset of thirds. Here’s how it works:

Imagine your photo frame divided up like a tic-tac-toe game. Basically, it is divided into thirds (or in 9 sections). Our goal in this rule of thirds is to line up our subject with one of these lines – to avoid centering our subject within the center-square. Where the lines intersect is very important. These are your power points. If you can center your subject in one of those points, it has the most dramatic impact in your photo. For reasons I’m not going to get into explaining, your eyes are drawn to those points. One thing also to keep in mind is not to get hung up on trying so hard to keep this as a hard and fast rule that it kills your creativity. Even though there are goals, it’s ok to simply be close. For the sake of helping to “see” these lines, I’ve superimposed this grid onto some photos I’ve taken.

When doing landscape photography, we want to emphasize either the sky, or the landscape. Give more emphasis on one or the other – don’t try to do both. One of them is going to be more interesting than the other. If either is the case, take two pictures. If neither is the case, why bother taking a picture? Notice in this picture how the horizon is right at the bottom third line. The clouds weren’t amazing, but they weren’t boring either. It was the golden light shining on the trees that made the shot. The pond was a bonus, but there wasn’t anything interesting about the water that day. A couple of months later and the water is filled with lilypads… now that might make me change my mind about where to line up the horizon. Notice also how the tree on the left kind of draws you in. There are a couple of reasons for that 1) It is one of the brightest objects in the photo (and I’ll cover this more in detail later when discussing lighting) and 2) it is within the third on the left. There is also a geometric “triangle” pattern with the trees that gently guides you up to that tree. Your eyes could also go the other way too – as generally, our eyes go from left-to-right. Ideally, you might want a picture to be composed opposite of this, but on the other hand in this manner it keeps your eyes on the picture longer because your eyes wander within the picture.

This sofa is textbook – centered directly on one of the power points. You may also notice that it is framed between a tree and a fence. Framing is also an important element that I will go further into detail with.

In this “ninja” you’ll notice that multiple parts of the subject intersect these lines (the eyes and the fingers). There are two things that make the hands the most important subject in the picture: 1) They are the brightest objects and 2) they are in focus, whereas everything else is intentionally blurred (using aperture settings).

Here are some other examples:

Skunk cabbage runs right along left third line

Left line runs through center of Chelsea's face with her eyes near the "power point" intersection.

Naturally, we want to keep the subject in the left third, if we centered Steven, we cut off his fishing rod. His eyes are centered in the "power point."

Here, I’ve taken the rule to extremes. The clouds were most interesting, so I wanted to only keep a sliver of the expanse of farmlands in the photo. Even though the sky is amazing, without showing some land, the photo would look awkward and unsettling… pointless.

One of the challenges you may have with trying to work with the “rule of thirds” is that your subject may be out of focus. Here’s a little trick that works with autofocus cameras: Center the most important part of your subject in the viewfinder (for a person, it will normally be the eyes… with some exceptions). Push the shutter button halfway down and lock your focus. Keep the button halfway pressed while recomposing your photo and then fully depress the button. Another way is to switch to manual focus. You lock the focus the same way, only manually (by rotating the focus ring) and then it doesn’t matter if you take your finger off the shutter button to recompose because on manual it won’t try to refocus automatically.

I would not only recommend playing around with your camera to work with the “rule of thirds” but to look as if your eyes (or some other frame – like the windshield of your car) were the viewfinder. Look at other examples of how this rule is used. See it on television and on the movies. Look at examples in magazines, books, paintings – even architecture or in nature. This rule is very pervasive! Learn it… make it a part of your photographic toolbox.

Types of Cameras

Let’s go over a few types of popular cameras, why we would (or wouldn’t) use them and some opinions about these types of cameras.

35mm Film Camera.

Yes, people still use them. We have two types of people who still use film cameras: 1) You or I may have an “Auntie May” who has still not latched onto the concept of computers… or anything in digital domain. She brings her film camera to the family gathering and shoots a few pictures until the roll is finished and then brings the film to Rite Aid to get her photos developed and then puts them in a photo album or scrapbook. You might laugh, but she is probably more efficient (and conservative) with her photos than most people who have made the conversion to digital photography. It costs her about $10-20 a year for her photos and processing. How much do you spend on photography? 2) The other type of film photographer would be the “high-end” photo purist – a professional. In a way, kind of like “Auntie May” because these people are not willing to make the conversion yet. There are reasons why. There ARE some situations where digital cameras – even high-end cameras – do not capture the same way the film cameras do. Many of these people also still have a darkroom with an enlarger, chemicals, photo paper and all that other stuff. There are some professional film cameras still on the market today.

