Shape, Lines, Texture, Pattern, Volume and Lighting

SHAPES AND LINES

"Shapes and lines are important elements in photographic composition. When properly used, shapes and lines can create a desired effect. As a photographer, you usually have control over the way shapes and lines are used in your pictures." Shape "Shape is a two-dimensional element basic to picture composition and is usually the first means by which a viewer identifies an object within the picture. Form is the three-dimensional equivalent of shape. Even though shape is only two-dimensional, with the proper application of lighting and tonal range, you can bring out form and give your subjects a three-dimensional quality. Lighting can also subdue or even destroy form by causing dark shadows that may cause several shapes to merge into one. Shapes can be made more dominant by placing them against plain contrasting backgrounds; for example, consider again the white sail against the dark water background. The greatest emphasis of shape is achieved when the shape is silhouetted (fig. 5-11), thus eliminating other qualities of the shape, such as texture and roundness, or the illusion of the third dimension."
Lines "Lines can be effective elements of composition, because they give structure to your photographs. Lines can unify composition by directing the viewer's eyes and attention to the main point of the picture or lead the eyes from one part of the picture to another. They can lead the eyes to infinity, divide the picture, and create patterns. Through linear perspective, lines can lend a sense of depth to a photograph. (Linear perspective causes receding parallel lines to appear to converge in the picture. This allows you to create an illusion of depth in your pictures.) The viewer's eyes tend to follow lines into the picture (or out of the picture) regardless of whether they are simple linear elements such as fences, roads, and a row of phone poles, or more complex line elements, such as curves, shapes, tones, and colors. Lines that lead the eye or direct attention are referred to as leading lines. A good leading line is one that starts near the bottom corner of the scene and continues unbroken until it reaches the point of interest (fig. 5-12). It should end at this point; otherwise, attention is carried beyond the primary subject of the photograph. The apparent direction of lines can often be changed by simply changing viewpoint or camera angle. Vertical, diagonal, horizontal, and curved lines create different moods. Vertical lines communicate a sense of strength, rigidity, power, and solidarity to the viewer. On the other hand, horizontal lines represent peace, tranquillity, and quietness. A generally accepted practice is to use a vertical format for pictures having predominantly vertical lines and horizontal format for pictures having predominantly horizontal lines. Again, this is a generally accepted practice, NOT a rule."
"Diagonal lines represent movement, action, and speed. A picture with diagonal lines conveys a feeling of dynamic action even when the subject is static (fig. 5-13). Curved lines present a sense of grace,  smoothness, and dignity to a photograph (fig. 5-14). The most common curved line is the S curve." Kinds of Texture Photography "There are three major categories under this type of photography. Detail presents the aspects seen on the surface of the material. Identifying what the object is less significant. A macro lens is usually used to focus on the details. With drama, the texture is not the most important, but one of the components of the image. It is the relationship between the textures which is important. Information is the third type." Composing Texture Photographs       "Contrast, curves and patterns are aspects of texture photographs which can help compose an image. Contrast, whether tonal or color, makes the texture detail show up even more. Curves help convey a sense of movement with leading curves directing the attention towards the focal point. Non-leading curves have no specific direction but still give information about the image. Patterns can help catch the viewer’s attention. Combining multiple patterns can support each other. Another method is by breaking the pattern for an interesting effect and understand what the image is." PATTERN "Creating your pictures around repeating elements or patterns provides picture unity and structure. Pattern repetition creates rhythm that the eyes enjoy following (fig. 5-15). When lines, shapes, and colors within a picture occur in an orderly way (as in wallpaper), they create patterns that often enhance the attractiveness of photographs. Pattern, like texture, is found almost everywhere. It can be used as the primary subject but is most often used as a subordinate element to enhance composition. When pattern is used as a supporting element, it must be used carefully so it does not confuse or overwhelm the viewer. Pictures that are purely pattern are