composition
& perspective
composition & perspective 107Your choice of composition and perspective
is how you show your audience your way of
seeing the world. While there are basic rules
of composition, how you follow them—or, when
you are skilled enough, break them—will help
you to establish your own recognizable style.
successfully translating
a three-dimensional object,
landscape, or person into
a two-dimensional image
demands a trained eye, but
once you understand the
principles involved and make
a habit of observing them you
will be able to create dynamic
images that communicate
your message to the viewer.
the main thing to remember is to explore
possibilities rather than simply accepting what
is in front of you. Don’t just look at your model—
consider him or her in relation to the background
and foreground. move closer and see how your
model becomes more important in the frame
and how the relationship between model and
environment has changed. take a few steps
to the left or right, and notice how both distance
and angle change the perception of the subject.
Look at the examples later in this section on the
differing effects you can achieve from the same
spot, depending on whether you kneel down to
shoot up to your model, climb higher than your
model, or shoot from the
same level; at each point
you create a different
psychological relationship.
these emotional effects are
achieved by your deliberate
choice of perspective.
the length of lens and the
aperture you set will also
influence the viewer’s
response by affecting the
apparent distance between the photographer,
the model, and the environment.
these principles are not difficult, and by
putting them into practice and thinking about
your subject before pressing the shutter, you will
soon gain the habit of consciously composing
your image to achieve the visual and emotional
effect you are looking for in your pictures.The main
thing to
remember is
to explore
possibilities.