#1 Reason Photographs Fail
Lesson 19 from: Mastering Photographic Composition and Visual StorytellingChris Weston
#1 Reason Photographs Fail
Lesson 19 from: Mastering Photographic Composition and Visual StorytellingChris Weston
Lessons
Your 10,001st Photograph
03:24 2Camera Gear
03:03 3Piece of Gear We Always Forget
03:47 4Be a Storyteller
03:09 5Finding Ideas For Photography - Know Your Subject
06:59 6Cae Study - Why Are Zebras Black and White Striped
01:30 7Photograph What You Love
02:00 8See the Extraordinary in Ordinary Things
01:31Have an Opinion
01:46 10See With a Child’s Eyes
02:34 11Tell Your Story
08:46 12Find a Needle in the Haystack
01:38 13Lions Hunting Under Star Trails
04:21 14Ansel Adams and Visualisation in Practice
03:20 15Keeping an Open Mind and Thinking on Your Feet
02:47 16Case Study - The Maternal Bond
02:42 17Don’t Tell the Same Old Story
02:38 18Relevance
01:06 19#1 Reason Photographs Fail
02:57 20Getting Rid of Clutter
03:59 21Post Capture Cropping
02:04 22The Elements of Design
02:31 23Elements of Design
01:38 24Elements of Design - Shape
02:21 25Case Study - Shape
02:11 26Elements of Design - Color
01:55 27Case Study - Color
01:50 28Color in Camera
01:42 29Pattern
01:54 30Texture
02:24 31Seeing The Elements of Design
08:52 32Gestalt Theory
05:10 33Case Study - Cove
01:36 34Case Study - Hat
02:09 35Light and Contrast
01:54 36Light and Form
01:26 37Light and Depth
03:48 38Perspective
02:28 39Lenses and Perspective
02:47 40Rule of Thirds
02:48 41Centre of Frame
01:36 42Case Study - Positioning the Subject
01:48 43Positioning the Subject - Dynamic Symmetry
03:20 44The Horizon Line
02:52 45Should the Horizon Line Always be Straight and Level
02:13 46Other Lines
04:57 47Rhythm, Balance, and Visual Weight
02:59 48Negative Space
02:29 49The Two Most Important Controls on Your Camera
03:41 50Training the Mind
04:26Lesson Info
#1 Reason Photographs Fail
Over the years, I've reviewed tens of thousands of images, and the conclusion I have come to is this. The number one reason a photograph fails to get its message across is because there's far too much information cluttering the image space. Think about a sketch artist. He starts with a blank canvas. Then he adds visual elements, line and shape, color, pattern and texture to build the visual story and create an image that gets to the essence of his subject. Sketching oil painting, watercolors, cartoon drawings. They're all arts of addition. You start with nothing a blank canvas, and you add to it until you get the final image. As a photographer, however, you don't have the luxury of starting with a blank canvas, because when you look through your viewfinder, it's already filled with visual elements. But there's no structure. Everything is random. Your role, then, as the photographer, is to bring order to that chaos. And to do that, you start by identifying first the elements in the scen...
e that add to your story and then those that distract now to show you what I mean. Take a look through my viewfinder, this old winches affectionately known locally as Red Crane. It's a steel replacement of a hand operated wouldn't winch. It was first used a load blocks of Portland Stone on the waiting ships before it was moved here in the early 20th century and used to lower fishermen and their boats down to the sea. Although it's still in use, the ravages of weather and its proximity to Portland's Wild Sea has left it rattled and haggard. That's the story I want to tell now. In this composition, there's too much information distracting you, the viewer from my intended story. For one thing, the crane is partially obscured by the big rock. There's a dad and two kids on the left, a guy fishing over on the right, next to a woman sunbathing and tourists wandering around in the background, which are all distractions. And then we have the boat in the lighthouse, which is dominating the space. All of the visual elements. I've just identified a bits of information that they're taking your attention away from the narrative of my story, and now that I've identified them, I have to simplify the composition by getting rid of them effectively. I have to remove them from the picture space. So here's my new composition. I've moved closer to the crane, so it fills the frame. I've changed with vertical format, which crops out the distracting people along with the boat, and I've positioned the foreground struck so it hides the lighthouse by removing all the distractions I've made my story unambiguous. Removing distracting visual elements is, I think, the most important part of composition on all of the tools you need to do it right here in the camera. And in the next lesson, I show you what they are and how to use them. No.
Ratings and Reviews
Edmund Cheung
Perhaps the style of presentation and simple, short, and direct messaging does not "jive" with some; but others may really love this. Yes the production of each episode is stylized and perhaps a bit formal (like a TV Show?), but there is something to be said about it. Perhaps this is not meant for professional photographers? I think of myself as decent amateur / high level photographer. I found lots of great nuggets of wisdom and inspiration from this. Especially when I an in a rut for creativity. Yes I have heard all these concepts and ideas before. BUT it is always great to hear and see a different way of presentation and voice. Please do NOT take the naysayer reviews as the end all. You should judge for yourself and watch a few episodes. If the style and content click for you, I would highly recommend this course.
Abdullah Alahmari
Thanks a lot to mr. Chris Weston This course is great and It is a 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 course for me. Beside the other course ( mastering the art of photography ) both courses are Complementing to each other and highly recommended.
Kai Atherton
While I am perhaps more advanced in my photography then this course. It is always great to be able to go back to fundamentals and remind ourselves of the basic principles, and even camera function. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and Chris's other. It is a great motivational jumpstart when lacking fresh creative idea's.
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