seldom used, because they tend to be monotonous. Patterns should be used to strengthen and add interest to your subject." "Shape is the most common and powerful pattern element. Repeated lines, tone, and color can also provide unity to your composition and combinations of these create interesting pictures. Triangles, squares, and circles are the basic shapes to look for in a pattern. Triangles and squares are usually static but can be placed to create a tension-filled, dynamic effect. Circles and curves are pleasing pattern shapes." VOLUME "When photographing most subjects, you face the problem of how to symbolize three-dimensional objects in a two-dimensional picture. The solution becomes simple when a distinction is made between the two different ways three-dimensional objects appear: as positive, or occupied space (volume) or as negative, or unoccupied space. unit placed at the camera, you only symbolize empty or negative space; however, a sense of depth is provided because of increasing darkness toward the back of the shop. Occupied or positive space (the machines) is If you make a picture to show the entire machine front-lighted and appears shadowless and flat. On the shop aboard a repair ship using only one powerful flash other hand, if you use a series of lights along the sides of the machine shop to sidelight the machines, shadows are cast at their sides and occupied or positive space appears three-dimensional; however, since all the machines, both near and far, are now lighted the same, you do not create a sense of depth, and empty or negative space appears flat. For the best picture of the machine shop, you should light the machines in a way that the three-dimensional form is represented, while creating a sense of depth by reducing the intensity of illumination toward the back of the shop." LIGHTING "Lighting is also an important creative element of composition. By controlling the light and directing it where you want it, you can subdue objects or distracting elements in the scene to give more emphasis to the main point of interest. For good picture composition, you must develop an awareness of how changes in lighting can affect the appearance of things around you. Light and shadows can be used in composition to create mood, to draw attention to an area, to modify or distort shape, or to bring out form and texture in the subject. Shadows are a key to apparent form in photographs. Without shadows, the subject records without form, curvature, or texture, appearing flat and lifeless. This does not mean that shadows must be harsh and black to achieve the effects of form, curvature, and texture. They may be soft, yet of sufficient density to show the most delicate roundness and form. Generally, harsh, black shadows are undesirable in a photograph due to the loss of detail in them. From a compositional standpoint, black shadows can be very useful in balancing a scene and directing attention to the point of interest. Harsh shadows can also be excellent for emphasizing texture and form, for creating interesting patterns, and for directing attention to the main point of interest; however, the same elements can also obscure detail and reduce form. When the lighting is harsh, such as on a clear, sunny day, shadows have sharply defined edges and are probably very dark, sometimes to the point that they appear stronger than the primary subject and attract attention to themselves." TEXTURE "Texture helps to emphasize the features and details in a photograph. By capturing "texture" of objects being photographed, you can create form. When people observe a soft, furry object or a smooth, shining surface, they have a strong urge to touch it. You can provide much of the pleasure people get from the feel of touching such objects by rendering texture in your pictures. Texture can be used to give realism and character to a picture and may in itself be the subject of a photograph. When texture is used as a subordinate element within the picture, it lends strength to the main idea in the photograph. It usually takes just a little different lighting or a slight change in camera position to improve the rendering of texture in a picture. When an area in a photograph shows rich texture, the textured area usually creates a form or shape; therefore, it should be considered in planning the photograph. TONE "Tone is probably the most intangible element of composition. Tone may consist of shadings from white-to-gray-to-black, or it may consist of darks against lights with little or no grays. The use of dark areas against light areas is a common method of adding the feeling of a third dimension to a two-dimensional black-and-white picture. The interaction of light against dark shades in varying degrees helps to set the mood of a composition. A picture consisting of dark or somber shades conveys mystery, intrigue, or sadness. When the tones are mostly light and airy, the picture portrays lightness, joy, or airiness."

