Morgue File - Lesson 1

8/8/2019 Morgue File - Lesson 1

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Welcome to Lesson One!

When I was first looking into writing this course for Michael and Kevin, it sounded interesting to me. Ithought that getting back into the mindset I had when photography was all new, fresh and exciting wouldbe a great creative opportunity for me. After writing the first few lessons of this course, I can honestlysay that I had no IDEA how much writing this course would enhance my creativity and how enriching it

would be for me.

After years of taking photographs, the basics had all become second-hand to me so much that I didn'treally think about them much anymore. Starting to consciously consider composition, lighting, shutterspeeds and apertures and put more thought into all of those details again really brought me back tothose early days when I got my first manual camera and it was all new to me. I remember clicking theshutter and - whammo! - an instant masterpiece! Well, that might be exaggerating a little, but I wasshooting exclusively film at that point in my life and I could never wait to get my slides developed andback from the lab to see what I'd captured - the potential for a masterpiece always lingered about in theback of my brain somewhere. I assume that many people taking this course are at that same point, andI'm looking forward to sharing that enthusiasm and excitement with you.

If you're taking this course, I also assume you've fallen in love (at least a little bit) with the art of

photography and want to move on to the next level. When I look back at the photo courses I took andthe volumes of books that I read when I was so eager to take my photos to that next level, most of themstarted out with the basics: how the camera works, from aperture to shutter speed and how it all workstogether in conjunction with light. We will get to that in future lessons, but I want to start out a littledifferently.

Composition And Impact - It's A Beautiful Photograph, But Do You Know WHY It's Beautiful?

Let's talk a little bit about pictures and why we love them.

Pictures can be beautiful. They can decorate a home or and office; be published in books, magazinesand calendars; they can even win ribbons or prizes in contests. A breathtaking landscape can transport

the viewer to another time and place, if only for a moment. A beautiful still life can capture a mood ofserenity, warmth, even magic. A great portrait of a person can look into their soul, and let you sharetheir smiles or tears. A great picture *communicates*. Think about it. There is a huge market out therefor photographs because publishers know that the people who buy their materials will be drawn to goodphotographs that reach out to them. Visual communication is something that we're all born being able torelate to. The subjects out there to take pictures of are limitless. The only boundaries are within yourmind.

But what makes a photograph successful? The answer is a fairly simple one, and you can improve yourphotography *today* by learning a few very basic rules.

One caveat, however. As the old saying goes, rules are meant to be broken. Some of my favoritephotographs very purposely break a lot of the basic "rules" of photography. But to break the rules in a

way that enhances a photograph and effectively turns it into a great photo, you first have to *know* therules and have a reason for wanting to break them. So today we're going to talk about simplephotographic rules that will *make your pictures better*.

Number one: Get in close. No, closer. Nope, still closer. There! You've got it!

The first, and most important, rule: Simplify. The more you simplify a photo, the more attention you drawto your subject. The more attention you draw to your subject, the more successful you are incommunicating your message to the viewer. There are roughly a million and two ways to do this, so I'll


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My husband gave me a dozen roses forValentine's Day one year. Never one to let a photographic opportunity go by, I took several photos ofthe entire bouquet, but my favorite picture turned out to be this one, focusing on just one single rose.The petals were so soft, it seemed that if you touched them, they'd melt like butter. I think that focusingso closely the rose really communicates that message to the viewer in this image. I titled the photograph"Butter", which many people didn't understand, but that's part of the fun of being an artist. You can keepem guessing and call it your artistic prerogative.

This is (so far) my best-selling stockphotograph of all time. It's an image that's very useful for designers in advertising because itcommunicates so well. Once again, I got in close. There's no question that this photograph is aboutlaughter. The smile stands out because of the bright red lipstick that contrasts with the rest of the imagethat is mostly white. No distracting elements, not even the rest of a face to give a personality to theimage and make you wonder what the situation is - just a mouth, laughing.

Number two: Photographic Composition

Most really strong photographs position their main elements in certain specific places of the frame.When you think about where you put your subject in the photograph, you are *composing* your image.Think about it. When a painter starts out with a blank canvas, he or she has free reign to decide whereto put that river, those mountains, the trees, clouds and anything else that needs to be included.


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Creating a photograph, you should go through the same process.