Phone Camera

By far, this is the most popular camera. Whether they are the most popularly used camera or not, I don’t know, but MOST people who own a cell phone have one with a camera on it. So far, the images on a cell phone camera can’t even approach the quality of Compact Cameras or Digital SLR cameras. There are two main reasons why: 1) The image sensor is very small. Generally, the larger the image sensor, the higher quality the images will be. 2) The lenses are not high quality. High-quality lenses are big and bulky – not something that would or could fit on a phone. No matter what your opinion is about your phone camera, I will state flat-out that the quality of phone images is ALWAYS going to be inferior to most Compact Cameras and all Digital SLR cameras. Period. You just can’t get a high quality image from a camera. I use my phone camera as a last resort… say if Bigfoot shows up and I had somehow forgotten to bring some other camera… or if my vehicle catches on fire and I hadn’t thought to bring along a real camera. So there you have it: Phone cameras, in my opinion are toy cameras. They can’t be taken very seriously in the photographic world.

Compact Digital Camera (also called a “Point & Shoot” camera)

There are many professionals who don’t take Compact Cameras very seriously – and their reasons are valid. Yet… many professionals also own them and carry them with them just about everywhere. Why? A few good reasons: 1) You can’t lug your DSLR everywhere with you, but you can take your Compact Camera just about everywhere. Having a Compact Camera is better than having no camera at all. 2) A Compact Camera is good for practice shots – you can go in without all your gear and compose your shot with your Compact Camera and then review your pictures and come back later when conditions are optimal for setting up all your equipment. 3) It is a backup – just in case something happens to your main camera or gear. So many things can happen… so many variables. Being on an important photo-shoot and having a disaster happen with your camera can be somewhat salvaged by a decent point-and-shoot. A knowledgeable photographer can set up a Compact Camera to still get some OK photos. Can you get good pictures with a Compact Camera? Well, it depends. I’ve gotten some surprisingly good results with my Compact Cameras – provided conditions are ideal (mostly lighting). The thing to realize is you should’t get fooled by the numbers or specifications. Just because your Compact Camera is capable of 10 or 12 megapixels, doesn’t mean squat. There are reasons why a DSLR costs many times more than a Compact Camera. Once again, it goes back to image sensor size and lens quality/size.

Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) Camera

Many amateur photographers upgrade to a DSLR (or have experience using them) and are initially disappointed with the results – compared to what they have come to expect with their Compact “Point & Shoot” Cameras. The reason why is that to operate a DSLR properly, it takes knowledge and skill that is not necessary to employ using their fully automatic camera. It may take many weeks… months… or even years to master the controls of a DSLR camera but once a photographer has reached that point, the quality of photos is MUCH higher than and the camera is MUCH MORE versatile than any other type of camera. There are a number of attributes that make this difference in quality. Among them are: 1) The image sensor is larger and much higher quality. 2) The lenses are higher quality and on most DSLR cameras you can exchange lenses with various types – depending on their purpose. 3) You can manually change the settings for many of the functions of the camera (and this is where a lot of amateurs get lost or befuddled) so you can optimize the conditions that you are shooting in, in order adapt to those conditions or to be creative. 4) The DSLR actually has numerous settings that are often either not present or are very limited on other cameras. 5) Most DSLR cameras have capability to connect to an external flash or to trigger other lighting sources. 6) Most DSLR cameras will shoot in RAW format – which allows you to adjust some of the settings (such as White Balance and Exposure Compensation) using software in your computer. 6) DSLR cameras use a viewfinder – as opposed to a back screen for viewing and framing your shot. There are good reasons for this (which I will discuss in detail later) Suffice it to say, that this is one of those “noticeable quality” features that is only possible using cameras with the viewfinder. Many of the earlier Compact Cameras had a viewfinder (some still do) but we’re seeing more and more of them that only have the LCD screen in back – no viewfinder. You can normally use your DSLR in the same way you use your “Point & Shoot” camera by shooting in “P” (preset) mode. Your pictures will still be higher quality than you could get using any Compact Camera, but you won’t be optimizing your DSLR to its fullest potential.

From now on, when I talk about cameras, you can assume that I am talking about Digital SLR cameras. There are some functions and ways to use other cameras that may work, but let’s just assume that I am referring to a DSLR.

Think before you click!

So you have your digital camera and it's great because you can take as many pictures as you want... for free! But wait a minute. Are those pictures really free? It's true that you no longer pay for film and processing, which if I took as many film pictures on 35mm film as I currently do with my digital cameras, I would go broke - but in the long run, digital pictures are not really free. Here are three reasons why:

1. Equipment life. It's the law of physics, I suppose. Anything with moving parts or that uses light/heat eventually wears out. You computer equipment, has a limited life based upon hours of usage or activations. Your camera shutter, for instance, typically has a life of about 100,000 activations. Lights burn out (including flashbulb lights), computer hard drives fail and things get dropped and worn out... usually as a result of active usage.  And batteries - whether "one-use" alkaline batteries or even rechargeable, they still all have a limited life.
   