Rule of thirds

Rule of thirds

This image doesn’t contain any rule of thirds, however, when looking at this image with just our eyes, our brains pick out objects of interest. However, the camera capture’s everything in front of it, which can lead to not having a clear focal point of interest. What we can do is choose an object or model, and select a certain camera view point that shows the centre of the main interest. We can’t always keep other distractions out of the image so try and keep them in the background or blend them in with the scene. Some good simple compostions include textures and patterns and things called Silhouettes. In this photograph I can see hints of symmetry.

Editing my Taste of Digbeth photos

This is the journey of my photos. I first took them then edited them on Ribbet.com 
These are my images of statue models falling in the digbeth custard factory.

I like the way the models fall here, you can see on the image on the left that it was the original i edited it up on Ribbet on the right to show more warmth and less clinical. I dont like how you cant really see their faces.

These are my LINES photos, i plan to use this whitened, edited, better looking photo after it was edited on Ribbet. This is a great place to photograph! (The Custard Factory, Digbeth)

This water I wont use for my final images, but they will inspire me to do better, and use water in another image, the shutter speed was used here but I will perfect it a bit more.

Taste of Digbeth

TASTE OF DIGBETH

9 Shots' street photography- captures people emotively -usually exhausted, surprised, or isolated in some way. His images often appear slightly underexposed, making them look grayer and darker than they were in real life.

There is also a rule of thirds from the arch shapes of the tunnel yet the woman is in the center, so our eyes are put straight to her instead. However, because of the shadows of the tunnels they also stand out bold. It was taken from quite a distance judging by the big arches. Also you can constantly see lines throughout the photo. From the road, to the arches, to the stones used to build.




 
This is my photo of a tunnel around digbeth, I was inspired by 9 shots' photo because I copied the idea of arches and tunnels and my main subject was the graffitti, that was brightened to stand out more. Also I brightened the arches because I wanted brighter tunnels than 9 shots photography.

I used Ribbet.com to crop the image to focus more on the interesting part of the image. I also a vignatte effect for a more urban feel to it. In the distance you can also see a smashed window that shows that my sharpening has worked and there is a large depth of field.

I like this photo because it shows the real digbeth. When i think of digbeth i think of graffitti so that's why the graffitti is my subject in this photograph.








 Sam Stockman is a street photographer from USA, his work is undoubtedly awesome and insightful. He has taken this image of a man on the left side of the photo with a house in the background, the subject is the house because the man is blurred, he has focused more on the house with the movement of the man. There seems to be two arrows pointing in different directions on the shop and it looks like he has to make a decision. I like the shape of the house and have chosen it to use as insperation.

My photo that I have taken, shows Digbeth graffitti with a similar sign post to Sam Stockman's photo, I liked the shape-effect of the house in his photo so i copied it and thought to make it a wide-lens, rule of thirds shot instead.

The photo I edited with Ribbet.com, that allowed me to make the exposure increase, sharpen the image, soften parts, crop the important parts and made it burst with colour. The sun light came from the left side of the photo so it gave it a nice glow.  I liked this photo and wouldnt change it.

This is a photo from Beate Gütschow. She has taken this image
with an idea of emptyness of the streets. Sort of like an apocolyptic feel to it. The image is in black and white effect to it like its cold and lonely. With the background exsposed well, the building in the back appears to be the main subject.
I will use this photo for insperation when it comes to taking a photo of digbeth.

This is the first photo i took.
This isnt the finished photo but
i will use this as the basic shape.
The shape is of the arch surrounding the building and also
the main building itself. There are some patterns in the picture coming from the windows. The sky has lightened the building up and it still contrasts with the underneath of the tunnel.


This was my finished photograph. Here i have used Ribbet.com to edit
the building and rotate the building to show symmetry through the center of the image. I kept the light coming from above and made the building look more broken down using a zombie filter on the halloween effects on Ribbet. I put it in black and white and cloned some parts. I like it because it reminds me of an aztec / mexico building or maby a mental institution.

Fire on Marlborough Street [1975] 

On July 22, 1975, photograph Stanley J. Forman working for the Boston Herald American newspaper when a police scanner picked up an emergency: “Fire on Marlborough Street!” Climbed on a the fire truck, Forman shot the picture of a young woman, Diana Bryant, and a very young girl, Tiare Jones when they fell helplessly. Diana Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene. The young girl lived. Despite a heroic effort, the fireman who tried to grab them had been just seconds away from saving the lives of both. Photo coverage from the tragic event garnered Stanley Forman a Pulitzer Prize. But more important, his work paved the way for Boston and other states to mandate tougher fire safety codes.

