What Makes a Creative Photograph?

What Makes aCreative Photograph?

Jia-Bin [email protected]

http://jbhuang0604.blogspot.com/

July , 2010Taiwan

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mailto://[email protected]


What this talk is about?Five approaches to make a creative photographHundreds of fantastic photographs as examplesOnly talk about ideas, no difficult technical stuffs

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You don’t take a photograph,you make it.-Ansel Adams

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Outline

1 Create Context

2 Break Context

3 Prosopopoeia

4 Short Exposure Time

5 Long Exposure Time

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Outline

1 Create Context

2 Break Context

3 Prosopopoeia



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Create Context

What is context?Context is the surroundings, circumstances, environment, background,or settings which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event.

How can we create a visual context?Single object

Composition of shape and textureMultiple objects

Putting (different objects) in contextPutting (human and objects) in contextPutting (objects and environments) in context

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Create Context

Composition of shape and texturePutting (different objects) in contextPutting (human and objects) in contextPutting (objects and environments) in context

Taking shape from one object and texture from another objectto produce a new object.

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Shape = scorpion, Texture = carrot

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Shape = hourse, Texture = cloud

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Shape = shoes, Texture = Bread

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Shape = frog, Texture = fruits

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Shape = light bulb, Texture = fruit

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Create Context


Combining different objects to create an event. Usuallytransform one unrelated object into another via similarappearance/shape/texture.

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Fork + Lines (transformed to noodles) = Pasta

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Match + Grain (transformed to fire) = Match on fire

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Flame + Lollipop (transformed to match) = Match onfire

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Bulb + Match (transformed to light from bulb)= Lightbulb turning on

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Plant + Bulb (transformed to pot) = Pot plant

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Create Context


Putting human and objects in perspective creates aninteresting image.

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Interact with a picture

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Interact with a picture

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Interact with a drawing

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Interact with a photograph

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Interact with a painting

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Interact with the sun

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Interact with the sun

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Interact with the carpet

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Interact with architecturesYou probably use this trick often

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Create Context


Putting objects and environments in perspective creates areasonable image.

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Photograph in perspective

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Postcard in perspective

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CD cover in perspective

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Monitor desktop in perspective

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Souvenir in perspective

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Framing

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Framing

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Framing (by hand)

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Outline

1 Create Context

2 Break Context

3 Prosopopoeia



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Break Context

Where do these visual contexts come from?Laws of physics and common sense

How can we breack them?LightingScaleGeometryGravitationPosition, functionality, and common sense

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One example

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Break Context

LightingScaleGeometryGravitationPosition, functionality, and common sense

We expect that light path follows the principle of least time inoptics (e.g., Snell’s law of refraction and the law of reflection.)

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Wrong reflection

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Wrong direct lighting

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Wrong refraction

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Break Context


Scale is the relative size of different objects or of an object toa common standard. Images that violate our commen senseon the scales of objects create dramatic effects.

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Big heads

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Huge fish

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Small sharks

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Tiny mushroom cloud (or huge hands)

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Extremely high building

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Large chair (this is real)

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Use perspective to enlarge a little girl

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or diminish the size of a man

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Break Context


Geometry is a part of mathematics concerned with questionsof size, shape, relative position of figures, and the propertiesof space.

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impossible geometry

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Impossible escalator

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Impossible maze

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Folding the city - Inception

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Break Context


In everyday life, gravitation is most familiar as the agent thatgives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall tothe ground when dropped.

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Break Context


Objects appear, behave or are used in an unexpected way. Itcontradicts our daily experiences about theseobjects.Therefore, it can catch our attention.

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Dinosaur in the streetWrong position

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Opposite position of human and bearWrong position

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Boat in a fieldWrong usage

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Woman shaves the beardsWrong usage

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Use fork and knight to eat a pillWrong usage

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Use telephone lines as ropesWrong usage

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Use fingernail as a tin openerWrong usage

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Water pours out from a paintingContradict common sense

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The human melt, not the popsicleContradict common sense

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The human shattered, not the vaseContradict common sense

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The ants that move moneyContradict common sense

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Out of expectation

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Outline

1 Create Context

2 Break Context

3 Prosopopoeia



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Prosopopoeia

Why we want to imitate human?We human are interested in and sensitive to everything related tohuman.

What aspects about human can we imitate?FormEmotionBehavior

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Prosopopoeia

FormEmotionBehavior

Arranging objects to imitate the human form (e.g., eyes,noise, face, and body).

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Imitate a mouth

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Imitate a face

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Imitate a happy face

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Imitate hands

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Imitate a human cranium

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Imitate a face

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Imitate a human skeleton

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Imitate a human sillihoute

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Prosopopoeia

FormEmotionBehavior

Imitate the human emotions by expressions.

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Prosopopoeia

FormEmotionBehavior

Imitate human behavior, action, or event.

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Outline

1 Create Context

2 Break Context

3 Prosopopoeia



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Short Exposure Time

Why do we use high-speed photography?High-speed shots provide us with photographic glimpses offaster-than-sight phenomena invisible to the naked eye.

Popular topics in high-speed photography?WaterSmashing stuffsDeformation

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Short Exposure Time

WaterSmashing stuffsDeformation

Capture the moments of the splendidly water splashes.

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Short Exposure Time


Capture the moments of the exploding and shattering stuffs

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Short Exposure Time


Capture the moments of object deformation

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Outline

1 Create Context

2 Break Context

3 Prosopopoeia



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Long Exposure Time

When do we need long exposure time?People use long exposure time to

Capture the trajectories of light sourcesExpress motionProduce silky smooth effect on water/cloud

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Long Exposure Time


Time-lapse photography in dim light environments can recordthe trajectories of light sources (e.g., stars, fire, flashlight)

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Painting with light

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Long Exposure Time


Motion blur in part of the photograph can express the motion.

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Subject is in focus while the background is blurred

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Background is in focus while the subject is blurred

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Long Exposure Time


Long exposure shot on moving water or cloud produces asilky smooth effect.

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Moving water

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Moving cloud

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Photo references

Top 10 Most Awesome Approaches to Photography60 VIsionary Examples of Creative Photography Part 160 VIsionary Examples of Creative Photography Part 2Creative Photos Part 1Creative Photos Part 256 Awe Inspiring Must See Creative PhotographsDeviantartThe source links of all photographs used as examples in thisslide are listed in http://jbhuang0604.blogspot.com/

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http://weburbanist.com/2008/12/19/photography-creative-approaches-types-techniques/

http://inspirationfeed.com/2010/04/60-visionary-examples-of-creative-photography/

http://inspirationfeed.com/2010/07/60-visionary-examples-of-creative-photography-2/

http://www.zuzafun.com/creative-photos-part-1

http://www.zuzafun.com/creative-photos-part-2

http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/03/22/56-creative-photography/

http://www.deviantart.com/


Thank you for your kind attention.Questions?

For more complete materials and explanations, please visit my bloghttp://jbhuang0604.blogspot.com/

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What Makes a Creative Photograph?

Art & Photos

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