Interpolate My Jaggies

Composition Grab Bag #2

2008-03-27T20:13:00.005-05:00

Here are a few more compositional "riffs" that you can stick in your toolbox. This is a continuation from Composition Grab Bag #1. Again, no special equipment required here - just a willingness to take your camera out and look through the viewfinder (or LCD screen =) ) with a different eye.

Frame the subject
Framing can help draw attention to the subject and give the picture a more intimate feel, as if you're giving the viewer a peek into a private place. It also keeps the eye from wandering off the edge of the picture. Don't forget to pick a strong subject, though! Sometimes I get so excited about finding a great frame that I forget to put something interesting in it. =)

Zoom in
One of the most important phases I went through while learning to take better pictures was to simply zoom in more. A common mistake in photography is including extra stuff that distracts from the subject. Zooming in is the easiest way to cut out that junk. Make it a habit to check the outer edges of the frame and think to yourself, "Does that need to be in the picture?" If not, zoom in some more. The challenge is to keep the picture interesting as you cut out visual elements.

Zoom out
Zooming out allows you to include more context in the picture, which sometimes helps to tell a more complete story. The hard part is making sure the picture doesn't get too much clutter that distracts from your subject. Once you've got some practice zooming in and checking the outer edges of the frame, you'll be better at zooming out without distracting from the subject. When you zoom out, you can examine the extra elements you've included and think to yourself, "Does this tell the viewer something more about the subject?" Usually, pictures of Vegas focus on the lights and gaudy attractions, and it's easy to forget that it sits in the middle of a mountainous desert area. Zooming out shows a different side of Vegas in the second picture below.

Composition Grab Bag #1

2008-02-06T04:30:00.000-06:00

In this tutorial, I've listed a few of the things I think about when I'm composing a picture - some "riffs" that I use in photography. I've also provided sample pictures to illustrate each technique and help you decide when to use each one.

Just like the other posts on this blog, you don't need any special equipment to put these into practice. Anyone can make great pictures with almost any camera, and these composition tips can help.

Make the subject stand out against the background
In the first picture, my sister and the pine cone stand out from the blue sky. In the second picture, my sister's jacket stands out from the brown background, but the pine cones don't. Notice what your eye is drawn to in each picture.

Use horizontal/vertical lines to express calmness

Use diagonals to add energy and tension
The slanted horizon makes this picture more dynamic and gives it energy - he seems to be falling to the left because of the sloping floor.

Go practice!
I'll give you some time to try out these techniques before I list a few more. Feel free to post links to your own pictures so we can see more examples!

Auto Focus Tricks

2007-08-09T03:10:00.000-05:00

In the last tutorial (Composition 101), I recommended against centering the subject of your pictures. Some of you may have tried de-centering and found that your subject went out of focus! Let me give you some tips that will fix that problem right up.

1.) Pick an auto-focus area
Many cameras have multiple auto-focus (AF) areas. To the right is a picture of what it looks like on different cameras (pics from http://dpreview.com). The first camera will focus on the red robot's face and the second and third cameras will focus on the center of the bird, as indicated by the illuminated focus areas.

Usually, the default setting will make the camera decide which AF areas to use. The camera can make a guess at what to focus on, but it won't always get it right.

Instead of letting the camera pick, I recommend selecting the AF area manually. When that split-second opportunity for a shot comes whizzing by, you don't want to waste time coaxing your camera to pick the right AF areas.

Moreover, my preference is to manually select the center AF area and always leave it there. Some people like to select the AF area closest to their subject, but that requires fumbling with controls for each picture, which also slows you down.

The rest of this tutorial will assume that you've manually selected the center AF area.

2.) Focus off-center subjects
Let's say we want to take a close-up picture of the water fountain above.

The hole of the water spout might make a good "eye." Let's de-center it on the right side of the picture so that it can "look" toward the left. After masterfully composing the shot, we have a beautiful picture!

Oops, the camera focused on the tree! That's because we told it to focus on whatever is at the center of the frame, which happens to be the tree. Let's try again with today's Four Steps to Better Focus^TM.

Step 1: Center the part we want to be in focus.
That would be the spout. At this point, we haven't pushed the shutter button down yet.

