Seeing PhotographicallyBasic Concepts for BeginnersWHAT YOU SEE ISN'T WHAT YOU GET Human vision is highly adaptive and selective. When looking at a subject in person the brain will tune out other distracting objects in the field of view. They are there, and will be in the photo with the subject, but when shooting the photo you just don't see them because of the brain's tunnel vision tunes them out. The result are things like a tree limb or red car in the background growing out of the ear of a person photographed outdoors. In a studio setting things like bright clothing, body parts, or odd bits of hair and ear sticking out past the cheek line are easy to miss while shooting when attention is "tunneled" on the eyes and the smile of the subject. When looking at a face in person its shape can be discerned, even in flat light, because we have two eyes and stereoscopic vision which senses depth. A camera has a single lens and the image it records will only have the illusion of depth if there is directional lighting, selective focus, size perspective or other visual clues the brain is conditioned to accept. How the lens records the relative size of near/far object in the scene (i.e., perspective) will vary, depending on the focal length of the lens and the distance of each object from the subject. How small or tall the look will depend on the visual clues provided by the highlights and shadows. When looking at things in person you don't hold a 4 x 6 frame out in front of you and freeze a moment in time. The only consistent frame of reference which exists in nature is the horizon, but even it fools the eye into thinking it is straight. Thus when you look at things in person you don't pay too much attention to the alignment and position of things. But the vertical and horizontal sides of a photo make even slight misalignments apparent, if they are alignments the brain is conditioned to accept as normal. LIGHTING In nature the eye is attracted contrast. When a person looks at photo those same instincts kick in. The area of greatest contrast will usually attract the eye first. On a dark background the brightest area has the most contrast and attraction. On a white or light background the eye will seek out the darkest area. The eye likes to roam. Where the area of greatest contrast is located in the frame in relation to the borders and how it relates to the tonality, color, size, shape and orientation of other less contrasty and attractive areas in the photo will determine where the eye goes next. A skilled photographer can manipulate the relative attractiveness of various objects with varying their relative brightness with lighting control. Making the face brighter than the feet will help the viewer see the face first. Cropping the feet and other distracting elements out of the photo will completely eliminate any reason for the viewer's gaze to wander off the face. POSING Whether a particular posture looks passive, threatening, masculine, feminine, or feline is mostly matter of cultural conditioning. In most cultures a person standing square to the camera, dead center and aligned vertically and horizontally with the edges of the photo will be perceived as more stiff and static than one standing at a angle and leaning forward with their head in the upper 1/3 of the photo. In real life we equate stiffness with tension. Thus, when we see stiff straight arms or legs in a photo the person will come across as less relaxed, especially if the limbs are aligned with the edges of the photo. One pose isn't necessarily better than the other, they just convey a different message about the person in the photo most viewers will recognize. COMPOSITION In nature the eye is attracted by motion. There's nothing moving in a still photo, but one can create the illusion of motion. Because we track the motion of objects with our vision, such as following car along a winding road, our brains are conditioned to interpret motion or action in a still photo from its orientation and position of an object in the frame. A car at the edge of a photo will be perceived as approaching when it is facing forward or departing if seen from behind. Arrival or departure times can even be inferred from the visual clues about the distance. Putting the center of interest off center gives the eye a more interesting path to follow, but put it too close to or hanging out the edge of the photo and it will lead the eye out of the photo. That, in part, explains why the much maligned rule of thirds works so well. It puts the COI off center, but not too close to the edge to make photo seem unbalanced due to the void on the other side. The rule of thirds works in most situations, unless you intentionally want to create a sense of unbalance and dynamic tension in the photo. The same natural desire of the eye to follow things come into play in portraiture, but is more subtle. After being led to area of brightest contrast in a photo, which should be the front of the face in a portrait, the eye will tire of looking at it and begin searching for the next most visually attractive object. It will be attracted to, and follow any strong lines AWAY from the primary center of interest. That's not something I consider particularly desirable in a portrait, unless there is a path back to the primary center of interest. Thus if an outstretched arm leads away from the face, it should lead to something else which will lead the eye back to the face, not out the bottom or corner of the photo. FACIAL ANGLES Faces come in all shapes. In person we see them in 3D, but the camera lens compresses them into 2D when viewed full face. The structure of key facial landmarks such as the nose and cheekbones get hidden by the sides of the face which appear to taper away in person, but are can be rendered as round as a dinner plate in a flat lit photo. Then there are those pesky ears. A true full face view will show both ears (a good or bad thing, depending on their size and angle) and they will appear to be the same size. A not quite full face view will show all of one and part of the other and their relative size will usually look different (a good or bad thing depending on their actual relative size). A full face view also makes any asymmetry in the face very obvious. An oblique view eliminates 50% of the ear problem and usually put the one that shows in front of the side of the head and in shadow where it doesn't attract attention. Since the shape of faces vary there is no magic formula for oblique views such as 2/3 or 3/4 or profiling the eye socket that works. An oblique view should reveals the shape of the nose, cheek and chin lines in the way that flatters the subject the most. The best oblique view is the one which visually balances the size and shape of the eye, cheek and chin area with the other side of the face. The face is turned away from the camera enough to reveal the shape of the cheek and eye socket, but not so much that a thin chin disappears or prominent bridge of the nose cuts into the far eye. If the face is asymmetrical an oblique view allows the subject to literally put their best side forward toward the camera. Studying the subject full face and obliquely from both sides during the pre-shoot interview will reveal the "best" side and help guide lighting and posing decisions. Up and down is important as right and left as a facial angles. Nostrils are not particularly attractive and simply raising the camera will eliminate them from view in most cases and reveal the more attractive curved shape of the tip of the nose and nostrils. Don't overlook the profile view. Some people with very asymmetrical faces have very attractive profiles. Think "one-eyed Jack" for profile views. It should divide the face in half without any distracting bits of the far eye or chin peaking past the nose and lips. SUMMARY Become a student of faces and body language. Understanding body language and facial structure from the camera's point of view makes posing much easier. Understand how the camera sees things differently. It's a skill acquired by a combination of research, practice, and curiosity. Decide what you want the center of interest to be in your photo before you set the lights and pose. Whether is the entire face, part of the face in close up, or the chest in a glamour shot light it so its the most visually attractive area of the photo. Compose the photo in the frame in a way which naturally leads the eye to the center of interest. Isolate and simplify a center of interest in the photo. Anything that pulls the eye away from the COI is a potential distraction. Don't lead the eye away from the COI unless there's a good reason and an another leading line / tonal path back to it. Don't lead and leave the viewer stranded in an uninteresting corner of the photo, or lead the eye out of it. Think vignette, even if you don't use one. A vignette creates a visual buffer which keeps the eye in the photo. Don't put anything attractive near the edges without a good reason. Avoid tunnel vision. Look for an eliminate distractions the camera sees but you'll miss if fixated on the COI. Compose to lead the eye toward, not away, from your COI. The borders of the photo give straight vertical and horizontal limbs and eyeliners a static look tend to lead the eye out of the photo more than angled ones do. If you lead the eye to a secondary COI, make sure there another path back to the primary COI. Don't lead the eye to an uninteresting (usually bright) distraction. It will leave the viewer's eye stranded and disappointed. Contact: Chuck Gardner Tutorial Table of Contents |