Photography/Techniques/General In Color Making Everything Easier!™ Turn ordinary photographs into striking works of art Open the book and find: Digital Photography Are you an aspiring photographer looking to take your work (cid:129) A quick list of skills you need to to the next level? This hands-on, friendly guide shows you DD compose interesting photos tshuecc eelsesmfueln pths,o tteocghrnaipqhueesrs, atnhdat c wonillv ternatniosfnosr mus eydo ubry p shkiollteods afrnodm (cid:129) Hthoinwg tso t htrea wina yyo au cra emyeer tao d soeees CCigitigit Composition “eh” to “oooohhh!” Plus, you’ll become an expert on the parts, ooaa functions, and capabilities of your camera. (cid:129) yCoaum’lel ruas see ttings and capabilities mml Pl P (cid:129) Refocus your eye — understand how composition produces pphh higher-quality photos and train yourself to look at things from (cid:129) Essential design principles oooo a new viewpoint sstt (cid:129) Guidance on snapping color and iioo tt (cid:129) Get some perspective — discover how working with backgrounds, black-and-white photos iigg oo lighting, framing, and formatting can enhance your photos rr (cid:129) Tips for preventing (and fixing) nnaa (cid:129) Find your inspiration — get professional tips and tricks for using color, background problems pp depth of field, reflective elements, and more to take creative photos hh (cid:129) Ways to choose between yy (cid:129) Know your subject — create compositionally remarkable photos horizontal or vertical formats featuring all types of subjects, from people and wildlife to still-life and subjects in motion Learn to: (cid:129) Master the craft of composing a Go to Dummies.com ® photograph, whether film or digital for videos, step-by-step examples, how-to articles, or to shop! (cid:129) Develop your eye for composition by exploring lots of techniques (cid:129) Apply and practice new skills as you learn them $29.99 US / $35.99 CN / £21.99 UK IN FULL COLOR! ISBN 978-0-470-64761-5 Tom Clark is a successful commercial photographer in Miami who shoots for local and international publications on a freelance basis. Tom’s commercial photography portfolio includes clients such as Sony, Nike, Puma, and others. Tom Clark Commercial photographer Clark Get More and Do More at Dummies.com ® Start with FREE Cheat Sheets Cheat Sheets include (cid:129) Checklists (cid:129) Charts Mobile Apps (cid:129) Common Instructions (cid:129) And Other Good Stuff! To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/digitalphotographycomposition Get Smart at Dummies.com Dummies.com makes your life easier with 1,000s of answers on everything from removing wallpaper to using the latest version of Windows. Check out our (cid:129) Videos (cid:129) Illustrated Articles There’s a Dummies App for This and That (cid:129) Step-by-Step Instructions Plus, each month you can win valuable prizes by entering our Dummies.com sweepstakes. * With more than 200 million books in print and over 1,600 unique titles, Dummies is a global leader in how-to information. Now Want a weekly dose of Dummies? Sign up for Newsletters on you can get the same great Dummies information in an App. With (cid:129) Digital Photography topics such as Wine, Spanish, Digital Photography, Certification, (cid:129) Microsoft Windows & Office and more, you’ll have instant access to the topics you need to (cid:129) Personal Finance & Investing know in a format you can trust. (cid:129) Health & Wellness (cid:129) Computing, iPods & Cell Phones To get information on all our Dummies apps, visit the following: (cid:129) eBay (cid:129) Internet www.Dummies.com/go/mobile from your computer. (cid:129) Food, Home & Garden www.Dummies.com/go/iphone/apps from your phone. Find out “HOW” at Dummies.com *Sweepstakes not currently available in all countries; visit Dummies.com for official rules. Digital Photography Composition FOR DUMmIES ‰ by Tom Clark 01_647615-ffirs.indd i01_647615-ffirs.indd i 9/29/10 12:05 AM9/29/10 12:05 AM Digital Photography Composition For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana All photos Copyright © 2011 by Tom Clark, unless otherwise indicated. Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. 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For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2010935576 ISBN: 978-0-470-64761-5 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01_647615-ffirs.indd ii01_647615-ffirs.indd ii 9/29/10 12:05 AM9/29/10 12:05 AM About the Author Tom Clark is a successful commercial photographer in Miami. After receiv- ing a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Photography, he moved to Miami and began his career by assisting local photographers on fashion, editorial, and portrait assignments. Tom also assisted some of the city’s top architectural and interior photographers and worked on set with many of the top pho- tographers in New York, Los Angeles, and Europe for fashion, editorial, and celebrity portraiture. With the combination of his experience on set and his education, Tom successfully made the move from photo assistant to photog- rapher. Today he shoots for a number of local and international publications on a freelance basis, and he provides commercial advertising services to cli- ents of all sizes. What aren’t discussed in Tom’s commercial success but are possibly the root of his inspiration are the long trips into the wilderness, up