Step 2: Press the shutter button half way.
The spout comes in focus because it's now in the center of the frame.

Step 3: Recompose.
Be sure to keep the shutter button pressed half-way.

Step 4: Press the shutter button all the way down.
Click! Now we have a well-composed picture that's also in focus!

Once you start doing this instinctively, you'll get properly focused pictures (almost) every time. Most importantly, it works fast, so you won't miss shots because you were fumbling with the controls.

3.) Use MF to tame wild auto-focus
The following tip will work best for ppl with digital SLRs which have a AF/MF (auto-focus/manual-focus) switch. If you've gotten this to work on a point-and-shoot, please leave a comment with your camera model and how you did it so that others can benefit.

If your camera or lens has a AF/MF switch, this simple tip can prevent a lot of domestic tension between you and your equipment. Proceed with steps 1-2 to autofocus to the right distance, and then let go of the shutter button (the focus should stay put) and switch your camera to MF.

Now you're free to recompose, change camera settings, and take the picture without worrying about the focus changing. Just be careful not to change the zoom because that often affects focusing. Also, make sure the distance between you and the subject doesn't change, or else you'll have to focus again.

This MF technique takes a few extra precious seconds, so only use it when you know you've got time to spare. =)

Composition 101: Q&A

2007-06-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

Composition 101 sparked some really good questions. I'll try to answer some of them in this post.

Daphne said...: question...would the same rules apply when you do group pictures, with many points of interests?

Short answer: yes.

Many formal group shots feature a bunch of people in a stiff ~~execution~~ line. Personally, I find those shots boring. Sometimes I do take shots like that, but they're more for documenting facts than for making art. However, you can make interesting group shots, and those shots often take advantage of the techniques covered in Composition 101.

Group shots (posed or unposed) should have shape and points of interest, just like any other object you photograph. If it's a posed shot, you mold the shape and emphasize/de-emphasize certain people or objects by moving them around. If you're taking photojournalistic group shots, you do it by repositioning yourself. You can place the resulting points of interest on one of the four "1/3" intersection spots or along the "1/3" division lines.

The negative space and "looking direction" tips are equally applicable in group shots. Take this picture for instance. There are a bunch of people around a table, and all of them look toward the center of the frame. The viewer follows their gaze and is led back into the picture instead of out of the picture. Also, there isn't a lot of empty space wasted above their heads.

Alex said...: it seems strange to have the band director's leg still in the pic. Would you recommend keeping this ratio over cutting the band director out entirely?

Good catch! We could crop one more time to cut out Mr. Kondrat's leg. Just be careful to keep Mr. Turner's head at the top-left "1/3" intersection spot. ~~I'm too lazy to~~ I'll leave this as an exercise for the reader.

At this rate, we're going to crop until it's just a really blurry picture of Mr. Turner's face! At times like this, it's better to let the picture die in peace and resolve to do better next time. =)

There's still a lot wrong with this picture. For example, the mess of audio equipment behind Mr. Turner is really distracting. I composed the original picture horribly, which brings us to...

tropicalfish said...: Any tips on taking good pictures without editing it? Such as location of "centerpiece", etc.

Actually, all of the tips I gave in Composition 101 are better applied in-camera. It pays to do things the right way in the camera instead of depending on Photoshop (or Gimp, which is free!) to change the composition after the fact. Each time you crop, you reduce the picture's resolution, and what's left will be blurrier and less detailed than if you'd shot it that way to begin with.

In practice, I rarely crop, and "dreamers" (the last picture I posted on Composition 101) is pretty much how it was composed in-camera.

Composition 101

2007-06-13T20:18:00.003-05:00

For the first couple tutorials, we're going to move quickly through some basic composition guidelines. If you're not using them already, they're easy ways to give your pictures a big jump in quality.

<-- This is a bad picture. =(
We're going to use this picture as an example today. It's a picture of Mr. Turner, the orchestra director at Plano Senior High School. Mr. Turner is a great conductor, but there are many things wrong with this picture. Bad Vincent!

