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Colors can be used to draw attention to a certain point or subject. A brightly colored subject on a pale background will have the attention of viewers. If there are colorful objects in the background, they can divert the eye of viewers out of the subject to minor elements of the picture.

Search for the color contrasts when you are taking pictures. Contrasts that are including bright primary colors like red blue and green, can help you create dynamic pictures. In dynamic pictures with vibrant contrasts viewers eye jumps from one color to another, actually this is why it’s dynamic. Gentler color combinations of pastel colors can create hearth-warming, romantic images. while bright colors create a more organic and natural feel.

Other elements of photography can change how colors look in the picture. Such as temperature of the light and exposure. Underexposing the picture (one stop) increases the intensity of the colors, while over exposing (1/2 Stop) decreases the intensity of the colors. To learn about the effects of light temperature and light in different times of the day on colors; read my other post about colors

Examples;

In “Breeze” You can see that i prefered a background with yellow-orange and blue which make a good contrast. They are pastel colors thus they give a warm feel to picture.

In this picture, I left the statue (roots of the tree that crushed by a block in 9/11) in its original color and made confusing background black and white. That way th subject become more clear and isolated. (I did that by using an editing software.)

This example, one of my favorite and old pictures, contains feelings of freshness, calmness because of its colors. As i mentioned earlier, blue and green the colors of nature, symbolizes these concepts. Also you can clearly see the difference in this picture and the first one. In first one pastel colors creates a warm feeling while bright colors show the picture more organic and natural.

]]> http://ermany.net/2008/07/basic-composition-tips-colors/feed/ 0 http://ermany.net/2008/07/basic-composition-tips-patterns/ http://ermany.net/2008/07/basic-composition-tips-patterns/#comments Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:04:51 +0000 admin http://www.ermany.net/?p=256 Patterns bring harmony and rhythm to the pictures like the harmony of the repeating notes in a song. Patterns appear where graphic elements like lines, colors, shapes or forms repeat themselves. You can see patterns everywhere, in the crop fields, roads, public places even simple objects that you use everyday. Buttons of a keyboard, tiles of chess board, sunflowers in a field, poles of a fence and too many other things create beautiful patterns to capture.

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To find patterns, sometimes you need the chance your position, angle or wait for light to change it’s angle. as an example; dunes in a dessert or a beach that shaped by the wind cannot create a pattern in noon, but in the afternoon when the rays of sun hits them with a low angle, play of highlight and shadow create patterns for photographers to create great pictures by using them. Also in a rainy day you maybe you won’t notice the pattern that created by the umbrellas of people walking in the street while you are walking with them. But if you go up to 2nd or 3rd floor of a building you can see the pattern. Close-ups are also good for finding the patterns, especially natural ones, such as the curls and twists of a flower’s leafs, seeds etc.

Try to isolate the pattern from all other surrounding elements to create a feeling that repetition is infinite and extending beyond the frame. Tele lenses are useful for isolating the design from the surroundings. They allow you to zoom in and exclude any unwanted elements even from a long distance.

But honestly only taking pictures of patterns is not that creative (imho). But using it in your pictures with another element of photography or with another composition technique can make you achieve great results in your pictures. If you are following my web site for a time, you probably know that i really like Gilad Benari’s pictures and understanding of photography. He is a photography master that uses patterns very wisely and aesthetically. Here there are some examples for using patterns in photography from Gilad Benari; (as i told i didn’t ask for permission to publish his photographs in my web site so i’m just giving the links to his deviantArt account.)

Corridor of Faith – Gilad Benari

(Sorry only one example for now, there’s a problem with my internet provider, I’ll add other examples as soon as possible)

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Seeing a scene in photograph is different than seeing the same scene in person. When you see the scene in person actually you easily understand the sizes of the objects in the scene, because you are looking from eye-level from a person ( it is you in this case ). This allows you to compare the things with your size and understand how big or small they are. But in photographs actually a huge building or structure can be photographerd from sky and look like as it is small (if there are no people, cars etc. around it) or a tiny model of a ship can look enormous. Bur if you include some clues for your viewers, you can tell them how big or small is this subject. It is better to show it with examples;

In the picture above, you see the top floors of an old skyscraper in New York City. there’s no clue in this picture to tell the viewers how big or tall is the building. SO this is a mistake in terms of establishing the size. (Actually i didn’t want to show the size in this picture, instread i wanted to show it smaller than it is. I made this mistake on purpose, so it is not a mistake, kind of…)

But in this picture mountain-biker help us to understand the size of the rock that he is standing on.