Nov 11, 20182 min read

6 STEPS TO BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY

Updated: May 13, 2019

1. LIGHT

2. SUBJECT

3. COMPOSITION

4. IDEA

5. DECISIVE MOMENT

6. MINDSET

Great photography is about integrating components of technique and attitude.

QUOTES FROM THE MASTERS

Ansel ADAMS 1902 - 1984 was a pioneer America fine art landscape photographer

'There are always two people in every photograph : the photographer and the viewer.'

Dorothea LANGE 1895 - 1965 was a pioneer American documentary photographer

'A camera is a tool for seeing without a camera'

Remember you

'MAKE AN IMAGE - not - TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH

Here are 6 essential components of photography to work with to improve your images. The first 4 are from an essay by photographer MING THIEN

I AM APPLYING THESE PRINCIPLES TO

URBAN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

1. LIGHT

- NO LIGHT NO IMAGE - LIGHT PROVIDES SHADOWS, SHADOWS PROVIDE TEXTURE & CONTRAST, CONTRAST PROVIDES DEPTH - LIGHT ILLUMINATES THE SUBJECT

(phōtos) LIGHT (graphé) DRAWING

PHOTOGRAPHY IS DRAWING WITH LIGHT

2. THE SUBJECT

- THE SUBJECT IS WHAT THE PHOTO IS ABOUT - IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SUBJECT IS THE VIEWER WON'T KNOW EITHER -

3. COMPOSITION

- THE COMPOSITION IS WHAT'S IN THE FRAME - OFTEN IT'S ABOUT EXCLUSION NOT INCLUSION - KNOW WHAT ASPECT RATIO YOU ARE SHOOTING IN - TO CHANGE THE COMPOSITION EITHER MOVE THE SUBJECT OF MOVE THE CAMERA - RULE OF THIRDS

4. IDEA

- THE CONCEPT OF THE PHOTO IS THE STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE - EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - HAVE A 'POINT OF DEPARTURE' -

5. THE DECISIVE MOMENT - (THIS WILL BE AN ASSIGNMENT )

- COMES FROM THE IDEA THAT EVERY 'EVENT' HAS A DECISIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC MOMENT WHEN IT CAN BE PERFECTLY CAPTURED - HENRI CARTIER BRESSON 1908-2004 THE FRENCH FATHER OF STREET PHOTOJOURNALISM

DESCRIBED IT AS

' "Photographier: c'est dans un même instant et en une fraction de seconde reconnaître un fait et l'organisation rigoureuse de formes perçues visuellement qui expriment et signifient ce fait"

"To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, / of the significance of an event / as well as of a precise organization of forms / which give that event its proper expression.''

SIGNIFICANCE - MOMENT - COMPOSITION

PHOTOGRAPHY RECORDS A TIME/SPACE EVENT - TIME & SPACE AND NOT 2 THINGS BUT A CONTINUMN