Category Archives: Composition

A Couple Of Composition Tips

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A few things work very well in composing images. I shall reiterate a few of them here, using recent photos:

First, framing. It is often a good idea to frame the object you are shooting. Use overhanging trees. A window frame. Or get even more creative, like here:

Not that every frame leads to a good picture – but some do, so learn to spot them.

Another technique that we often like: use reflections. Like here, since water is often a good source.

What did I use in the picture above? Yes, my speedlight. On camera, and zoomed in to 125mm, even though the lens is wide. And as you see, I did not use the rule of thirds in the vertical sense: because I wanted to get the reflection in.

There there’s “close-far”. Use a wide lens and get close to something in order to show depth:

And one more picture just for fun:

That images uses the above, plus it uses the background in order to tell a story.

There’s more – like the use of colour, and simplifying. A bit of thinking goes a long way in composing your shots!

 

Easy Vignette

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We often like vignettes in our pictures – meaning, the outside is darker so that the subject, closer to the centre, stands out more. Gives your pictures that professional “wow” feeling.

You can do that in post-production, of course, by using Lightroom’s “Post-Crop Vignetting” function:

Your best strategy is to decrease the “amount” setting by a small amount, say minus 15-20. Any more and it often becomes obvious.

There are of course ways to actually shoot with vignettes. I prefer to do that when possible.

One is to use a fast lens, normal to wide angle, and to shoot with it wide open. Like my 16-35 lens:

That often introduces a bit of a vignette: stopped down, lenses behave “better”. So if you want a vignette, “wide open” gives you that not as a problem but as a benefit. And you still get depth of field when wide open with an ultra-wide lens.

Another way is to light selectively. I did that in the above picture also. You can use an off-camera flash (and I often do!), but in this case I used on-camera flash. My lens zoom angle was wide, but instead of letting my flash automatically also zoom to “wide”, I manually set the flash zoom to 135mm. That means the flash’s light only lights up the centre (or where you point the flash head).

Another benefit of this technique: the flash has much more power now, going forward. And you are often going to be fighting at the limit of what power you have, so this is not a bad idea.

Last note: Some flashes (like the 600EX) also have a mode to always send the flash light to a slightly wider or narrower area than the lens covers. I use narrower, to give me some natural vignetting. Check out this function on your high-end flash!

 

A-sailing….

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The Dutch are a seafaring nation and I spent many days sailing, as a kid.

The last few weeks I have been lucky enough to go sailing with some very nice new friends. I am going to share a few of the photos I made last night.

First, for shots in the boat, and for shots showing “wide” landscapes use a wide angle lens. You get that “world wrapped around your subject” feeling, as in this shot of Lucy:

Can you see in the image above that The Speedlighter Strikes Again? if not, here is an even more clear example: I made the boat stand out like an almost ghostly apparition:

For that, I exposed the background dark, and use my flash, zoomed manually to 135mm, to light the boat.

I also made sure I got enough setting sun:

As well as background objects of interest:

And the sunset itself. Sailing is great for photography becuase there is no foreground clutter!

The skies were cloudy. I love clouds with wide angles.

And as you saw in picture three, I also like the long view. Here’s Toronto again:

Lessons from the shott:

Hope for interesting skies. Expose the background well. I used manual mode for everything. Light up close objects with flash. Use wide angles but also bring a long telephoto lens.

I’ll share one more:

Tropics? Nope, Lake Ontario. Speedlighting rocks.

 

 

Pythagoras Today

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I am often asked: “why do you tilt?” in some pictures?

For many reasons, as I have pointed out before here: to get a more dynamic picture; to move the important subject into the Rule of Thirds areas; and so on – but also, very often, for a simple and alomost “pedestrian” reason: Pythagoras.

What I mean is this: the hypotenuse of a right-angle triangle is longer than either of the other sides.

Take a photo: a rectangle with 3:2 ratio of the sides. Pythagoras teaches us that the hypotenuse is the longest line in that square: if the long side is, say, 3 units long, and the short side is 2 units long, then the length of the hypotenuse is the square root of (3 squared plus 2 squared), or the square root of 13, which is about 3.6.

So if the 200-400m f/4 lens a friend was buying does not fit and I can neither zoom out or step back, then I turn my camera diagonally – and now it fits.

Simple, and a very valid reason to turn and tilt. And often, a more dynamic and artistic photo results – and that is added bonus,.

And yes, the sail boat too was a case of deliberate tilt.

 

Scenes

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Sometimes you tell a story by not making things clear.

Like here, from yesterday morning, and what is happening:

Transformer Bumblebee visited Mississauga for three days, courtesy of GM and Dan Bodanis of the Dan Bodanis Band.