As sad as it is, this is a good photo because the photographer was there at the right moment. Snapping the photo instantly for others to see what happend. This photo is to inform.

 I am comparing the Fire on Marlborough Street to my photo because i photographed this image of model people falling in the Custard Factory, Birmingham. The image contains a cross process filter and with natural white light coming form the celing which i toned down. The image has a sense of movement in it where the people seem to be falling. The buildings around the people also are similar to the one in the Fire on Marlborough Street. At first i wanted to make them look like they were falling from heaven, but then i was inspired by Stanley to show a similar scene. This is only the first photo i took, it was then developed further.

This was the final image i came up with. I eventually cropped one model from the image and added a back drop effect of venice. The man appears bronze because of another effect, therefore making it seem italian influenced like venice. I love this photo and i captured it with a 3D movement feel to it.







Here are some more of TASTE OF DIGBETH;

This is a photo of the architecture on the Instiute, outside wall. The shape of the subject was a long stone pole that went high up. I rotated the image, cropped the most interesting part of the image and used Aperture priority to give me a good depth of field effect. I zoomed a little to achieve this. The aperture was large at f2.8 which allowed me to get the pattern of one part of the pole then the rest blurred as it gets further away.

The colour effect i used was sepia and I also softened the already blurred depth of field. I then sharpened the overall image. The sun was out on the day so it gave it a nice bright, good exsposure.

This photograph shows good texture, shapes and patterns, good use of depth of field and aperture. I like this photo because many people don't pay attention to the detail that went into the making of the building when walking past the Institute.

 Here is my photograph of a tree, the main light source is from above, which is ironic because it uses sunlight but its in a room. The image is cropped into half bottom and half top of the photo to make the tree the center peice. The effect around the tree is blurred and blue/black filter to show shadows and darkness. I wanted to focus on the light of the tree, to show life.

My next image is of the fountain in the custard factory. Here I brightened the image, used a slow shutter speed to capture the waterfall. I wanted it a little misty but not too slow of a shutter speed, becuase i wanted some sharpness to it. I boosted the colours in the art in the back to make it seem realistic and futurist like Japan. Then black and whitened the building on the right, and the image contains a man in the bottom right of the photo. My picture here was influenced by Beate Gutshow where the scene looks bare and lifeless, yet the odd person somewhere.

I love this photo because of the effects of the overall picture, I like how it looks Imaginitive, colourful and artistic. If i was to change it I would make the sky more blue, and tone down the exsposure from the sky over the building. Also I would like to off got more of the blue building in to show more of a scene.

This photograph i wanted to focus on lines and the bizzareness of the architecture. I edited the image on Ribbet, making the photo black and white, sharper, cropping a little, and making the black walk ways more prominent. I like this photo because theres loads to look at and it's a good picture like it is a structure.

Who is Beate Gütschow ?

                                              

Beate Gütschow
 

Born 1970 in Mainz, Germany, Beate works as a contemporary German photographer in Berlin and Cologne. Gütschow studied art at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg from 1993 to 2000. She served as guest professor from 2009-2010 at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig. Since 2011 she is a professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Gütschow’s work explores the relationship between photographic representation and reality. It also investigates how our visual perception is informed and influenced by prior knowledge of other images.

  

These are some of her industrial street photography;

By controlling the light, Beate has subdue distracting elements in the scene to give more emphasis to the main points of interest. Gutschow has used light and shadows that can be used in composition to create mood, to draw attention to an area, to modify or distort shape, or to bring out form and texture in the subject. Beate is famous for differences between what's reality and what is false. Without shadows, the subject records without form, curvature, or texture, appearing flat and lifeless. I notice that she uses a theme; of lines, where everything is perfectly straight and neat in her photography. Her Images also contain a theme of isolation or emptyness, containing no or few people. It has an apocolyptic feel to her work, maby to emphasis the subjects and moods more. I think her photography is made to look like toys or building blocks rather than real life, due to perfectly timed photographing.

