Elements of Art & Photography

slideshow

1. Elements of Art for Creative
Photo 1 and 2

2. What's the difference
between a snapshot and a
photograph?
All great photographs
contain at least one of 7
elements that great works of
art also contain.
Lunchtime atop a
Skyscraper
Charles C. Ebbets
1932
Migrant Mother
Dorothea Lange
1936
Gandhi at his spinning wheel
Margaret Bourke-White
1948

3. What makes an effective photograph?
Some professionals consider a
successful photograph one where you
achieve your intent in athoughtful
skilled way.
Not all photographs live up to this
standard and yet they can be effective
too—they are commonly called snap
shots-quick photographs we take of
family and friends and eventsthat we
want to remember.

4. Elements &
Principles of Art &
Design
The basic building
blocks
•Line
•Shape
•Form
•Space
•Value / Tone
•Texture
•Color

5. Lines
•They have the power to draw the eye to key focal
points in a shot and to impact the ‘feel’ of an image
greatly.
•Diagonal,Horizontal,VerticalandConverging
linesall impact images differently and should be
spotted while framing a shot and then utilized to
strengthen it.

6. Leading lines are used to draw the viewer’s eye through a
photograph.
They are intentional or unintentional, natural lines created in
the space of the photograph and are used to create a visual
narrative in the composition.
Leading lines are also used to draw your eye to a focal
point in the shot that you would like to highlight.

7. Do any of these photos
contain leading lines?

8. Any leading lines here?

9. Lines don't have to be straight, nor do
they have to vanish (like those seen in the
classic road or fence image).
Different kinds of lines convey different
emotions--straight, vertical lines like
those in a skyscraper convey power,
while curved lines like those found in the
path of a river are soothing.
Line is one of the most
important photographic
elements. Line draws the
viewer's eye into the image.
It gives a photograph a
sense of depth and distance
and a feeling of potential.

10. Shape & Form
(they're not the same thing)
Shape is basically the two-
dimensional version of form. When
you focus on shape, you are
primarily concerned with the
outline of your subject and its
two-dimensional qualities.
The subject itself doesn't have to
be two-dimensional, of course,
but its outline is typically more
important than its depth.
.

11. Shapes in
Photos:
Can be GEOMETRIC (man-made) ex. Square, triangle,
circle, etc.
Can be ORGANIC (natural) ex. Leaves, humans,
puddles, etc.
Shapes are 2-Dimensional and flat. (circle)

12. Form
•Forms are 3-Dimensional
with height, width and
depth. (sphere)
•Used to create a sense of
space and substance.
Photographs are two dimensional, but skillful use of form will
make a photo appear to have depth even when it doesn't. Move
around the subject so that you get a better sense of it in three
dimensions, and shoot from different angles until you find the
one that best captures the object's form.

13. Landscapes are affected by the same quality of form, depending on the position of the
sun. The above image from Wayah Bald in North Carolina was taken in the middle of
the day with the sun directly overhead. There is very little form to the mountains
because of the lack of shadows.
This image of Cades Cove from
Gregory Bald in the Smokies
was taken late in the evening,
near sunset. With the sun near
the horizon, there are a huge
number of shadows, giving form
to the mountains valleys and
ridges.

14. Space
•Gives the photo a 3-dimensional feeling. (Depth)
•
•Foreground (closest), Middle ground, and
Background (farthest).
•Can be open, crowded, near, far, etc.
Two types of space:
POSITIVE SPACE–the area the
objects/subject takes up.
NEGATIVE SPACE–the area around, under,
through and between all the objects.

15. •Space can be either
positive or negative.
•The area within a shape
can be referred to as
space, but in
photography we
generally think of the
negative version of
space.
•Negative space is the
area that surrounds a
shape or form.

16. There can be a fine line
betweenfilling your
frame with your subject
and also giving your subject
space to breath.
Either technique can be
effective –so experiment
with moving in close and
personal and moving out to
capture a subject in its
context.
Sometimes it is what you
leave out of an image that
makes it special

17. Negative space

18. Positive Space
Sometimes positive and
negative space can work
together and create a an
interesting balance of
both types of space

19. •Space is also a useful tool
for creating drama; you
can use a small negative
space to make an object
appear towering or
overwhelming, or you can
use a large negative space
to make it seem smaller
than it actually is.
•For example, with careful
use of space an otherwise
large boat photographed
against a vast ocean can
be made to look
diminutive or even
vulnerable.

