Creative Composition and Graphic Design

By Kerry Drager

When composing an image, it really pays to pay special attention to the basic elements of design. These graphics include pattern, line, shape, form, texture, color and repetition. Even if the lighting is wonderful and dramatic, if your photo isn’t graphically pleasing, then the chances are the picture will fall short of your hopes.

You may already use design elements subconsciously, at least in obvious situations, and most photos do include one or more these components. But many people don’t put much thought about these graphics when it comes to their own photography. Yet, recognizing the building blocks of composition is the first step toward making more successful - and more artistic - pictures.

Here are some examples of graphic design in action:

Pattern, Repetition & Color (Custom Car Close-up). (c) Kerry Drager
f/22 @ 1/8 sec.; ISO 100; 105mm lens; tripod

Line, Color & Repetition (MGM at night, Las Vegas). (c) Kerry Drager
f/11 @ 1 1/2 sec.; ISO 400; 50mm lens; tripod

Shape - Bellagio Fountain (Vegas at Night) (c) Kerry Drager
f/5.6 @ 1/30 sec.; 50mm lens; ISO 400; tripod

Color & Pattern (Capitola, California Coast). (c) Kerry Drager
f/13 @ 1/125 sec.; ISO 200; 70-300 zoom @ 180mm; tripod

Abstract of Line & Pattern (Water Reflections. (c) Kerry Drager
f/16 @ 1/100 sec.; ISO 400; 70-300 zoom @ 165mm; tripod

Shooting notes:

• Telephoto focal lengths lets you zero in on the graphics while leaving out distractions. For the two Las Vegas images above - captured with a "normal" fixed 50mm on a full-frame DSLR - I moved physically closer to fill the frame with my subjects.

• A tripod not only helps you achieve the best in image quality, but also lets you more easily fine-tune compositions. At the same time, for many of the scenes shown here, I was able to use a small aperture for more depth of field without having to rack up the ISO to a noisy level.

Book Alert: Composition, color and design are key subjects in the new book The BetterPhoto Guide to Creative Digital Photography, co-authored by Jim Miotke and Kerry Drager. Of course, light is important too, so check out Jim and Kerry's upcoming The BetterPhoto Guide to Photographing Light (April 2012).

Comments

[F.Zaman]

thanks