Who is Joel Meyerowitz ?

JOEL MEYEROWITZ

  

Born March 6, 1938. Joel Meyerowitz is a famous street, portrait and landscape photographer. He began photographing in color in 1962 and in the early 1970s he taught the first color course in New York City. Inspired by seeing Robert Frank at work, Meyerowitz quit his job as an art director at an advertising agency and took to the streets of New York City with a 35mm camera and black-and-white film. Meyerowitz photographed the aftermath of the  September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, and was the only photographer allowed unrestricted access to its "ground zero" immediately following the attack.

He is one of the living masters in street photography, he shot in the streets with other legends such as Garry Winogrand, Tony Ray-Jones, and even Henri Cartier-Bresson.What is so influential about Joel Meyerowitz is how he was one of the revolutionizing forces in street photography and color. When he first started to shoot on the streets of NYC with Garry Winogrand, he bobbed and weaved the streets like a boxer– with his Leica and black & white film pushed to ISO 1200– allowing him to shoot at 1/1000th of a second and capture life (the maximum shutter speed of a Leica). However he was curious about color, and would often shoot with two Leica’s on the street– one with black and white and the other with color. I think nowadays the trend in street photography is to try to focus on complex compositions and layers– but sometimes these images are devoid of emotions and feelings.

     “What I want is more of my feelings and less of my thoughts."

Here are some of his famous street photos;

This photograph is of a young girl, the camera is looking through 2 car windows, with the girl in the center of the photo, crying. Showing a man with his hand out to assist the girl that is crying. The colour is in black and white for mood and I think Joel has taken and composoed the photograph very well. He uses an aperture where the girl is in focus and the background behind her is completely blurred. Joel has taken this photo and thought about what he wanted to show.

Here, Joel has took to the streets of New York City and showed us a a lot of confusing signs and people racing amongst the streets. No-one making eye contact, just casually racing in everyday life. He has chosen to use colour, which I think adds to the more confusing photograph. By using colour we can see what it is really like to be there and how chaotic New York City is. For me this is typical New York, which he portrays well.

Here Joel has captured a man in urban fashioned clothing, with his tshirt raised, to show the urban side of the city. The women have also old fashioned, bright clothing to that show the freedom of individuals of the city and culture. I can also see the rule of thirds in this image, the mans face is in the rule of thirds. This helps by automatically during our attention to him, while everything else in the image is not facing us.

Here we can see straight away another street with 4 individuals wearing the same colour coat, a yellowish colour. The smoke the couple are walking through is captured beautifully. Joel has caught the moment when they are about to walk through the smoke, with 4 random strangers in the same colour. He took this at the right moment, the exsposure is perfect for the subjects but on the sides and background of the picture are a little more dark.

Here everybody in the image is looking at the same man who has fallen over. I know he isnt just lying down because of the captured moment where Joel has got everyone on the street looking at the split second the man fell. The colours are very basic and average, this is more about the scene than art. We still can see it is very busy and with cars all flooding past each other. I like how we can see a variety of many different people.

In this photograph, one of Joels more known pictures, we can see that he took the photo in a black and white setting. Capturing a woman in the center of the image, walking towards the photographer. Everyone else is walking away from the photograph so our attention is more prominently on the woman in the center. We see a recurring theme of being busy in the streets, vans, buildings and everyday life.

Conclusion:

As you can see he likes to capture everyday life in the city. A busy place full of strangers, some not even making eye contact. He has a lot going on in his photos, where people are casually walking along the streets of New York or a scene where there are problems or events going on.  He shows some photos in colour and some in black and white. He also likes to capture people and emotions. I think his photographs are untimed though, and are the photos planned but taken without thought. He wants to portray his feelings and the emotions of others. So his photographs definetly make you think. I think he is a good photographer and he inspires me.

“What I want is more of my feelings and less of my thoughts."                  - Joel Meyerowitz

Who is Ralph John Perou?