Remember the flower we talked about photographing in rule one? Nine times out of ten when I've seenthat photo of the flower with Barbie lying in the background, the flower itself has been dead center in theframe. This is simply natural instinct for us to compose a photograph this way. When we are looking atthe flower, our eyes are focused directly in front of us. We don't put the flower on the table, bring our ear

down to the flower and then try and shift our eyes to see the flower out of the corners of them. Somepart of our brain knows that and wants to place the subject right there in the middle of the frame, whereour eyes would normally look. The trick is to realize that when the picture is taken and all is said anddone, you will have that small rectangle to hold out in front of you and look at, and then you can look atit by focusing your eyes straight forward. Until then, forget about centering your subjects. This is aharder concept to master than you might believe at first. Once you try it a few times and see for yourselfwith your own images the difference that it makes, it will get much easier.

There are several "classic" ways to compose a photograph. To use these methods, you will need totrain yourself to see your subjects in terms of lines and shapes. Sometimes lines in a photograph areobvious, like the horizon in a sunset picture. Other times, the main lines in a photograph are not nearlyso obvious. One way to see the main shapes in your photographs is by squinting your eyes until theimage almost becomes a blur, then you'll see any lines and shapes created by the shadows and light.

This is a great way to look at a scene when you're thinking about how to compose a photograph. Youmay notice how shadows blend together in a way that might not be immediately obvious otherwise,creating shapes and forms that the viewer may not consciously notice when looking at a photograph,but that will definitely impact their perception of the image, nonetheless.

The Rule Of Thirds And The Golden Mean

One of the most commonly talked-about rules in photography is the rule of thirds. The concept is bestexplained by taking your canvas and dividing it up into thirds, both vertically and horizontally, so thatyou essentially wind up with a tic-tac-toe board.

The rule of thirds should be used as a guideline for when you have vertical or horizontal lines in yourimage. You will probably hear more about this photographic "rule" than any other, so I'll explain it fairlyin depth here and try to give you an understanding of why it is so effective. The rule of thirds is derivedfrom another rule called the "Golden Mean" that says that the main subjects of an image should beplaced at the intersecting points created (roughly) by the lines mentioned above, thusly:


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So if you are composing a photograph of a sunset, try placing that horizon line one-third of the wayfrom the top or bottom of your image, to include either more foreground or more sky. You'll notice astronger landscape this way.

I'll interject a little art history and math lesson here to explain the theory behind the Golden Mean.

The Golden Mean is a number sort of like Pi, from your high school days in math class. Whereas Pi isequal to 3.14-yadda-yadda-yadda (math was never my best subject) and is handy for all sorts ofgeometrical things, the Golden Mean is equal to 1.618-yadda-yadda-yadda. Mathematicians use theGreek letter Phi when they're talking about the Golden Mean. This is derived from something else youmay or may not remember from your math days called the Fibonacci Series.

Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician born around 1170 A.D. who, for reasons unbeknownst to me(What really possesses mathematicians to do anything, I wonder? Maybe the same thing that makesus take pictures?), decided one day to start with the numbers zero and one and add them together.Okay, that just gave him the number one again. Big deal. Then what? Then he added the last number

he used (one) to his new resulting number (one) and got two. He did it again by adding one and twoand got three. Then next time... Well, let me just lay it out this way, it's easier to visualize:

0+1 = 11+1 = 21+2 = 32+3 = 53+5 = 85+8 = 138+13 = 2113+21 = 3421+34 = 5534+55 = 8955+89 = 144

89+144 = 233144+233 = 377233+377 = 610

And you can keep going like that forever. All right. What does that prove? Nothing, as far as I can tell.BUT, if you take the ratios created by these numbers, an interesting pattern appears.


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(I promise, this is all going to get back to photography... just keep reading...)

Ratio = 1 to 0 = 0Ratio = 1 to 1 = 1Ratio = 2 to 1 = 2Ratio = 3 to 2 = 1.5Ratio = 5 to 3 = 1.6666Ratio = 8 to 5 = 1.6Ratio = 13 to 8 = 1.625Ratio = 21 to13 = 1.61538Ratio = 34 to 21 = 1.61538Ratio = 55 to 34 = 1.61764Ratio = 89 to 55 = 1.6181Ratio = 144 to 89 = 1.6179Ratio = 233 to 144 = 1.6180Ratio = 377 to 233 = 1.6180

Okay - whew! - the boring part is mostly over. Now we'll talk aboutwhat this actually means in the world of taking pictures. Let's look at this diagram:

If you look at the gray lines in the image, they make up squares. When all of these squares are puttogether in the way they make up this picture, they come together to form a rectangle. The ratio of thesquares in this rectangle is composed of our magic number, 1.618!

Here's where it actually gets interesting. If you've hung on this long, I commend you.

