Creative tips 3: essence and moments | London Creative Photographer
I thought my next set of tips should be different from the previous two. If you missed them, click here to follow the trail. So this time, I’ll share some images I’ve taken last year when I really felt I need to do something for myself that would inspire me and keep me excited and passionate about photography.
Subject: Any person/s or favourite object/activity or a trip
Goal: It’s a simple concept. To take photos of your subject without showing their full faces but still capture the essence of their personality. If the subject is a person, try capture moments too.
Techie tips:
Light – Find somewhere with plenty of light to illuminate all or part of your subject such as a large window, artificial light like lamps and candles, or open shade. Utilise bright sunlight by focusing on shadows created.
Composition – A key element in the project. Crop in camera so that you cut out most of the subjects and not show their full faces. Do not cut off where the joints are such as neck, elbows, knees. Think angles, rule of thirds, leading lines, corners, textures, patterns and focus on one of these.
Details – Capture parts and fractions – of toys, hands, hair, fractions of features that remind you of their personality. Get up close and personal or stand back a little.
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Categories: children, general, homepage, photography
Tags: children, creative cropping, cropping, day trip, legoland, vintage
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Hi Lily! A close friend who’s also into photography loves doing odd crops that don’t necessarily fit into a standard print size. He just crops as he wishes to make the image more powerful, even if it’s going to be hard to print it afterwards. I don’t think he’s got a compositional problem – he usually just wants his pictures a different shape (elongated rectangle, etc). What’s your take on this kind of cropping? Should I stick to standard sizes or is it worth it going into bizarre sizes for the sake of composition?
Thanks!!
Hi Cate,
I thought I’d replied to your question already! Anyway, I crop in camera most of the time and keep to the traditional size prints for clients. But when I’m doing my personal projects, or if I know the client doesn’t mind a bit of non-traditional stuff, I crop to my heart’s content on PS. You can also crop on PS by keeping to the traditional size by using the same ratio but choosing a new composition. And if really needed, custom canvases and products can always be made to order, at a cost. Hope this helps.
Lily
Hi Lily!
Lovely photos as ever!
I really love the tones, are all these PS post processed?
Thanks!
Mayet
Thanks Mayet. Yes all PS pp. Lx