Week Two

Visualization: "The entire mental-emotional process of creating a photograph and as such, it is one of the most important concepts of photography." - Ansel Adams

Visual Vocabulary
1. Subject Matter
2. Light
a. Tonality
b. Contrast
3. Perspective
4. Composition
5. Technique

1. Subject Matter: Seeing means perceiving the visual relationships that exist in the world.

Classifying
1. Nature
a. Natural
b. Wildlife & animals
2. Social Landscapes
3. Portraits/People
4. Photojournalism
5. Cultural Landscapes (Rodeo, train station)
6. Urban Landscapes
a. Architecture and buildings
7. Inner Landscapes (sometimes called personal landscapes)

"I like to take people in their environment...the animal in its habitat." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

"I believe in photography as one means of affirming the enormous beauty of the world." - Ansel Adams

2. Light: Think of light in terms of tonality and contrast. In other words what light does to and for the subject matter in your photograph.

Tonality Cultural cliches & stereotypes:
- Most people associate dark photos with sadness, mystery or something ominous
- They consider "light" photos are suggesting happiness, openness, innocence

Reds, oranges & yellows are warm colors & suggest activity & advancing

Blues, greens and purples are cool colors and are viewed as passive, retreating and non-threatening

Contrast Shadows are critical to any good photograph

Contrast refers to the brightness and darkness of various parts of the subject or of the photograph as a whole

High KeySoft-low contrast light so that shadows are diffused and luminous. Creates a softness in the entire image

Low Key Extreme lighting so that shadows are dark, sharp & dramatic

3. Perspective:
Point of view
a. Where do you stand
b. Where do you point the camera

Pay attention to the size relationship. Biggest = most important

Looking up at someone or something increases the stature and significance of the subject. Looking down on someone of something diminishes or de-emphasizes the subject.

Eye-to-eye gives a feeling of identification & is less intimidating if the subject is a person, especially a child.

4. Composition
The rules are worth learning because more often than not they will help you make better photographs

1. Select a single, dominant center of interest
2. Rule of thirds
3. Keep horizon level * vertical lines parallel with edges of frame
4. Don't let you center of interest blend with the background
5. FILL THE FRAME
6. Keep busy work out of photo
7. Don't amputate parts of the human body at joints
8. Avoid distracting shapes, colors and light at the edges of photos
9. Have the main subject facing of moving into the frame instead of out of the picture
10. Use lines to lead the eye into the picture
11. Use a vertical format for vertical subject & use a horizontal format for horizontal subjects

Elements of Composition
1. Form
2. Line
3. Tone
4. Space
5. Texture
6. Rhythm/Repetition

3 Important questions
1. Where do I stand?
2. Where do I point the camera?
3. What do I leave out?