This ratio is found all over in the natural world. Have you ever seen a nautilus seashell that's beensawed open? Its growth rate follows the curve in this image, 1.618 - exactly. Same with the littlespirals that compose the interior pattern of a sunflower, where the seeds are. Leonardo DaVinci basedall sorts of his artwork, experiments and theories on the Golden Mean. The vast majority of flowershave petals that number 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 or even 89. Even symphonies by Mozart andBeethoven can be broken down into this ratio - whether that was on purpose or coincidental isanyone's guess. Mozart is rumored to have been a hobbyist mathematician. A study was done a few


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years back on top fashion models. Their faces, interestingly enough, have a number of characteristicswith exactly the ratio 1.618. These numbers are everywhere in nature, and on some basic, instinctivelevel, the human eye tends to find beauty in things that correspond with this ratio.

So that tells us where the idea behind the rule ofthirds came from. Technically, if you draw grid marks on your frame and break it up into eighths, thendraw your dividing lines down at the mark of three eighths on each side, you've got the spots wherethe Golden Mean hits.

However, when you're looking through your viewfinder, it's not like you're going to get out your tapemeasure and divide everything into eighths, hence we use the rule of thirds, which is very close for allpractical purposes.

This was one of my earliest landscape photographs, andone of my best received to date. Upon close inspection, the image is split up into three distinct areas:the orange sand, the blue and white mountains with a few bright clouds, and finally, the dark purplestormy clouds in the upper third of the image. The photograph is much more interesting this way thanif I had centered the horizon line right in the middle of the photo.
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Back to flower photos for this example. Noticethe subject itself, the pink daisy blossom, is placed at one of the "Golden Mean" points. Thebackground itself is not distracting. The blue of the vase melts into the blue background, and all of thatblue really makes the contrasting pink stand out and grab your attention.


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from any one corner to the two opposite sides, like this diagram, is always a good way to create astrong image. Note the following example:

The eyeglasses and the newspaper chart that they are laying on each create their own implieddiagonal line. Notice the way that the eyeglasses are placed. The eyeglasses and the line work

together here to divide the photograph into triangles. It won't be very often that you're photographingsubjects that are actually triangular, but by placing objects in your composition along strong diagonallines that create a triangle, you'll add strength to your image.

Another way to use triangles that fits in with the Golden Mean is in the following manner:

You can see how the photograph above is loosely broken down into three sections that fit in with this.Upon first appearance, if someone told you this image was composed of triangles, you'd probably tellthem that they were nuts, but that's where the idea of implied lines comes in.


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The Frame Within A FrameAnother way to strengthen a composition, especially landscapes, is to use materials near you in yourforeground and include them in your photograph around two or more of the edges to create a sort of"frame". This is most often done with trees or branches on two or three sides of the image, as seenbelow, and you can be very creative with this. Oftentimes rock formations will have holes through them- you can use this sort of natural "frame" by including it in an image and taking a landscape viewthrough the hole. Another interesting thing to try is taking a photo through a window frame of an

outdoor scene. Archways, doorways and all sorts of other architectural features work great for this aswell. I would suggest staying away from doing this with only one edge of the frame, as that tends tomake a photograph feel off-balance.


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Leading Lines

Roads and footpaths are another great way to use leading lines to your advantage. The path in thisimage really stands out because of the vivid green foliage that contrasts with the rich brown path. Theline created by the path then leads the viewer into the photo, as if they were standing on the trail,ready to walk right into the image. Any sort of path or roadway can be very effectively used in thismanner, as seen in the following photo. I have a gazillion of these types of shots in my portfolio. I justlove taking them.


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Notice that the road leads your eye into theimage, meeting the horizon line, which is one third of the way down into the image. Next time you'retaking landscape photographs, try playing around with your placement of the horizon. Our naturalinstinct is to place it square down the middle, but placing it in the upper portion of the image to include

foreground or in the lower portion of the image to include a dramatic sky can give a photograph muchmore impact.

Leading lines can be found in many other ways, not just paths and roads. A wagon wheel's spokescan work together to lead the viewer's eye into the frame. The edges of the petals of a daisy can beleading lines moving into the center of the flower. A row of trees or street lights that vanish in thedistance can create very strong leading lines that take the viewer's eye all the way through an image.

The CircleAfter my long-winded explanation of why it's best to use the rule of thirds and the Golden Mean, I'mgoing to toss in a rule that breaks that rule. The circle can be used very effectively when composing a

photograph, if the subject is right. Going back to the idea of getting in close, let's look again at thepicture of the rose.

The petals that all overlap each other naturallymake the viewer's eye move in a circle in this image. The effect is similar to a whirlpool, drawing the


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viewer in. The main circle of the composition also takes up virtually the entire frame, so none of theimage's space is wasted on unnecessary elements. Those two elements of the photograph worktogether here, giving the image a strong composition, even while breaking the traditional rules. "TheCircle" is a tricky element to use in a photograph effectively, but when done well, makes for anoutstanding photograph.