20. Value

21. Value (also known as
Tone):
Black and white photography is
completely dependent upon tone.
Tone is the various amounts of light
and dark in a photo. More contrast
means more tones.Color photographs
also have tone but have an extra
element of hues (colors
•Black and White and all
the Grays in between
•Dark to Light and vice
versa
•Can add drama and
impact to composition.
•Can give a sense of
timelessness

22. Value, or Tone, can be
visible in both B/W or
color photos.

23. Texture:
•The surface quality. Adds interest! Sense of sight and
sense of touch involved.
•How an object feels, or how it looks like it feels (Rough,
smooth, bumpy, gooey, sharp, etc.).
•For portraits, a textured background such as a worn, rustic barn
can make your subject stand out and give you an creative
background. Textured skin adds character to interesting people,
giving them a story.

24. •Texture in a macro shot can get really intriguing. When you get
REALLY close to a subject, large or small, you can see textures that
are not easily seen. These broken shells are all along the beach in the
Canaveral National Seashore in Florida. You can see every little line,
hole, and mark from years of these shells being washed up and down
the beach.

27. Color:
Color is one of the
most powerful of
elements.
Color is one of the
best ways to create
mood in
photography!

28. •There are three (3) properties to color.
–First is hue, which simply means the name we give to a PURE color of the
rainbow (red, yellow, blue, etc.).
–The second property is intensity, which refers to the strength and vividness
of the color.For example, we may describe the color blue as "royal"
(bright, rich, vibrant) or "dull" (grayed).
–The third and final property of color is its value, meaning its lightness or
darkness. The termsshade (darker) and tint(lighter) are in reference to value
changes in colors.

29. Theoretically all hues can be mixed from three basic
hues, known asPrimaries-red, blue and yellow.
Combining primaries create Secondary colors:
orange, green, and purple.

30. Color is often combined with another element to
make make the photo really pop. What other
elements help make this an artistic photo?

31. Principles of design in
Photogrpahy
•The different arrangements –or compositions-
of the ELEMENTS of design to create artistic,
interesting, more visually powerful photographs.
•The principles of design take theElementsand
organize them in a single piece of art. While
these apply to any media in art, I will be using
them specifically for photography.

32. What are some Principles of
Photography?
•Emphasis
•Balance
•Perspective
•Contrast
•Movement
•Pattern/Repetition
•Unity

33. EMPHASIS or Focal Point
Emphasisin a composition refers
to developing points of interest to
pull the viewer's eye to important
parts of the body of the work.

34. EMPHASIS EXAMPLES

36. Pattern/Repetition
•An element that occurs over and over again
in a composition.
•Can repeat the element in a consistent
pattern.
•Can repeat the element in a variation of the
pattern.

37. Repetition Examples

38. Balance
Balanceis a sense of stability in
the body of work. Balance can be
created by creating a feeling of
equal weight.

40. CONTRAST
Contrastrefers to the opposites
and differences in the work. You
can achieve variety by using
different shapes, textures, colors
and values in your work.

41. CONTRAST Examples

43. Movement
Movementadds excitement to your work by
showing action and directing the viewers eye
throughout the picture plane. Rhythmis a type of
movement in drawing and painting. It is seen in
repeating of shapes and colors. Alternating lights
and darks also give a sense of rhythm.

44. Movement

46. Perspective
Perspective in photography can be defined as the sense of depth
or spatial relationships between objects in the photo, along
with their dimensions with respect to the viewpoint (camera lens
or the viewer).
This includes their relative positions and sizes and the space
between them.

47. The angle from which an artist takes the photo
…likee lying on the ground, shooting up.

48. Perspective forces you to
see things from different
angles, heights and
distances. This type is
called FORCED
perspective.

49. UNITY in Photography
Definition of Unity in Photography:
Unityoccurs whenall of the elements of a piece combine to make a
balanced, harmonious, complete whole.
Unityis another of those hard-to-describe art terms but, when it's
present, your eye and brain are pleased to see it, aesthetically
speaking.

50. The idea behind the principle of unity is to create an image where all
elements support each other and all work together toward a
common goal.
Through unity, the elements of your image are not competing with
each other for attention.