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Tangentsphotography composition – finding the other anglesDecember 3, 2011
photography composition – finding the other anglesAt the same photo shoot-out that the stunning Film Noir Fight Scene came out of, I again worked with a model, Jill. Her hairstyle and dress were strongly reminiscent of the flapper era. It therefore just suited a more dramatic and sexy pose and styling. And of course, dramatic lighting. For off-the-cuff / on-the-fly dramatic lighting, a video light is hard to beat.
Filed under: composition,photo shoot,video light — Tags: video light for photography — Neil vN @ 11:43 pm
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photographic composition – eliminate & simplifyJune 6, 2011
eliminate & simplify – the first steps in composing your photographThese two images were taken from more or less the same spot. This vibrant park in Manhattan seemed like an interesting place to photograph, but when photographing a couple, I really want the accent to be on them. The best way to do this is to frame them so that the background is as simple as possible, but still complements the final photograph. I had the couple sit on top of this grassy mound, and I lay down on the grass, and framed them tightly against the trees in the background. Even though I was working with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens, I was shooting around 90mm in focal length. But this was enough, coupled with my low viewpoint, to eliminate any distracting elements from the frame. It is essential to look at the edges of the frame when you compose. And that is the key here in the composition – simplicity.
Filed under: composition,photo shoot,style,technique — Tags: composition in photography, photographic composition, photography composition — Neil vN @ 4:56 am
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photographic composition – a lesson relearnedDecember 19, 2010
photographic composition – finding and framing your best shotStrolling through Green Park in London, I saw these rows of winter-barren trees. The way the snow clung to the trees and branches from the morning’s snow storm, white against dark brown, gave a posterized effect already – the crazy patterns of the branches starkly etched against the white snow. I took several photographs, finally liking this photo above the most of all. Aside from resizing, it is straight out of camera … my iPhone 4. And therein was a lesson for me that I mulled over the rest of the day, while further exploring the urban landscapes of London …
Filed under: composition,exposure metering — Tags: exposure metering, photographic composition — Neil vN @ 2:43 pm
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the neon skyOctober 14, 2010
finding the perfect background for photographsPhotographers and clients alike regularly comment on this photograph in my portfolio, and the question invariably asked is whether this is a Photoshop effect. Far from it – this image is straight out of the camera …
Filed under: composition,style,technique — Tags: composition in photography, photographic composition, photography technique — Neil vN @ 11:34 pm
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wedding day portraits – simplifying composition for effectSeptember 19, 2010
wedding day portraits – simplifying composition for effectWith this article I want to reinforce the idea from a few recent posts about being very specific about your composition. By simplifying the image, we have greater impact. We include only what we need to include in the frame to enhance it. Just as important, is what we exclude:
Filed under: composition,technique,wedding photography — Tags: New Jersey wedding photographer, wedding photographers in New Jersey, wedding photography, wedding photography techniques — Neil vN @ 11:34 pm
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wedding day portraits – bride & bridesmaidsSeptember 7, 2010
photographing the bride and bridesmaids – location and directionOne of the series of photographs that I like to “have in my pocket” are the individual photos of the bride with each bridesmaid. This is the kind of photograph you can hammer out very quickly, one after the other. The bride with a bridesmaid, hugging each other. I always make time for this. One stumbling block might be a lack of place to do this. But there is usually somewhere to do this, by isolating your subject with a long lens against an out-of-focus background …
available light portrait (model – Anelisa)July 22, 2010
photographing people – available light portraitWhile unloading lighting gear from the van to shoot a last few images for a certain section for my next book, I turned around and noticed the way the light fell on Anelisa. Beautiful portrait light. The (cropped) pull-back shot will show why ..
photographic composition – look at your background!July 18, 2010
improve your composition in photography – be specific about your backgroundThe impact in this photo of Jessica relies equally on her looks and pose, the lighting, and the background. The background was very specifically chosen by how *I* position myself in relation to my subject. The background was out of focus neon lights in Times Square. I composed the photo very tightly with a 70-200mm lens, set to 200mm. With this, I can select exactly what I want to include in the image.
Filed under: composition,flash photography,general photography,off-camera flash,technique — Neil vN @ 6:08 pm
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alive for 365 – week 23June 17, 2010
Green Point Lighthouse is the oldest Lighthouse in South Africa. I liked this juxtaposition of the older colorful lighthouse, against the drab blocky modern building. The tight composition reduced the urban landscape to geometric patterns. This was shot on slide film (Fuji RDP 100) at sunset, hence the bold golden colors. This photo is my entry this week in the Alive for 365 project. Nikon F90x; Nikon 80-200mm f2.8D // Cape Town, South Africa; ca. 1998
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composition – framing the shotJune 4, 2010
composition in photography – framing the shotIn composing a photograph, what you exclude from the frame, is as important as what you include. With this portrait of Anelisa, I noticed that at this angle, the light reflecting off the black-painted wall created a warm glow of light behind her. With the receding lines of the bricks, I immediately composed the photo to exclude everything but our model and the specific background. A very specific background. Looking at the edges of the camera’s viewfinder, I eliminated everything that could distract or didn’t add to the image, such as the shop fronts in the background. (This image could perhaps still be tightened up with a minor crop in the edit. But this is the full frame as I had it in the camera, so I had to go with the usual 2:3 ratio.) The lighting?
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