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photographic composition in editing

May 26, 2010 Neil vN 26 Comments

composition in photography

In composing an image, it isn't just a matter of placing your subject somewhere in the frame. This is true for whether you go by the rigid restrictions of the Rule of Thirds, or whether you like a more central composition .. or a composition with a lot of negative space .. or whether composition is more in the way you instinctively react to the scene and subject in front of you. Equally as important as where you place your subject, is what you include and what you exclude in the frame.   With photographic composition you have to look at the edges of your  Read more inside...

Effective on-location portraits

March 21, 2010 Neil vN 54 Comments

Effective on-location portraits, with off-camera flash

When I photograph someone on location, I rely on a simple, yet effective method that will ensure that at the very least, I will get portraits that work. Let's have a look at this method, step-by-step:  Read more inside...

Photography clichés

March 1, 2009 Neil vN 50 Comments

Photography clichés

Some sayings in photography are thrown out there so often that they've achieved a life of their own, and become truisms that are summarily accepted and then perpetuated. Here they are - the 10 most annoying platitudes in photography ... The phrase clichés in photography, implies visual clichés. But tastes differ too widely, and I wouldn't want to be the Style Police and dictate to other photographers which subjects and approaches are deemed cool. Besides, I think the world could always use more photos of pretty girls sitting on train tracks. So  Read more inside...

Photographic composition – Tilted compositions / Dutch angle

May 31, 2007 Neil vN 7 Comments

Tilted compositions / Dutch angle

I am not a huge fan of tilted images, and I see it as an unfortunate visual 'tic' when I notice entire wedding galleries by other photographers where pretty much all the images are tilted at a very specific angle. That just means that little thought went into composition, and that composition and holding the camera has become a reflex action .. which just happens to include a 30' tilt to the camera. There is a rationale though behind tilted compositions / the Dutch angle - the balance of the photo. I tend to keep horizontal and vertical lines  Read more inside...

Photographic composition – Rules & guidelines

May 31, 2007 Neil vN 5 Comments

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs." - Ansel Adams  

Guidelines to great composition in photography

Most or all beginners tend to 'shoot' pictures - the camera is aimed at the subject and then the shutter is fired. The result is one of most common errors in photographic composition - the feet of the person being photographed are cut off and lots of empty sky or dead branches or irrelevant whatever in the top half of the picture. Also, the placement of focusing sensors in the camera tend to be clustered around the center. Especially  Read more inside...

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