Photography

Definition

Photography is the science, art and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic
radiation, either chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film, or electronically by means of
an image sensor.

Typically, a lens is used to focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the light-sensitive surface
inside a camera during a timed exposure. With an electronic image sensor, this produces an electrical charge at each pixel,
which is electronically processed and stored in a digital image file for subsequent display or processing. The result with
photographic emulsion is an invisible latent image, which is later chemically "developed" into a visible image, either
negative or positive depending on the purpose of the photographic material and the method of processing. A negative
image on film is traditionally used to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a print, either by
using an enlarger or by contact printing.

Photography is employed in many fields of science, manufacturing (e.g. photo lithography) and business, as well as its
more direct uses for art, recreational purposes, and mass communication.

The word "photography" was created from the Greek roots (phtos), genitive of (phs), "light" and
(graph) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light". The root of photo means
"light" while graphos mean "drawing".

Elements of Photography: The Artist Guides

Light Quality
Light quality describes the source, amount, and direction of lighting in a photograph. Light can come from natural sources,
like the sun. It can be altered or created by humans, by using such things as flash bulbs or lamps. It can also be diffused
by clouds or by humans putting a veil of cloth over a lamp. The direction of light is also important when looking at
photographs: it can come from above, behind, or from one side. Bright, dim, cloudy, directional, diffused, and flash are
some terms used to describe lighting.

Questions to Consider
Determine the source of light (sun, lamp, flash?). What is it?
From which direction does the light come? Does the light come from above the subject? Below it? From the side?
What kind of light do you think this is? Is the light harsh with strong shadows, or is it diffused with soft, light shadows?

Texture
Texture is how the surface of an object appears to feel or actually feels to the touch. Texture can be described as rough,
smooth, soft, etc. Texture is shown in photographs by the way the light falls on an object and through value changes. The
paper on which the photograph is made also determines texture.

Questions to Consider
What objects in the photograph show textures? Describe those textures.
Is the texture of objects something you noticed right away, or do you notice it after looking for a while? Why?

Focus
Focus is the sharpness or clarity of subjects in the photographic image. Soft focus is created when a photographer
manipulates the camera to achieve blurry, gentle edges. Photographers use the aperture (lens opening) and limitations of
the lens to create sharp detail, soft edges, or both; this is called selective focus.

Questions to Consider
What is in sharp focus? Has the photographer kept everything in sharp focus? Has the photographer kept only a few
things in focus? Explain.
Has the artist made this image in soft focus? What mood or feeling has the photographer created by choosing soft focus
or sharp focus?

Angle of View
Angle of view is the position from where the photographer took the picture. A photographer can point the camera from
below, above, or straight at an object. In other artistic media, this is often called point of view. When looking for subjects,
especially in nature, a photographer often shifts the angle of view to make interesting images. Angle of view can also
express emotion or mood. It can give the viewer a sense of being small if looking up, or a sense of being big if looking
down.

Questions to Consider
What is the angle of view for this image?
Is the camera angle in the photograph at eye level, lower than eye level (a bugs eye view), or above eye level (a birds
eye view)? Is the viewer looking straight on or from one side or another?
How does the artists angle of view make you feel about the subject?

Framing/Composition
Framing is how a photographer carefully presents a subject. Unlike painters, who usually begin with a blank canvas,
photographers begin with everything in front of them. Once a subject is found, a photographer decides what to include in
the picture frame. The photographer then composes the image to draw a viewers attention to the subject in a way that
best expresses the artists idea of it.

Questions to Consider
What do you think the photographer chose to include or exclude from this scene in order to draw your attention to the
center of interest?
In what ways did the artist use framing in this image? What in the photograph helps frame the center of interest?

Color
Artists use color to achieve many effects. Color gives viewers a sense of mood, place, and time of year. Color can also
move your eye around a composition and create a sense of space on a flat surface. Some artists achieve very saturated
(strong, intense) color in their images, while others intentionally use subdued or muted colors in their subject matter.

