This is the first in a series of articles to help you create amazing photographic compositions. 

Part A - What is Your Subject?

Part B - Place & Frame Your Subject

Part C - Find an Angle

Part D - Creating Depth

Part E - Balance Your Composition

Part F - Keep It Simple

Part G - Leading Light

Part H - Break the Rules

Part I - Minimalism and Negative Space

WHAT IS YOUR SUBJECT?

This may seem like a pretty dumb question. But it can be really confusing. Last month I mentioned one big mistake photographers make is not having a subject. In referring to a subject I mean where you want your viewer’s attention to focus most strongly as opposed to a theme of an image or group of images. Examples of themes would be "beauty in nature" "climate change" or "survival". While it may be possible to feature multiple subjects or grouped of subjects in a scene, it is most common to have a single subject.  

Click thumbnails to see uncropped images.

You may be taking a landscape photo where you think the subject is the entire scene. Or it could be the barn behind a barn. Or a fox in the bushes. But for purposes of composing your image the subject is the brightest area of the waterfall, the fox’s eyes. and the dilapidated barn behind a barn. These are the locations within the composition where the viewer's focus will be the greatest. The subject of the waterfall is really emotional. The fox's eyes convey its feelings. It is not just a cute animal. With a slightly different composition, the barn door or objects within the barn could have been the subject. In all of these images there are other important parts of the image that lead the way to the subject and there may be other areas of the image to explore after fixing on the subject. We will cover some of those features in the next couple of articles.

One of the most common photos taken, usually with a smartphone, is of a person in front of a landmark. Placing the person in the center of the frame divides the backdrop and prevents the viewer from exploring the backdrop. This works in larger group photos, but is less effective with one or two persons. Placing the viewer to the side of the frame allows the viewer to explore the backdrop. Now, if the person is looking directly at the camera, that person. is your subject and the background is simply that…a backdrop. If the person is looking at the background, your subject is the background and the person simply give one's eye a way to get into the background. Simple enough!

Let’s take a look as something a bit less clear. Close-up or macro photography often has a good part of the image out of focus. This helps us define the subject. But, what if there is a bee landing on the flower. Which is the subject? While the flower may be a subject, you would think that the bee is more unusual and is your dominant subject. But because the bee is heading toward the flower (unless it is flying backwards), our bee and our eye will naturally land on the flower. In addition to placement, we use lines, shapes, color, luminosity and sharpness all to help the viewer discover find value in our finished images.

In this picture of sand verbena, the dark bush in the background stops our eye. The wildflowers are the obvious subject. But what if you find a more attractive scene with some wildflowers at the base of a sand dune. You have to get a great picture since this is an unusual discovery and a scene with great contrasts! The wildflowers are a once in a lifetime opportunity. You would think they are your subject. But just like the person gazing at the Grand Canyon, or the bee landing on the cactus blossom, they may be there to guide you to your main subject. Or they may indeed be the subject. You need to decide if the flowers are your subject of if the dunes are your subject in composing your picture.

In the picture shown, we do not really need something to stop our eye, since the bushes are of such little interest. Here is would be a good idea to crop off he ugly stuff in our composition. Our eye would stop at the top of the picture.

Steptoe Granary

In this next picture, there are rolling fields, a farmhouse (upper left) a curving road (background) and a granary. Which is your subject? If the very interesting road was the primary subject, would you keep the granary in the picture? If the granary is your subject, would you use a longer lens to deemphasize the road? Or would you use the road to actually emphasize the granary. These are choices you should think about on the way to making your image.

By picking your subject first, you will have a better idea of your camera position, lens choice and the lighting you are hoping for.

Next month we will look at placing and framing your subject.

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