ABSTRACT

This chapter considers how to use the ideas described in many practical situations to demonstrate how central composition is to the process. Landscape photography incorporates all the elements of composition, but in large scale, which explains its popularity. With landscape composition, the photographer waits for light to reveal texture, such as geological and archaeological features, to advantage. Shape and form are revealed by the illumination of the constantly moving sun and moon over the forms of the land. Many photographers approach their still-life subjects as simple, geometric solids (cubes, cones, spheres). Some have practised with little more than a set of wooden or paper forms and a single light source. The simplest lighting is from a single light source, accompanied by a reflector to control the lighting ratio across the set. To find the ‘essence’ of a personality it is often most effective to concentrate solely on the face, excluding clues from clothing and posture.