Composition: Part III - Page 4
© Wendy Folse
Let's look at another example of a typical vacation photo. What does this photo tell the viewer? What is the subject? Who is the subject? Where are they? What was the photographer trying to show? Is it a candid photo where the subject was unaware of the photographer? As we start to "read" the photo we can see that the woman has a backpack on her shoulder and a small fanny pack wallet as well. Would she be carrying these to a restaurant, a ball, a wedding? Perhaps but not likely. She looks like she is on vacation. Where? Since the horseman in the background is wearing full regalia and carrying a lance we can assume certain things about the location. Like its not at a football game for sure. The tropical plants in the background also tells us something, so does her clothes and sunglasses. So far our picture story reads like this: A woman is likely on vacation at some sort of medieval affair in a warm tropical place. She seems to be enjoying herself and is in a relaxed posture telling us that the pace is slow. She appears to know the photographer and seems not to mind the camera.
Did the photographer just snap the picture without thinking? I don't think so. Take a look at the composition. The placement of the subject to the right allowing a clear view of the horseman on the left tells us that the photographer chose the composition carefully. Also the fact that she appearsto be so relaxed says that the photographer did not pose the picture nor force her to stand there for 20min while he fiddled with the camera. He probably had the composition and camera settings all preplanned before she ever turned around. How do we know she turned around to face the photographer. Look at her body position. This is not a typical "Look at me---take a picture" pose. The fact that the horseman is looking to the left and her body is facing the left says that the center of attention is over to the left. But look at the horse. He is staring straight ahead with his ears forward meaning that he saw something that caught his attention, probably the photographer. This was a well thought out photo and the photographer had only to wait for the exact moment before releasing the shutter.
That's the key! Pre-thought, pre-planning, pre-setting, and then pressing the shutter at the exact moment at the height of the action in order to get the desired results. Snapshots are just clicking the shutter without any thought to the outcome.
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