   
2. Storage. Whether you are storing your photos on a hard drive, CD- or DVD-ROM disks or memory cards - all these storage mediums cost money. The more mega-pixels your camera has, the more storage it takes and some people believe in storing TIFF or RAW images, which take up a HUGE amount of space.
   
   
3. Time. I don't know about anyone or everyone else, but my time is pretty much directly equal to dollar - or potential dollars. My time is precious! If I am sitting there editing mediocre photos in all my spare time, it's taking time away from doing other things that could be more valuable. This is why I may either choose to not take a picture or to delete one while it is still in my camera. Why bother with pictures that just won't make the cut?

I am in no way discouraging anybody from taking pictures. I consider my first DSLR (the one that I own now) my "practice" camera... the one I am learning on. So I'll do a lot of experimenting and trying to get things right. When I'm ready to move up, I'll move on to a better camera and sell my old equipment on eBay or use it for backup. I have taken a LOT of pictures just to practice with, but recently I have been more discriminating about what I shoot or at least how I shoot it. The bottom line is this: If you are going to go through the effort of doing something, you might as well do it RIGHT. Make it worth your while. Think... compose your photo... set up your camera properly... take a little time BEFORE you push the shutter release to ensure that the quality of pictures will be what you will want to keep, or that a higher percentage of them will be "keepers." After all, we're trying to get away from ordinary snapshots, right?

By now, I am anxious to get to the "nuts and bolts" of photography, so the next posts will start to be practical information that you can start using.

17 Reasons Why Your Photos Are Disappointing

I came up with a list of things off the top of my head why a person may be disappointed with his/her photography skills (or lack thereof, whatever the case may be). I will likely cover each of these in greater detail, whether I actually have them titled as such or cover them subtly in other articles. So here they are. Feel free to add to them, dispute them, ask for clarification or comment on them:

1. Lack of goal/purpose. What story is the photo telling?

2. Little or no technical knowledge relating to photography

3. Photos are devoid of artistic expression or appeal.

4. Photos have little or no “darkroom” attention or finesse.

5. The photos are unoriginal or possess very little personality (has this subject been photographed a million times before… from the same position/location?).

6. Amateur equipment – professional expectations

7. Professional gear – “snapshot” mentality

8. You limit yourself… you haven’t developed a sense of “seeing” artistic shots or framing good photos.

9. You are a part-time or occasional photographer.

10. Lack of passion or interest in photography. I’ve learned that “passion begets pain” in virtually any situation, hobby or profession.

11. You have interest, but don’t know where to begin.

12. Minimal computer skills of the photographer

13. You don’t believe you are in need of training, improvement or criticism. A few compliments by friends and family on your work and you think you’re good enough. In my book, when “the skills pay the bills” then you’re good enough. The ultimate compliment is a steady paycheck or a huge windfall.

14. You can’t afford necessary training. Let’s see… $1500 in camera gear… Maybe $150 in books and classes would be a good start.

15. YOU are interested and amused in YOUR work, but…

16. Technology marches on… do you?

17. There’s much more to photography than fun, cute and scenic. Expand your horizons. For instance, commercial photography is where the money is.

Everybody with a camera is a photographer... right?

I've been "taking pictures" for about 35 years or so now. I have literally taken tens of thousands of photos over the years. The thing is that, like a lot of people, even though I keep trying and keep trying to figure out why my photos don't look professional, I haven't been able to quite get it right. NOW, I am starting to get there. I've been reading different books, blogs, and taking classes on photography and there are many common threads in the photography world. I would like to share them publicly. I just want to document my journey for a couple of purposes 1) Maybe it will help somebody else learn along with me and to become better photographer and 2) It helps to solidify things for myself.

So, to be blunt I will state that just because you have a camera doesn't make you a photographer. Just because you have a GOOD camera - a professional camera - does NOT make you a photographer! It's like saying that anybody with a set of surgical tools is a surgeon or anybody with carpentry tools is a carpenter. Photography is a skill that takes not only practice, but it requires some form of education. I had had years of practice, but little education. I was ignorant or "vaguely familiar" at best with the NECESSARY elements of photography. I was just like any other person wielding a camera: the photos that I took were hit-and-miss as far as quality and aesthetics goes. I did not understand what went into making a good photograph. One thing to understand from the beginning is that the camera doesn't make the picture. It is the photographer that makes the picture. Your photo is a reflection of your artistic nature, much in the same way a painting is a reflection of a painter. My ultimate goal is to reach the level of professional photographer - where my photos are consistently the way I envision them to be in my head. That's what it's all about - taking what you see or what you envision and "painting" exactly what is in your mind.

I will post on many different subjects relating to photography. I will cover the technical as well as the artistic sides as these work together to make the skill of photography. There is a lot to cover... so let's get started!

photo courtesy of Julie Drake