What creative means do you know in photography – what can we work with?
What do we mean by creative means?
Each of these factors has an influence and an effect on the photo. It is up to you to use it.
aperture
= Round opening in the lens through which the light enters
Focus / Bokeh
Color, light temperature & color contrast
= Understand the effect of color
Color contrast: Red and green, for example, can have the same brightness (= no brightness contrast in the black and white photo), but the two colors contrast, so they create a tension in the picture.
Light temperature: early in the morning and late afternoon, the sunlight is warmer (more yellow) than at noon (more blue)
composition
= Arrangement of the elements in the picture
there are many parallels to painting here,
e.g. rule of thirds / golden ratio
Contrast & dynamic range
high key
low key
exposure Compensation
= manual optimization if the exposure meter of my camera is deceived by the lighting situation
tolls. bracketing
focal length
= technical property of the lens
=> influences the picture angle, but especially the picture effect
ISO
= Light sensitivity of the sensor / film
find out which maximum ISO sensitivity still gives good results on your camera …
Light
= hard vs. soft light,
direct vs. diffused light,
Light source in the back, back light, grazing light
Location
= from where you take photos
Perspective
= spatial effect of your shooting location / shooting angle, such as: diagonally above, from below (low angle), etc.
but also:
Portrait or Landscape?
hardly any other design tool is so powerful and versatile
reduction
= Design maxim “less is more”
Cutting / Detail
Change location / perspective
shutter time
= Period of time that the sensor is exposed, e.g. 1/500 second
- Freeze motion
- blurring effect
- Observe the rule of thumb for blurred photos
longest possible exposure time = 1 / focal length
2 types of blur connected to exposure
- Camera shake while the subject is still
- The camera is held steadily, but the subject is moving
- (zoom in or walk on it during exposure)
- (Lens is not well focused)
Total vs. detail
Overall view or close up detail?
Your assignment
- Take a photo.
- Take a conscious decision of which creative mean could be used to make your shot stronger.
- Take the same photo again, applying/changing only one of the creative means.
Encouraging consideration
- Train yourself using the 1-plus-model.
- Which creative mean does come to your mind first to make your shot or the expression stronger?
- Which is the creative mean you haven’t thought of at all?