Photography: The Art of CompositionSince the beginning of the twentieth century, photographic composition has been taught mostly by applying the principles from the field of graphic design. But the factor that distinguishes the work of master photographers is their ability to see and describe scenes visually. This book follows contemporary educational methods used to teach fine arts such as drawing and painting, concentrating on teaching the perception of critical visual elements and understanding how they will be rendered photographically. "In many respects, this book can do for photography what Betty Edwards’ best-selling Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain did for drawing. Many people believe that seeing is a mysterious gift, the so-called ‘artist's eye." says Krages. The core of the book is a group of sixty exercise that readers perform to learn how to perceive points, lines, and shapes in static and dynamic settings. These exercises are structured enough to push photographers to develop their cognitive abilities while at the same time flexible enough to allow for individual creative expression. They also show the importance of knowing about the subject and provide some history about the specific genres at the heart of each exercise. |
Contents
Learning to See 1 The Importance of Composition 7 Viewing Other | 13 |
The Basic Tool 15 Operating the Camera 17 The Tools Effect | 24 |
Knowing the Subject 28 Consider the Genre 29 Framework of | 32 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
acrophobia activities align angle aperture appear approach arrangements artists aspects astrophotography attention background ball birds brain callas camera clouds common complex composing images composition converge cracks depict depth of field develop distance dominant dynamic edges Edward Weston effect evaluate example Exercise This exercise exposure eyes feature film flag flowers focus frame Genre Gerberas Gestalt effects Gestalt theory glare graphs hands implied lines important ject kinds landscape lens lenses light linear elements lines formed look ments moving negative spaces normal lens objects painting perceive perception personal space perspective phers photogra plants portrait position reflected release the shutter rocks scene shadows shutter speeds skating skills species star trails street photography subject matter surface Technical Considerations tend tion tographers vanishing point vertical view camera viewfinder Vincent van Gogh visual arts visual elements visual mass