           
                 Perou

         


Ralph John Perou, is a well establised British photographer.
Known for fashion photography, portraits and music photography. In his earlier life he studied Religous Studies and Design A Levels. Then when he worked as a butler, Perou stated that he, "saw the dark side" and then went on to studying photography. He completed a Digital Photography course at North-East Surrey College of Technology, and in 1991 to 1994 he studied for a BA Hons degree in Photography Film and Video Arts, at the university of Westminster.

　

 

When Ralph John Perou graduated he worked at Click Studios in London as a studio manager. This is where Perou met many other popular photographers and some were the best in the world. After, he went onto shooting for editoral clients like Time Out, SkinTwo and Dazed & Confused. Then, the "Perou Factory" opened in East London in 2000. Perou has also appeared on Television programmes such as; "Make me a super model UK, Dirty Sexy Things," and a few other cameos. His style is quiet unique and some people critic him as being too;

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Analysing Perou's Photography

Here are a few of his images that I have selected to analyse. Many people think that his photos contain themes. In my opinion his photos are just moments of life that contain art themes. He does seem very contriversial in some of his images, using topics like; religon, race and nudity.

These are my favorite three:

  

          1. Underwater Photoshoot 

Here Perou has used a female model, that is good-looking with long, flowing hair with euphoric body language to resemble something beautiful, mythological and mysterious, maby like a mermaid. For the ocean and background Perou has stuck to the colour of blue with shades of black. I notice he has used a vignatte effect around the picture but more prominently at the bottom, to portray the deepness of the model in the ocean and to focus more on the subject of the photo. The model's body colour stands out at first glance which makes her the center point of the picture, with a light that comes from above so we know that she is deep underwater. Perou has taken this picture beautifully, everything is visually stunning.

                                                           2. Roman Statue Female
I like this photo because I love foreign art, culture and language. The background has dark shades of grey to black, with the object of the picture all white. The model has a stone-statue makeup effect to it with Roman Numerals underneath, so the photograph we know is probably Latin or Italian based. Perou has taken this fantastically by getting the model really steady and strong, just like a statue. Her legs make shapes that resembles the Italian place of Sicilly, (the 3 legged triangle, the trinacria). The background is also out of focus, concentrating deeply on the model. He captured this fantastically.

                                                        3. Dark man with white flowers
This is a dark photograph, with a mysterious vibe surrounding this peice that Perou is hinting at. The flowers stand out nicely exsposed and a white colour, straight away with the second glance to his eyes, that come across quite creepy. The background is blanked out completely and his skin tone is matching the background, yet more dark. He is standing up straight with flowers in his hand. I get a feeling Perou wanted to fascinate and intrigue us with this.



　

Shutter speed test

SHUTTER SPEED TEST #1

I first learnt aperture and shutter in college, then I went around Digbeth and practised using the shutter setting on my camera, for the first time. 

Here are my pictures:

These are of a fast shutter speed of me throwing a peice of paper over the digbeth cannal. I only uploaded 3 of the best pictures to show the journey of the paper falling.

This was with a sharp shutter speed, that was quick enough to capture the drip, yet a little slower to record the journey of the ripples in the water.

Here was another fast shutter speed, but not that quick because i wanted to get the falling droplets in more sharper detail.

Here is a photograph i took to show how i understand shutter speed. I wanted a slow shutter of water, without using a waterfall or tripod. This was a pond of water that i zoomed in a little and then took the photo. It was on a slow shutter around 1/30, and i flicked water back into the pond, using my hand to create wild waves. I also used Ribbet to edit the picture. I first edited in black and white, then gave it a blueish tint and faded it in and sharpened it. I love the slow shutter because it gives it a nice mist effect. I got the photo I wanted, and next time I will try it with a much more slower shutter.

CONCLUSION:

I learnt that using a fast shutter speed will capture a quicker movement of the subject (the water or paper.) Also if it is slower then, say the water will slow down and turn more blurry or misty. The shutter speed is the ideal setting to use for capturing movement.