RhythmAnother way to create dynamic impact in your photograph is with the use of "visual rhythm". This is away to use repetition of form and shape in an image to create interest.

In this image, the little lines created by the rowsof chickens and the zoom blur work together to really make the viewer's focus shift to the bluechicken. Rhythm is combined with leading lines here to really bring attention to that little blue guy.

Another use of rhythm, created by the replication of the lines of each glass snifter.


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Negative SpaceNegative space is a term used in photography that implies only a tiny fraction of the frame is taken upby the actual subject. Negative space is usually used either to make the subject seem very small, or togive the impression of the subject being in a wide-open space.

In this image, technically the subject is the wheat. However, since they are surrounded by so muchvivid blue space, the feeling that you get is that of a wide-open sky - turning the negative space itselfinto as much of the subject as the wheat.


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Learning To Use These Methods Through AbstractPhotographyOne of the best ways to learn to see compositionally is by taking abstract photographs. By abstract, Imean that your subject matter is unrecognizable for the most part. Get in close, use color and lines inyour composition to create the whole image. When you're done, look closely at it. Does the photo feel"balanced"? Following are a few of my more popular "abstract" images that have all either won awardsor been published numerous times.

The soft lines and the soft pink color inspired this close up photo of a calla lily. Another instance whereI used the "get in close" technique. Notice the diagonal giving strength to the composition and wherethe petals meet each other at the bottom third of the image. The diagonals in this image are implieddiagonals, like we talked about above.

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This photo was taken of a tulip leaf. I noticed the light fallingjust right on a red object in the background and captured just a little bit of each in the photograph tomake a vivid abstract. Once again the rule of thirds comes into play in the composition of this image.


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you to pay attention to things that might not come naturally, like the rule of thirds

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Number Three: Is there a Better Way To Do It?The last thing we'll talk about in this lesson is point of view. Specifically, your point of view, as thephotographer. How many times have you seen something worth taking a photo of - maybe a barn, atree, or your dog - and picked up your camera to snap a picture right then and there? If this is the wayyou go about taking photos, you can dramatically improve your technique with one simple process.Walk around the subject. All the way around it. See how the background changes as you move 360degrees around your subject. Then lie down on the ground and point the camera up at your subject.Okay, if it's your dog, you might have to watch out so he doesn't come over and lick the camera lens,but you get the point. Climb a ladder and look down, trying the same thing. Tilt the camera vertically,even diagonally. Take a whole roll of film (or fill a whole memory card if you use a digital camera) ofthe same subject from drastically different points of view and compare the results. You might surpriseyourself. You'll definitely surprise the viewer by trying something different and that will add impact toyour photo.

This photo was taken of the model by having her lie down, then I put the tripod over her to look downon her from a rather unusual angle. Again, I used my "get close" style to make sure nothing was in theimage but the model, no distracting backgrounds, and the diagonal line adds visual strength.

When you're walking around your subject finding different points of view, watch out for what is in thebackground. Not "Barbie the distracting element" that we already covered, but if you're taking a photoof your Aunt Sally sitting in the back yard knitting a sweater, watch out for that tree behind her. Many aphoto has been ruined because Aunt Sally's hair is the same color as the tree bark and when you'vetaken the pictures and are looking at the final product, you notice that it actually appears as if that treebranch is growing out of her head! The trick is to look - really look - through that viewfinder before you

snap the shutter. Make sure every single element is something you want in the photograph and thateach element is in the exact spot that you want it.

Now for the assignments. Your chance to apply all of this stuff to your personal photographs and seewhat you think!


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First, if you're taking the class, drop me an e-mail at jodiecoston @ morguefile.com and tell me aboutyourself. How long have you been taking pictures? What do you like to take pictures of? What doyou hope to get out of a photography class? I plan to use the last couple of lessons to addressspecific things students are interested in if the class hasn't touched upon them already, so please letme know what you'd like to see.

Next, your real assignments:

Assignment 1: Take at least one abstract photo based entirely on some of the compositional ruleswe talked about. Subjects should not be recognizable. Post your photo online and send me a link,along with an explanation of why you think the composition makes a visually interesting image.

Assignment 2: Students will take pictures of a subject from various viewpoints (near, far, fromabove, below, behind). Creativity is encouraged. Likewise, post your best two or three photos of thesubject online and send me a link, along with an explanation of which you think is most visuallyappealing and why.

Click here to discuss this lesson and post your work in the morguefile forums .

All materials are copyright Jodie Coston 2007-2008.Sponsored by Jodie Coston, the MorgueFile.com and its contributors.
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Morgue File - Lesson 1

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