1.) What to emphasize
Before you take the picture, identify your points of interest. What is a "point of interest"? On people, it's usually the eyes. Many other objects have an "eye" too: the stamen of a flower, the peak of a mountain, the sound hole of a guitar. These points of interest aren't hard and fast - as you take more pictures, you might find other parts of the subject to act as the point of interest. Some pictures may even have multiple points of interest. In this picture, we just have one: Mr. Turner's eye. Since it's not a closeup, we can just consider his whole head as the point of interest.

2.) Where to put stuff
Once you've decided on the points of interest, you have to figure out where to place them in the picture. Our natural tendency is to center the subject. If it's the most important thing, it should be the "center of attention," right? No really. Usually, the most pleasing way to compose a shot is to divide the frame into thirds and place the points of interest on one of the intersections. Check out the awesome diagram I made as a visual aid.

Here's what the picture looks like after cropping so that Mr. Turner's head is on one of the 1/3 intersection points. A nice side effect of this crop was that the guy in the background (Mr. Kondrat, the band director) no longer competes with Mr. Turner for attention. Now, Mr. Turner is clearly the subject. Sorry, Mr. Kondrat. We'll get you in the next shot.

3.) Where NOT to put stuff
Pay attention to the empty space ("negative space") in your picture. Just as the objects in your picture are there for a reason, the areas that are empty should have purpose too.

First, an example of where to reduce negative space. The most common "bad" use of negative space is leaving too much room above people's heads. Casual photographers tend to center their subject's heads, and the top half of the picture ends up being uninspired and unnecessary... just like my picture of Mr. Turner. =)

Now for an example of where to add negative space. Another common mistake is to let a subject's gaze "fall off the page." This is one area where my picture of Mr. Turner is actually ok. Mr. Turner is looking off to the right, and there's plenty of space for him to look into. When the viewer sees the subject looking in a certain direction, his eye will naturally follow in that direction to look for whatever the subject is looking at. Pay attention to where the viewer's eye will go, and give him plenty of room to explore.

Take a look back at the cropped pictures in tip #2. There were four intersection points to choose from. Why did I pick the top-left one? Because it was the best way to handle the negative space! By picking a higher intersection point, we leave just enough room above Mr. Turner's head without wasting a lot of space. Picking an intersection point on the left side leaves him enough room to look out to the right.

4.) How to amputate
Whatever you do, don't cut off just the feet or just the hands. It's ok if you cut off 2/3 of the legs or 2/3 of the arms. Sometimes, it's even ok if you cut off the whole head and shoulders. Anything less than that, and it looks like you amputated by accident.

In the original picture, Mr. Turner's feet were accidentally amputated. He is very sad because it makes him look short. =(

In this version of the picture, I've cropped it further so that it looks like I cut off his legs on purpose. Again, I've put Mr. Turner's head in the top-left 1/3 of the picture to maintain the right spacing. Much better! =)

Putting it all together
Here's a picture that follows all of the guidelines we've talked about in this tutorial. There are clear points of interest (the people's heads), and they're both near the 1/3 divisions. The guy is gazing to the left, so we give him lots of space to look into. Finally, all hands and feet are safely within the frame.

Photography is like English - there are exceptions to every rule. These are just guidelines. Learn and practice them until they're second nature, and then break them when you have a reason to.

Anything else?
If you can spot more problems with these pictures (there are plenty), feel free to post a comment. Maybe we can get some good discussion going. =)

Edit: You guys asked some really good questions in the comments of this tutorial, and I've answered them in Composition 101: Q&A.

Who ate my what??

2007-06-12T19:03:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try my hand at creating a photography tutorial blog here. I say "try" because 1.) I'm an amateur photographer with lots to learn myself and 2.) I have a tendency to get distracted, so we might get off topic sometimes. =)

I'll share some of the techniques I've picked up along the way and talk about new ones as I learn them. Since we're all learning together here, feel free to post your own ideas and critiques of my techniques and pictures. I want to learn from you, too!

Most of the pictures I'll post will be linked from my web site: http://vincentmo.com

As for the name, I just picked two random digital photography terms (interpolate and jaggies) and stuck them together. A friend noticed that the URL looked like "interpol ate my jaggies." Interpol is an indie rock band, and I like music. Also, almost anything is funnier if it involves eating something inedible. So there you go. Interpol Ate My Jaggies.