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Case Study - Shape

Lesson 25 from: Mastering Photographic Composition and Visual Storytelling

Chris Weston

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Lesson Info

25. Case Study - Shape

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Your 10,001st Photograph

03:24
2

Camera Gear

03:03
3

Piece of Gear We Always Forget

03:47
4

Be a Storyteller

03:09
5

Finding Ideas For Photography - Know Your Subject

06:59
6

Cae Study - Why Are Zebras Black and White Striped

01:30
7

Photograph What You Love

02:00
8

See the Extraordinary in Ordinary Things

01:31

Lesson Info

Case Study - Shape

At first glance, this is an uneventful street scene, everyday life in Marrakech. But let me show you what else I saw. There are the obvious shapes, the elongated rectangles of the tower on walls, the smaller rectangles of the windows. The arch is seen in the doorways and on the tower itself. There are the explicit vertical lines formed by the trees, and the lamppost on horizontal line have seen in the top edges of the walls and the pavement edge in the near foreground. There's color the red banner against the blue sky, the red and white stripes in the curb, on the pinky orange of the building itself. And there's pattern in the mosaic work at the top of the tower on this texture, rough texture in the brickwork of the tower and smoother texture on the wall. Every one of the elements I've described is an image in and of itself. I chose to focus on the element of shape. I spent some time walking around the whole structure, exploring all the possibilities on where the main wall ends. Here I...

found what I was looking for. This image is about shape. There are two bowl triangles, one created by the framing, the other created by the shadow. The top part of the picture is split by two symmetrical polygons, which give the image balance yet contrast with the dynamism of the two triangles. To create visual tension. There's an arrow pointing to the intersection. The complementary colors are engine blew flat in the image to make it more abstract. Now, to show you what I mean. If I make the image monochrome, it becomes more three dimensional. Firstly, with a blue filter setting, we get separation between the vertical wall in the sky. Compare this with the color version, and you can clearly see the difference. Change it again. This time, processing the image using a red filter setting on the separation between triangle and sky now appears as a crack in the wall. The same scene free. Completely different stories, all based solely around the subject of shape

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.

Student Work

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