Picture Elements
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  • Black and white photographs have a powerful graphic potential and have the ability to evoke mood and atmosphere.
  • Black and white is ideal for showing the form of the human body - although subjects such as gardens or natural history, may not be ideal.
  • Coloured lens filters can be used to change the relative strengths of tones within an image.
  • The image can be manipulated in the dark room - e.g: by giving the weak part of the negative extra exposure.
SOME HANDY HINTS FOR TAKING A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH ...
  • Have a main focal point
  • Simple detail
  • Work with shapes
  • Frame the image
  • Define image planes
  • Capture character
  • Emphasis the subject
  • Add humour
  • Emphasise form with lighting
  • Reveal textures
  • Select an interesting viewpoint
  • Balance and proportion
  • Fill the frame
  • Introduce a sense of scale
  • Colour harmony
  • Use colour contrast
  • Discover patterns
  • Depth and perspective
  • Select for effect
  • Use the foreground
  • Use linear perspective

                                                                     RULE OF THIRDS ...
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  • The composition of a photograph is usually improved by placing the main subject off-centre.
  • Imagine the picture is divided horizontally and vertically into thirds, using two equidistant lines.
  • Each line forms a good location for important structural elements in the composition.
  • Any of the points where two of the lines intersect (four positions in total) would be a suitable position for the picture's main centre of interest.
  • This takes the subject off dead centre and, therefore, makes for a more interesting picture.
  • For a composition including people, line them up on line A or B.
  • For a composition including mountains, line them up on lines 1 and 2.