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I just read a post by a newbie asking why she got rejections.
I went through her portfolio and saw why.
In her case mostly because of composition or lack thereof. Big part also processing matters but let's focus composition first.
Here are (hopefully) some (helpful) guidelines:
Are you willing to improve your sales? then here are the tips to produce photo's that will make your viewer feel much better about.
***************1. RULE OF THIRDS****************
The most popular rule is the rule of thirds.
With this rule you divide your image into 9 equal parts by placing two horizontal lines on 1/3 and 2/3 of your image and two horizontal lines on 1/3 and 2/3 of your image thus creating 9 squares.
Every point where a horizontal line crosses a vertical line is called a "power point" . These 4 points are the most pleasurable to view at is what our brains tell us. Therefor these are the point you would like to place your main subject on. Think of a single tree in a landscape or an eye of your model. Also the lines themselves are points of interest. When photographing a landscape, for instance, place your horizon on the 1/3 or 2/3 line to make sure your photo feels better.
Depending on which you want your viewer to see. The sky (place the horizon at the 1/3 line) or the landscape (use the upper line).
Can't find anything to place on the lines, try to get as close to them as possible. A certain hit.
******************HORIZON**********************
While talking about horizons, keep em straight O+R make sure everyone will see the artistic maining of doing not so.
A not straight photo with an ocean is like people trying to see where it slips out of the corner of the photo. NOT done.
However in portraits it gives you a nice dimension not keeping it straight while applying some of the rules of thirds.
*****************CROPPING***********************
If you want your viewer to pay attention to something then get closer towards your subject. NO closer, No, no ,no, even closer, YES. Give them nothing else to see or take away their ability to see anything else. Unless you show them a landscape of course. Flowers are great for applying this rule.
******************LENS POSITION****************
If you want a straight horizon you, of course keep your camera straight. But how about up and down, how about sitting on your knees and looking up to a tower or standing on a chair while photographing your child? All give you very different perspectives (also depending on what lens you use but that is another lesson)
In fashion photography you will almost always see a position coming from low to high. This way the legs of the model catches the sensor first thus making the legs of the model seem longer (It will make you model happy).
Turn it around and take the same shot from a chair and she won't feel so happy.
***************DIAGONALS***********************
Try to see lines in your images. Try to pinpoint objects in your images together and try to do this with a diagonal line. It will give your images a thought over, professional look.
Use these diagonals wise and play with them making triangles in your composition. Also use squares and those other things I can't remember the mathematical names of. Bind them together. Pin point them and divide your image into parts. Which brings us to
*********THE LAW OF THE GOLDEN SECTION ********
Now I know you are going to read this next part a few times in order to understand it but I can't find an easier way of explaining. Here we go:
The law of the golden section is a classic mathematical formula for distributing weight in a painting. Portrait painters since the Renaissance have adopted the use of this formula which is also applicable to any other subject as well. The law established by the ancient architect called Vitruvius, states:
"For a space divided into equal parts to be agreeable and aesthetic, between the smallest and largest parts there must be the same relationship as between this larger part and the whole space."
******************************************************
Of course there are more rules to be broken, of course there are always exceptions to the rule but I tried to inform you about the most important ones her.
Happy breaking the rules and shooting the stars to you all.
******
Next let me try to help you with some links:
Put your seatbells on for this one because it will go fast.
I will bomb you with links, tutorials, programms and tips till you hit your windscreen.
All in random order but all good tips, progs, tuts etc.
Always wanted to see the effect of your lighting without a model or even lights?
http://www.photoworkshop.com/static/lightcage/index.html
Read your histogram.
In order to know if the lighting of your photo is balanced you should be able to read your histogram correctly.
John Paul Caponigro does a great job explaining how, so no need for me to explain it again.
http://www.doubleexposure.com/Caponigro_Histograms.shtml
A great way to brush up skins can be found here.
To help you build skins WITH structure but without anomalies.
http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm#Cspringers_Skinfix_
No money for photoshop?
Try IrfanView http://www.irfanview.com/ for free or the gimp http://www.gimp.org/ also for free.
Good editing does not have to be expensive at all.
Boost up your sales.
How?
Simple, by becoming a better photographer at school
Need help?
Don't ask me, ask the following guys they give you all you need.
Webphotoschool http://www.webphotoschool.com/
another webphotoschool http://ritz.webphotoschool.com/
more journalisme point of view http://www.jurgwittwer.com/course.htm
I already told you about two free image editing progs (Gimp and Irfanview. Here's number 3 that deserves a place in this list: Photobie http://www.photobie.com/
a photo imager that supports Photoshop plugins, offers layers, painting tools, a screen capture tool, a gif animation tool, a photo framing tool, an image browser with batch resize/rotate and slide show features. It requires .NET framework 1.0 or higher to be installed.
Are all these programs are golden eggs?
I doubt it. But it sure gives us a look in the future where nore and more will be offered online using the rapidly expanding bandwidths and speeds.
They say photography is painting with light but you need shadows to be able to read your light.
a great site about lighting techniques etc= http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/
Recommendation:
All books in the "pro lighting"series by Roger Hicks and Frances Schulz. http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photography/rotovision.html
Great photos all with an explanation how the lighting was done.
A very comprehensive, complete en well explained tutorial of 6 pages explaining all the important aspects of portrait retouching in PS is being explained at This article by Peachpit.
url=http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=31701&seqNum=1&rl=1]
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Thanks, Frenk. That was very informative, liked the link between composition and Vitruvius. Didn't realize it was required reading for photography, though.
A great resource for getting better with Photoshop quick is video tutorials. Lynda.com provides some of the best ones I have seen, although, there are also a wide range of free ones available as podcasts, via the iTunes store.
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nataq
Voesendorf, Austria
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I can only second: www.lynda.com is a great and extremely fast way to learn to deal with various software. And it is even cheap. One month subscription for 25 US$ with thousands of instructional movies.
Hey, you want to earn money with your images - what are 25US$ then???
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With so much info for free I think one should not have to pay.
That was also my intention of this topic, to help with free info.
I do agree on the quality of the mentioned site but do not agree on paying for info while there are others pleased to share it, like myself with this topic. :D
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nataq
Voesendorf, Austria
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Hey DNF, while it is very generous of you to share these advices, I share the opinion that time is money and while lynda has a very steep learning curve, searching through the internet takes a lot longer. If you invest the time you gain in taking pictures it should give you much more in the longrun than the 25 US$ you spend on lynda.
BTW: I´m in no way a representative nor do I have any relations with them, just received one of their sample trainingvideos when upgrading to CS3 and gave it a try.
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