Unit 1 Photography

Line

- Carves out areas of space on either side of it.

- Every line (except a straight one) creates shape.

- Lines can be flowing, majestic, or move in waves

- They can express conceptual, cultural, or symbolic concepts

- They can show contour (an outline that creates a boundary and separates its space from

its background), directional movement, form, pattern, and texture.

- Line is a human creation and not found in pure nature. It is used by the human mind to simplify visualization

Shape

-Are areas which have specific character defined by an outline, contrast, color value, or

texture with the surrounding area... and are created by a closed line.

- There are 4 basic types of shape: geometric (triangle., circle etc.), natural (imitate things

such as animals, plants, humans, etc.), abstract (altered in a way to reduce their

essence... they are recognizable but have been transformed into something else), and

nonobjective (do not relate to anything in the natural world as we cannot put specific

names on them. They become subjective to our being)

Space

- Is an area you can manipulate to create a form.

- There are three kinds of space: Actual (when looking through the camera viewfinder it is

2D... when looking at it with the eye, it is 3D), pictorial (an illusionary sense of depth

that we see in a 2D world, but can explain through figure/ground or in components of a

print), and virtual (that which is confined to the computer monitor, which may or may

not actually exist)

Texture

- Could be considered a perceived “feel” of a surface.

- Smooth textures create calm, cool sensations.

- Rough textures create lively, warm sensations.

- Pattern and texture are often intertwined. We can feel texture, even though pattern

doesn’t give us a sense of touch.

- Texture may be called “tactile” (a surface which can actually be felt as smooth, rough,

wet, dry, etc.) or “implied” (variations in light may cause the mind to think that there is

something to feel, when there actually isn’t)

Pattern

- This is the unifying quality of an object among its colors, shapes, or space which form a

recognizable, repetitive, or identifiable quality. It creates a balance or sense of rhythm

Unity & Variety

- These two terms may be seen as “twins” in that one has control over the other... tending

to balance them out. Unity is the control of variety (so all things seems right) and variety

maintains visual interest. The ideal composition has close to equality between both of

these.

- The more complex the composition, the more a unifying device is needed, such as the

repetition of a shape, pattern, or size of something.

- Variety may be introduced through use of size, color, texture, or contrast (hard against

soft, as in lighting technique)

Repetition

-Elements which are repeated throughout an image, or images which promote unity.

Rhythm

- A “flow” accomplished by repetition of an element.

- Repeated elements are spaced apart to relieve visual stress, and may have different

weights

Balance

- This is the visual equilibrium of the objects in a composition.

- There are five main categories of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, balance

through color, and texture balance

a. Symmetrical: is when both sides mirror each other as “same.” This creates calm,

dignified, and stability.

b. Asymmetrical: is when both sides are different in most cases, but visual weight

creates balance. This creates active, dynamic, and excitement.

c. Radial: occurs when a number of elements point outward from a central hub, such as

a wagon wheel. It creates a sense of explosiveness, implies directional movement,

and indicates infinity.

d. Balance through color: Warm colors tend to advance (have more visual weight),

while cool colors recede (less visual weight). Warm colors are seen as accents

(flowers, birds, etc.) subjects such as trees and landscape are often green or brown

(cool colors). A small amount of red may be equal to a large area of blue or green.

e. Texture balance: A small area of texture can balance a larger area of a smooth

surface

Emphasis

- This is the main visual focal point of an image.

- Without emphasis, the eye wanders through a composition... and when not satisfied...it

leaves!

- Focal devices/techniques to use here include: contrast, color, depth of field, position,

light, size, and perspective

Proportion

- This is a size relationship of elements in a photograph.

- Shapes are proportional to the area they occupy in a composition.

- Correct proportion is what we, as experienced humans, say, “is real or normal.” (relate

this to a head size in an 8x10 portrait)

- Although, just because something is disproportional doesn’t automatically make it wrong.

It is called unique or attention grabbing!

- Camera distance, lens, and creative software are common tools for altering proportion

Scale (size)

- An indication of how the size of something ought to be.

- Is a constant comparison of two elements in a photograph; the larger normally getting

more attention.

- Great photographers understand how to make the viewer see a new way of looking at

something by creating the unfamiliar

Symbolism

- Is anything that represents or stands for something else.

- Symbols have properties of association attached to them.

- Symbols are usually not complex, so interpretation becomes easy.

- Lines which form letters, words, or musical notes become symbols.

- A photograph is or becomes a symbol. It represents the person at that particular time.

- Symbols are “shorthand” for the artist.

- Symbols aid in helping the viewer sort things out during communication.

- It is a type of sign language, although not all cultures may not totally understand what

they represent

Form

An element of art described as three-dimensional and encloses space. Like a

shape, a form has length and width, but it also has depth. Forms are either geometric or

free form. As elements of art, along with the line, shape, texture, value, space, and color,

form in art helps artists to produce an illusion of 3D and depth on a two-dimensional

surface

Contrast

The verb “contrast” means to show a difference, like photos that reveal

how much a child has grown by contrasting the "before" and "after" shots. To contrast

something is to look for differences among two or more elements, but compare is to do

the opposite, to look for similarities. Contrast in photography is the visual ratio of

different tones in an image. This difference is what creates the textures, highlights,

shadows, colors and clarity in a photograph. Simply, “contrast is the difference in

darkness (sometimes called, density) in an image”

-A definition of Contrast the Web: Contrast, as it pertains to imagery, is the difference

between the brightest brights, the whitest whites, the darkest darks, and the

blackest blacks. If there are more visible details in an image, then it's considered low

contrast. If there are less visible details, then it's high contrast—Google

3-dimensional exposure

a classic exposure can be evaluated as having three

components: a highlight (the brightest portion(s) of the image), tonal range (the mid-

tone ranges of gray found in the image), and the shadow area (the darkest portion of the

image). As you look at black and white images, stripped of their color, one can see these

ranges easily. This is the “3-dimensional” effect we speak about in this course and we

call or describe these images being “normal” or of normal exposure. Images lacking

shadow are called “low contrast” or even described as “flat”. Images with no mid-tones

are called “high contrast” or described as “contrasty”. All of this can be controlled

during camera exposure using the tools of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and light

availability