It’s time for the weekend wrap up! Aaron is ready to bestow more wisdom on you by revealing how he managed to capture a few of the beautiful photographs you have seen throughout the previous two weeks. Today we are going to pay attention to framing, and making sure you have something interesting in the foreground, middle ground and background. Does everyone know about the rule of thirds? For each of these pictures, divide each one into a grid with three equal parts from side to side and top to bottom. Then place your subject in the first or third quadrant for a more visually appealing composition. Read on to learn more!
This picture of Julia lying in the water at Sugar Hollow for her Trash the Dress session is a great example of a few different elements of composition. First you have leading lines, the tree line draws your eye to our subject, Julia. Secondly we have a great mirror reflection of the sky, trees and Julia in the water. Aaron also did a great job of layering the photograph with a foreground, subject and background (our third element of composition). The sky’s reflection in the foreground leads your eye into the subject of the picture, Julia in the water, and the background completes the picture by framing Julia with the beautiful blue ridge mountains along with the sky and clouds!
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 16-35mm f/2.8
F Stop: 2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100 of a second
The picture below from Olive’s newborn portraits is a great example of the rule of thirds, and using negative space. By composing the family so they are in the right third of the frame, and there is negative space on the left (also sometimes called white space), I have cut out any distractions allowing your eye to focus just on the family and their cute little daughter. Also, by having Katie and David look at their daughter it focuses your attention on Olive … the star of the picture!
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 50mm f/1.2
F Stop: 2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/125 of a second
Mallory is in the center of this picture, but it works because she is being framed by the corn stalks. Most of the time photographers like to use doors to frame their subject, in this instance I used the rows of corn stalks to create a more unique frame. There are a few leaves out of focus in the foreground which gives depth to the picture, with Mallory in the middle ground and more cornstalks in the background.
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 24/70mm
F Stop: 2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/125 of a second
Recently in wedding photography we have seen a huge trend towards overexposed pictures to give an ethereal feel to the picture. I used this technique to not only give Rachelle and her bridesmaids that ethereal feel, but to bring out the color in the dresses, and also limit the distractions in the background (there was an ugly net in the background for the golf course driving range). I also like how the lines of the trees above the girls point down, bringing your eye to the focus of the picture.
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 16/35mm
F Stop: 2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/320 of a second
In this landscape picture featuring Maria and Adam and their dog at Pharsalia, there are multiple elements of composition at work. There is the leading line of the road which takes your eye from the subjects all the way back to the mountains. Maria and Adam are also in the lower right third of the picture, and the width of the road helps frame them, which separates them from the background.
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 16/35mm
F Stop: 7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/200 of a second
Photography by: Aaron Watson
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