Master The Basic Rules
Digital photography has made it much easier for the man-in-the-street to take pictures. Although the initial start-up cost of buying a digital camera is much higher compared to buying a conventional film camera, being able to review shots immediately after taking them, and the flexibility of being able to select only the very best shots for printing result in savings in the long run. Besides, the instant preview and “instant gratification” nature of digital photography makes it a lot more fun! It is not uncommon these days to find people on the street, snapping away at whatever fancies them with a digital camera.
Although photography has now become more accessible and novel, taking good pictures ultimately still requires strong foundation in the basic rules of photography. Just as an oil painter paints with his canvas and oils, the photographer paints with light and paper, or in the digital sense, light and his computer screen. Basic understanding of exposure, composition, and lighting are all essential for taking good pictures, including digital ones. These rules can be easily gathered from the numerous books and magazines on general photography that are readily available in the library or bookstores, not to mention many photography websites on the Internet.
Simple compositional rules like the “rule of thirds” can be used easily to good effect. Simply put, this rule encourages placement of the main subject in a picture at the intersection of imaginary lines dividing the picture into thirds. It is at these intersections that the human eye naturally falls upon when viewing pictures. Many top-rated photos show their subjects using this “rule of thirds”. Even simple holiday snapshots can benefit from placing the subject off-center.
Simple application of the “Rule Of Thirds” in the placement of the flowers in this particular picture (see right side schematic) gives the final shot visual interest. A more boring, conventional approach would have just been to put one of the flowers centrally in the shot.
Another golden rule is to avoid clutter and aim for plain simple backgrounds when composing a shot so as to bring out the impact of the main subject. Avoiding such clutter can be as simple as just tilting or shifting the camera position when taking the shot.
Avoiding distracting clutter in the background is another basic photography principle that should be adopted to bring the subject of interest directly to the viewer’s focus. In this example, dramatic backlighting was used so that the background clutter was deliberately underexposed, creating a nice and clean black background to contrast with the brilliantly-lit leaves of the peacock plant.
Unfortunately, the ubiquity of digital photography and the lack of instruction in the basics have led to many to take pictures with total abandon. Very commonly, we see pictures taken at all sorts of “MTV-like” angles, an unrealistic tilt here, and another staggering slant there. If you look closely at such images, does the tilt serve any purpose in the composition apart from giving a sense of disorientation to the viewer?
Some new photographers scoff at basic rules and understanding, believing that their all-automatic camera will sort these things out, or believing that rules created are meant to be broken. While it is true that rules should sometimes be bent or broken in allowable situations, there is much to gain to master the rules first, before then breaking them. Bluntly put, “Learn to walk before you fly”!
Others claim that they are taking journalistic photos, and believe for such pictures, only the story content is important while composition and aesthetics are secondary. However, if you look at pictures taken by the masters in prestigious magazines like National Geographic and LIFE including the journalistic ones, you will realise that many of these shots apply essentially some form of basic photographic rule or other, and it is these principles that make the photographs so appealing.
The story content of a picture is an important element of a good picture. Ideally, good story content should be matched with good technical mastery of basic photographic rules and principles to create the best picture possible. In this example, the actions of the couple tell a story which the viewer’s eyes is directed to because of the adoption of good composition and lighting. Note the “Rule of Thirds” again in the placement of the couple as the main subject for the shot.
The best of all photographs actually combine multiple rules into one picture, or apply and interpret the rules at a new level of understanding. Knowing the rules of the game is just one of the fundamental steps to take in taking better digital pictures!
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