Questions to Consider
Are color photographs more real looking than black-and-white photographs? Why or why not?
What can a photographer achieve with color that she or he cannot with black- and-white pictures?
How would this scene be different if it were in black and white or in color?
How do you think the artist has captured either saturated or muted color?

Pointers to follow in Photography: The Basic Rules

The Rule of Thirds

Beginning photographers cant go wrong with the Rule of Thirds. When looking through your camera, visualize the scene
before you with a grid consisting of two vertical and two horizontal lines, similar to a tic-tac-toe pattern, placed over it.
Place the main subject of your photo on one of the points where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect.

One invaluable aid on my Canon dSLR is the live view feature, which displays this grid over the LCD screen while Im
viewing a shot. I think many cameras have a similar live view option, if not the grid overlay. (Here is where it pays to read
your camera manual!)

Tip: Place your subject over each of the intersecting points on the grid until you find the composition that works best for
the scene.

For cameraphone users: Most mobile phone cameras have this optional grid. On the iPhone, for example, click on the
Options button and adjust the Grid setting to On to display these lines.

An overview of compositional elements

Look for strong visual elements when framing a shot

different subjects or points of interest that grab the viewers eye
and lead it through the photograph. Lets take a look at some
strong examples of compositional elements:

Leading lines

Leading lines, whether intentional or accidental or man-made or

natural, draw your eye through a photograph:
S curves

Curves, which may resemble the lines of the letter S, can be subtle or pronounced. You can see S curves in this image
of Rocky Gorge in New Hampshires White Mountain National Forest:

Patterns

Patterns lead the viewers eye as well, like the layers in this moody image of the White Mountains:

Foreground, middle, and background

Think about a photographs composition as having foreground, middle, and background elements. For example, when
looking for foreground elements in the front part of your image, consider an object as simple as a large rock, like this one
at Baxter Lake in New Hampshire:

Your foreground element isnt necessarily the main subject of your photograph, but rather a starting place for the viewers
eye. For vast scenic landscapes, think about the placement of the horizon, too. If Im working with a pronounced horizon
in the scene, such as in a seascape or a scenic mountain range, Ill place the horizon on one of the horizontal lines in the
grid pattern, and never well almost never dead center in the frame.

Whether I place the horizon on the upper or lower third of the image depends almost entirely on one thing: the sky. If
your sky is featureless and boring, include less of it by placing the horizon in the upper third of the frame.
 Other than the color of the sun burning through the fog, there isnt much going on in
the sky, so I included less of it. Notice the strong foreground element the seaweed
in the lower third of the image. Your eye is then lead through and over the rocks
(in the middle ground of the photo), and toward the rising sun (in the background).

To contrast, the sky is the photograph here:

Everything else takes a back seat to that boiling fire burning in the sky.

Even if youre not taking these types of landscape photographs, you can apply these tips to other scenes and subject
matter.

Learning and breaking the rules

Just above, I mentioned a rule of never placing the horizon dead center in the frame. As with all of photographys rules,
theyre made to be broken. Sometimes, as shown in the next shot, placing the horizon in the center or pretty close to it
just works. This is also true if you have a perfect reflection on a mirror-smooth body of water. Placing the horizon in the
center doesnt work often, but when it does, go with it!

Though the horizon is nearly centered, the setting sun is far from it, placed in the right third of the frame. Rules can be
broken, yes, but one rule I keep in mind is to never place the sun directly in the center of the frame. Since the human eye
is drawn to bright light, the viewers eye may go directly to the bright sun and get stuck there. Ideally, you want the
eye to roam around, and for the viewer to become fully immersed in your image.

Tip: Get comfy with these rules of composition. Then experiment and break them! When you dont achieve the look you
want, figure out why, and try again. And when you do capture the perfect shot, remember what you did what rule you
broke so you can do it again.