mountains, and to the seas where getting the perfect shot is an exploration and nights are fi lled with campfi res, starry skies, and long exposures. To check out Tom’s work and see his Photo of the Week (which highlights his most interesting recent captures), visit his Web site at www.tomclarkphoto.com. 01_647615-ffirs.indd iii01_647615-ffirs.indd iii 9/29/10 12:05 AM9/29/10 12:05 AM 01_647615-ffirs.indd iv01_647615-ffirs.indd iv 9/29/10 12:05 AM9/29/10 12:05 AM Dedication For my dad. Author’s Acknowledgments Thank you to Traci Cumbay for working so closely on this project and helping to keep the work consistent with the For Dummies style. It was great to have someone to share ideas with. More thanks to Project Editor Sarah Faulkner and Copy Editor Jessica Smith for keeping the fl ow and organization of this book in check. I am delighted that Erin Calligan Mooney contacted me for this project and presented such a great opportunity to me. Thank you Stacy Kennedy for man- aging this project, and thank you Craig Denis for contributing architectural and interior photographs that worked so well to validate my points on the topic. The models I would like to thank for appearing in this book include the fol- lowing: Fania Castro, Gillian Richardson, Alejandro Nuñez, Omar Bain, Niurka Zamora, Amy Larue, Autumn Suna, Emily Jo Burton, Joe Kydd, Diego Alberto, Clarissa Hempel, Josh Noe, Eduard Kotysh, Lauren Koenig, Ivonne Padilla, Melissa Gil, Greg Norman, Jr, Francisco Stanzione, Oleg Dankovtsev, and Alejandra Pinzón. Last but not least, thank you Emily Noe for assisting with the production of the photos for this book and for being a wonderful muse. 01_647615-ffirs.indd v01_647615-ffirs.indd v 9/29/10 12:05 AM9/29/10 12:05 AM Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Composition Services Development Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery Project Editor: Sarah Faulkner Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy Carrie A. Cesavice, Samantha K. Cherolis Copy Editor: Jessica Smith Proofreaders: Laura Albert, John Greenough, Nancy L. Reinhardt Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney Indexer: Sharon Shock Senior Editorial Assistant: David Lutton Special Help Traci Cumbay, Christine Pingleton Technical Editor: Susan B. Fleck Editorial Manager: Christine Meloy Beck Editorial Assistants: Jennette ElNaggar, Rachelle S. Amick Cover Photos: Tom Clark Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 01_647615-ffirs.indd vi01_647615-ffirs.indd vi 9/29/10 12:05 AM9/29/10 12:05 AM Contents at a Glance Introduction ................................................................ 1 Part I: The Basics of Composition .................................. 7 Chapter 1: Photographic Composition: The Overview .................................................9 Chapter 2: Developing an Eye for Composition ...........................................................21 Chapter 3: Getting to Know Your Equipment ..............................................................33 Part II: Elements of Photographic Design ..................... 49 Chapter 4: Introducing the Elements of Photographic Design ..................................51 Chapter 5: Arranging Visual Elements in a Frame According to the “Rules” ...........67 Chapter 6: Paying Attention to Color in Composition ................................................85 Part III: Arranging the Key Elements to Compose a Successful Shot ....................................... 101 Chapter 7: Using Focal Points to Tell a Story .............................................................103 Chapter 8: Finding Your Perspective ..........................................................................117 Chapter 9: Backgrounds: As Important as the Subject .............................................135 Chapter 10: Using Light to Tell Your Story.................................................................153 Chapter 11: Adding Interest through Framing and Formatting ...............................179 Chapter 12: Exploring Other Compositional Ideas ....................................................193 Part IV: Composition in Action .................................. 213 Chapter 13: Showing People in Their Best Light .......................................................215 Chapter 14: In Nature: Landscapes and Wildlife ........................................................231 Chapter 15: Shooting Still-Life Photography ..............................................................247 Chapter 16: Capturing (Or Stopping) Motion through Photography ......................263 Chapter 17: Artsy Photos: Fine Art, Composite Pictures, and Abstracts ...............279 Chapter 18: Improving Composition through Postproduction Editing ..................293 Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 309 Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Improve Composition ........................................................311 Chapter 20: Ten Tips for Finding Photographic Inspiration ....................................317 Chapter 21: Viewing Ten Compositions of One Scene ..............................................325 Index ...................................................................... 335 02_647615-ftoc.indd vii02_647615-ftoc.indd vii 9/29/10 12:06 AM9/29/10 12:06 AM 02_647615-ftoc.indd viii02_647615-ftoc.indd viii 9/29/10 12:06 AM9/29/10 12:06 AM