4 best kept photography secrets revealed – Part 3 – The Look.

[Introduction to Series Here]

Let’s see if we can come up with a way to describe the way an image looks.  Some terms come to mind:Confrontational –staring right into the camera and daring the viewer.  Romantic- soft light depicting beautiful people in a romantic setting or an idyllic scene by a lake.  Mysterious evening scene, moon light, shadows. Comical- it makes you smile, heartwarming.  I think you get the idea.

The LOOK of your image is the message that  you want to convey to the viewer. What you want them to appreciate, understand, learn from, be amazed, be sympathetic, etc.  The LOOK provides the opportunity to say something with the image.  Do you create some elaborate “set” choosing props and costumes?  Is it a photojournalistic shot capturing the moment, or reporting an occurrence.  When you combine Location, Light and Look you are really controlling the message for the viewer and providing a way to tell a story.  Remember, all this is done not with camera controls but by you thinking first about the image before you press the shutter.

Don’t forget these other critical ingredients- horizontal and vertical both change the look, as well as tilted diagonal lines that add movement and action to the shot. Here are some others that help with the look: Line, shapes, space, color and pattern.

Using lines can help you direct the viewer’s eye- they can be real lines like railroad tracks or fences or walls or implied lines such as having the subject pointing or facing in a direction.  Mixing shapes such as geometrics, triangles and circles- elements captured in these configurations add great interest.  Space around the subject helps draw attention to the main detail or point of your image by isolating against a plain non-distracting background- picture a runner at the edge of the water- putting the subject at the lower left or the far right gives two different meanings.  This involves using the rule of thirds principle- i.e. keeping the subject either in the lower or upper thirds or in the left or right third of the frame. Color carries an emotional message such as red or orange as opposed to blue or green.  B&W totally changes the image and message and is a primary way to affect the LOOK of your photo.

The last element is pattern- this is so wonderful when it works-  a sea of people walking down the street all with black umbrellas except one who has a yellow one, we see  patterns  every day.  Going to an outdoor bandstand when there is no concert and look at the random pattern of all the folding chairs- isolate just on them- the stark black against the lighter concrete. Everyone enjoys these looks when viewing images because they like the surprise or the cleverness of seeing someone else’s take on everyday sights.

Next week we discover the final piece of our 4 part secrets to great images without camera controls-look for the LENS.

• Introduction
• Light
• Location
• Look  [This Article]
• Lens