Photography Techniques

Tawsif Syed

IntroductionI am told to create a poster or a magazine advert

by using commercial photography. Commercial photography involves taking photographs for commercial purposes such as advertising, merchandising and product placement. The aim of a commercial photograph goes far beyond conveying an image and to make a successful commercial photography, the photo must carry real feeling and evoke an emotional response.

Rule of ThirdsRule of Thirds identifies four important part of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image. In the Rule of Thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows, and nine sections in the images. The compositional elements and leading lines are placed on or near the imaginary lines and where the lines intersect.

Here is an example of a rule of thirds of a self portrait. The first line (left side) shows an image of myself, the second (center) and the third (right side) has an empty space. The position of the person (myself) creates a focal point of the image.

Hard lightHard light – Hard light creates shadows with a sharp edge. It has a little or no graduation between light or shadow. The hard light is created by a single, strong source of light, in this case, the sun.

Here is an example of a hard light image showing a sharp division between light and dark.

Soft lightSoft light – Soft light is light that creates shadow with approximate transition from light to dark. There are no dark/hard shadows in this particular photo. It’s created from scattered and diffused light source. Here is an example of a soft light image showing a gradual change from dark to light.

Leading LinesLeading lines are lines  within an image that leads the eye another point in the image. It creates a path to follow. It usually starts at the bottom of the frame guides the eye upwards and inwards. It could lead the eye to a distant point.

The photo shows an interesting idea to create leading lines. The railings cross the image as well going into the depth. Also you can see a leading line from the bike hut and the pavement.

Negative SpaceThe use Negative Space emphasises the main subject of the image, drawing the viewer's eye into the image. It's an area that surrounds the main image (positive space) in the photo. The negative space emphasises the feeling of the image and ensure that there's ongoing pattern on the main background. 

This is a photo of myself posing as ‘Clark Kent transforming to Superman’, in black & white contrast, and it's purpose is to promote 'Topman' clothing fashion. It's one of the image that features negative space because the background appears to be in a ongoing pattern such as  grey path, the bushes, fences and the sky.  The image has one flaw which is the tree branch because it does not follow up the negative space. Perhaps If I Photoshop this image, the tree problem will be solved thus a perfect negative space image has been developed.  

Depth of fieldTo take an a 'depth of field' image, you need to have the right location involving the suitable subject; I crouched down at a distance of about one meter, activated the digital camera to 'Macro' to give me the close up and the most shallow depth of field.

The term 'Depth of Field' measures the depth of the image that needs to be in focus. My flower image features the 'Shallow depth of field' (as seen above) which focuses one part of the image in the main focus. In this image, the flower has shown to be in main focus leaving background (grass, branch and ground) blurred. The outline of the flower makes the focal point (the flower) stand out the image. Also the use of colour makes the entire image attractive and it's a unique colour (purple) that stands out dramatically from the background.

Colour WheelThe primary colours of the Colour Wheel are red, green and blue(RGB). These colours are used to transmit light as colour on monitors, TV and other electronic devices.   For printing designs, the ink transmits the colour which was used are cyan, yellow, magneta and blue. Also the colours on the opposite sides of the colour are called 'Complimentary Colours'. They are used to to add tension of the image like red, yellow, green, cyan, magneta and blue.

The use of 'Colour Mending' is used to emphasises the thoughts and feeling from the image:• Blue - Cool and calm• Yellow - Sunshine, fresh,

energetic and spring line• Green - Nature and greenpeace • Black - Black and formal• Purple - Royal and power• Red - Passion and warning signs 

Additional photographyThis is a photography of myself doing a cosplay as ‘Jack Skellington’ from the ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. The photography was set outside of South Downs College and it was used for to support our Assignment One Paultons Park idea. The portrait has a rule of third to make the it look effective. On the first line(the left side) shows a dark surface, the second line (the center) shows the whole visual of the photo (e.g. the head, face, suit and the candle) and the third line shows a dark surface.