Quick tips on initial scene reading
. What’s my focal point - keep it simple.
. Direction of light - do I want to side light, back light or front light a scene.
. Rule of thirds.
. Where will I put my horizon - top, middle or bottom of the frame.
. Lead in lines - to lead the eye to your focal point.
. View point - walk around with your camera and try different view
point heights to see which works best.
The elements within a scene can be divided into 2 forms, static
and dynamic and everything within the scene falls under one of
these two categories.
(A) Static, elements within the scene that are stationary.
(B) Dynamic, elements within a scene that move.
By subdividing a scene into static and dynamic will help us determine
how we wish to capture the various elements within the scene that
are of interest to us.
Examples,
1. Grass or trees, is it windy in the scene, do we want to blur the
elements in this case the grass or trees or do wish to freeze
their motion.
2. Water, whether a river, lake or the sea again how do we wish
to portray this element in the scene do we wish to freeze for
blur the movement of the water.
3. Light, has the light source a fixed position i.e. a studio lamp or
does it move like the sun and if it moves what will be the best
lighting position for your photograph as a scene will change
how it looks depending on the direction of the light.
4. Clouds, again are the clouds stationary or moving, and if they
are moving do you want to blur their motion creating an almost
artistic brush stroke across the sky or do you want to freeze
their motion so that the details of the clouds in the sky are more
apparent.
5. People, people can be static or dynamic in a scene i.e. your
on holidays in a local town square and the sun has just set,
there are lots of people walking about, by choosing you shutter
speed just low enough you can get a well lit image while turning
the people into specters, ghosting through the scene, a nice
effect from a dynamic element.
Composition, tonality and timing play a big part in setting the
look and feel of an image, colour or lack of colour can also
affect your final image and deciding on which colour or
monochrome could be the difference in an ordinary image
and a great photograph.
Here are a few points to consider to help you choose between
monochrome or colour.
1. What sort of impact will colours have on your image, does
your scene contain bright vibrant colours that are just begging
to be captured or has the scene a lot of distracting and
conflicting colours that maybe better recorded in black and
white.
2. Does the scene contain strong highlights and shadows, high
contrast images make the best black and white photographs.
3. Are there any interesting textures or patterns, scenes with
a strong form, textures or patterns look fantastic when
converted to black and white, by eliminating the colour
in the scene will draw the viewers eye towards the image’s
strongest element.
4. What mood are you trying to convey, colours will provoke
feelings, blue for a calming effect where as bright red
may unnerve an individual and purple will generate an air
of mystery. If the colour is absent the the viewer is forced
to focus on the difference between light and dark, now
an image can become powerful and dramatic.
There is no right or wrong, sometimes it’s just down to
personal choice.