The kids lovingly admiring the car are emphasized not by them being sharp, but by the onlooker (that’s Dan) being large and sharp. Your eye goes where his are looking. Then you see the story.

I used a 50mm prime lens on the 1Dx – my 24-70 is in for repair (the moving lens element is loose). Manual mode, 200 ISO, 1/500th second at f/5.6, meaning I used high-speed flash for the fill flash.

Here’s Bumblebee again, still using the 50mm lens:

Wide angles give much more depth of field: f/5.6 again, showing Dan’s wife and son, and using the same storytelling technique:

So today’s lesson: ask what story you are telling, then decide how to tell that using foreground subject and background, and the interaction between them.

 

Golden

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The Golden Hour: when the light turns a beautiful golden colour.

Like Wednesday night on Lake Ontario, while sailing:

Apart from the fact that I used the right lens (35mm on a full frame camera) and the right time of day (the “golden hour” is around sunset), you may want to notice a few things here.

  • First, the composition. Rule of thirds left-right, but symmetrical up-down, because of the reflection in the water, and the boat on the left.
  • Second, I used fill flash, or the boat I was on would have been black.
  • Third, as explained in yesterday’s post, I underexposed the background – or rather, I exposed it correctly to get the correct saturated colours.
  • Fourth, and very importantly: I waited for exactly the right moment. The Decisive Moment, in Cartier-Bresson’s words. The sail is exactly in the middle of the setting sun.

A photo turns from a snapshot into a photograph when you apply a little thought.

 

Open Wide…

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…I mean the lens angle – wide is good.

I have gone sailing the last couple of Wednesdays, and here is an image from last week:

How did I take this dramatic image?

  • I used a wide angle lens: 16mm on a full frame camera, i.e. like using a 10mm lens on a crop camera. On a 33ft boat this is essential to get it all in, but also to create depth.
  • I underexposed the background by a stop or two. Manual mode, 1/80 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100. That’s where I start, with the background. I underexposed it in order to get drama, to get my subjects to be the “bright pixels” once I light them up with flash, and to get deep, saturated colours.
  • Since 1/80th second is well below the maximum flash sync speed, I did not need to use high speed flash, and the flash has its full power output available.
  • And I used the wide angle adapter on the (on camera) flash, to ensure the light goes as wide as the lens is looking.
  • I compose to avoid unwanted shadows.
  • I also aimed up, and I tilted the lens. The latter for three reasons: for “rule of thirds” composition; to get everything in; and to get rid of stuff that does not belong in the image. Simplify, simplify, simplify!

That’s how. You too can produce dramatic images with simple equipment (you do not need a 1Dx!) once you learn how. Keep reading!

(And once you really want to put it all together, come to one of my courses, e.g. at Vistek; but also, consider some one-on-one training. Give me a call to learn how easy that is – you owe it to your photography).

 

Cropping is allowed…

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Take this image, of a student in last week’s Rotterdam workshop:

Single flash, off camera, using TTL. Flash fitted with a 1/4″ Honlphoto grid. Aperture/shutter/ISO set to make the background dark.

Not bad, but how about we cut off the distractions on the right? Let’s see:

I think that is a much stronger image. Yes, you can crop off half a face – why not?

Every time you simplify an image, there is a good chance it will become a stronger image.

I am back from Europe, and I drove to and from Montreal yesterday  -12 hour in the car – soon, back to longer tips and tricks here on speedlighter!

Distillery

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Today, a few more shots from The Distillery Historic District in Toronto. This time, decay, remnants.

I often find to helps me to think “what is my theme”, when I do urban photography. And as you can see, the theme for today’s pictures was “remnants”. The passing of time, if you will. This fits well with

  • Rain
  • Sombre black and white images.
  • Contrast (the shot with the pipes uses a blue filter effect).
  • Detail shots.
  • Lone items, no people.

When you have decided your theme, see what kind of photography would suit that theme: and things fall into place by themselves. Pretty much.

 

I am on a trip

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You can guess where.

Today, no lesson, just snaps:

Haastrecht and the Rule of Thirds:

Gouda, by the St Jan cathedral:

Behind it, the sombre Jewish Cemetery:

On Kleiweg, a traditional street organ:

And my son Daniel at Gouda’s Town Hall, in the rain:

Yes, wide angle lenses rock; yes, you can use them in the rain; yes, you can tilt; yes, you look for storytelling details, and yes, exposure is critical – shoot RAW. And yes, use the Rule of Thirds.

And yes, most of these images would have been much easier if I had had my speedlight on the camera.

And finally, yes, even no-flash grab shots can be worth taking. Document your life!