Photograph by Christina TibbetsAnything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.
~ Edward Weston
~ Edward Weston
In Photography and the Art of Seeing, Freeman Pateson rocommends writing down a list of all the rules we assume to be true of photography....and then breaking them.
Here are ten rules that recur again and again:
1: Focus on the center of interest.
2: Fill in the frame with the subject.
3: Do not shoot betweeen 10 A.M. and 3 P.M. (The lights is too harsh.)
4: Do not shoot against the light.
5: Hold the camera steady.
6: Follow the "rule of thirds": e.g., 1/3 sky and 2/3 land or 2/3 land or 2/3 sky and 1/3 land.
7: Obey the light meter.
8: Photography children (and pets) at their own eye level.
9: Avoid lens flare with shooting against the sun.
10: Keep the camera level with the horizon.
BREAKING the rules:
1: Keep the center of interest out of focus; play with the balance of forms.
2: Allow space around the subjects; look for interaction with the environment.
3: Shoot on any day, at any time.
4: Photograph only against the light for a month.
5: Shoot while jumping up and down or spinning around.
6: Vary your compostion. Respond emotionally.
7: Disobey. Mess up the zone system. Overexpose and underexpose by three, even four f/stops.
8: Move up, down, on the side, all over.
9: Use lens flare to enhance a composition.
10: Create your own horizons.
Now examine the results. You might follow Freeman Patterson's advice to first evaluate your shots emotionally or intuitively to avoid rejecting them as disasters. You can analyze them more formally afterward to discover why some effects are more appealing than others.
Leap into the boundless and make it your home! ~Chuang-Tzu
Photograph by Christina Tibbets
Photograph by Christina Tibbets
No comments:
Post a Comment