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When advertising your business it is very important to have good quality printing. Often what stands out is a well chosen title and also the chosen images. Images can be very important because they need to be eye catching, meaning they need to attract a potential viewer or customer who will see the printing. The printing may be in a shop window or on a leaflet stand, either way the image needs to jump of the page - but how can this be done? Here I am going to give you some tips on attracting potential customers using well chosen images.
When you are taking a photograph you want it to be your own. This is because your own images can add so much more character and they can look exactly how you want them too. But it isn’t as simple as that, it’s no good pointing a camera if you don’t know how to compose a good image.
Use of Rule of Thirds and Orientation
The rule of thirds is like a grid that is cut into thirds both horizontally and vertically, therefore has 9 sections. The rule of thirds is a photographic concept, if you follow the rule you will be ensured a much more effective image. The rule of thirds is what your eye responds to best naturally. When you look at an image you do not look at the entire image at once you scan over the image and concentrate on each third separately. Your eye firstly looks at the left third and then scans to the right third just like reading a book. Knowing this is important when taking a picture because you want to place important objects in the pictures upon the intersections of the grid as this is where the eye hovers on for the longest.
When you are looking through your viewfinder you should consider these four points of interest which is where you could be placing the most important parts of your image for more empahasis.
You also have the lines that can be used to divide up your image more effectively.
For example in this image of a baby, the main focus(the baby) is placed on the left and central third as this is where it is most comfortable for the eye upon viewing.
If you can see the baby is more in focus on the left side of his face, the left eye is also on the intersection meaning the focus can be placed on the eye.
The mouth is also in an intersection making it the second main focal point leaving the right third ignored.
- When using the rule of thirds the questions you must ask yourself are:
- What are the points of interest in my shot?
- Where am I intentionally placing them?
Another good example of how the rule of thirds works well is when shooting landscape photography for example a sunrise or sunset.
Use of Orientation
Image one
Image two
Which image do you feel works better?
Most people will agree that image two works much better than image one. But why is this? Its because on image two the photographer considered orientation when shooting. You must consider whether the subject you are shooting will look better in landscape or portrait - the clues in the name!
when shooting people or ‘portraiture’ using a portrait orientation is much more appropriate whereas if you are shooting a landscape then a landscape orientation often works much better, unless you are trying to break certain conventions that only skilled photographers can master.
Another reason that image two is much more effective could be because the photographer has made very good use of the rule of thirds. The horizon line runs perfectly across the bottom intersection and the image is then divided up nicely, the sun taking up the first third whereas the tree is taking up the right third.
But what is the main focal point?
The main focal point of the image is the sun which is why it is composed left of the frame.
Image three
Can you see why the image does not work as well with the sun on the left hand side of the image? It is simply less comfortable to rest your eye on when you are viewing an image.
Once you become comfortable with using the rule of thirds then you may be able to start breaking these rules on purpose. This may be if you wish to take weird photographs that are uncomfortable to look at; this may be if you are trying to take a scary photograph or something controversial. However it is very easy to get this wrong so you must bear in mind some key tips:
- Placing your object central can also work if you keep good symmetry on both sides
- Having your subject (if it is a person) looking straight at the camera can have some good results
- Cropping your images during post production to rescale and change the composition can work in your favour if an image you have taken is not very striking.
- You may find when cropping an image, when comparing it to the original image you could have very different representations or interpretations
Image four
This is an example of photographs working if symmetry is kept. Whereas if you were to try cropping this photograph to have the ‘danger’ sign on the left the image would not be as striking.
Using Camera Setting
When taking an image another thing to bear in mind that if you are using a SLR or a DSLR that there is in fact a dial that you should learn how to use if you want to take better quality prints.
Many of us are guilty for leaving the camera on its automatic setting and taking a picture – and sure this may work for more amateur shooting but if you want to take photographs worthy to print or to be used for posters and flyers then you must learn and master the settings dial.
This is a setting dial typical of a standard DSLR camera, there may be slight variations between models but this is fairly standard. The green rectangle indicates manual shooting mode which can be used as benchmark but you may find you will receive a much better outcome when exploring your dial.
Automatic Half
The first setting you can explore is the portrait setting, indicated on the dial by a face. This setting is another manual setting and will pick up the main focus (the person) in the shot and blur out the background. This can work nicely if you are taking a portrait of someone with a busy background that you wish to be out of focus. This is done by selecting a large aperture and a small f-stop, this image is considered to have a short depth of field because some objects remain out of focus.
The next setting is the landscape setting which is another automatic setting which is shown as a hill on the dial. This setting selects a large aperture and large F-stop which makes everything in the image go in sharp focus; this is considered a large depth of field.
The next setting is ‘macro’ which is used for close up photography; it is normally shown by an image of a flower. This keeps the aperture at a low or medium setting and for someone shooting close up it leaves the focus sharp and the background blurred.
The next mode is sport setting represents by a running figure; this mode is where the shutter speed will be set really high in order to capture fast movement without the pain of motion blur.
The next mode is the night time setting which is best for shooting in the dark. It is shown by a person with a star icon. The camera has a low shutter speed setting and a long flash to light up the photograph.
The next setting is no flash; the icon shows a flask with a line through it. This setting is useful in bright sun to stop the image from becoming over exposed.
Manual Half
The manual half of the camera dial are shown using letters.
The first setting is the Program Auto Exposure setting; this is shown using the letter ‘P’. Using this mode you can access the aperture and shutter speed settings in a combination to create the right exposure.
The next setting is often shown as ‘TV’ or ‘S’ which is the camera’s shutter priority. Using this mode you can select your own shutter speed, it also takes into account you ISO setting.
The next setting is shown as ‘Av’ or ‘A’, this is the mode where you can manual choose you aperture or F-stop and the camera will automatically chose the right speed for the exposure.
Finally the last setting on the camera dial is called the manual mode signified by an ‘M’. This setting allows you as a photographer to have full control over all of the setting you wish to change including – ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure and metering. This allows you to play around with your pictures in order to find the right levels of light and speed. If you just try using these manual modes you will see vast improvements in the quality of your photographs.
Composition
To create a great photograph you must consider how you are going to compose this image. Different photographers could be given the same scene yet they could all have a different outcome depending on how they compose the image.
What you need to consider
- Point of interest
- Contrast
- Framing
And the question, ‘What message do you want your image to deliver?’
Point of interest
You firstly need to identify what the point of interest in the photograph is, for example if you are doing advertising photography your point of interest is going to be the product. You now need to know how to emphasize this in the photograph. Be sure you only include objects in the image that you want the viewer to see; including elements in the background of the image can make an entirely new meaning behind the image. For example if you are photographing an image of a school girl holding books to advertise joining a really good school yet you have a television in the background this is not showing the reader intellect, instead you could maybe use a black or white board in the background.
Another way you can lead the viewer’s eye to your key point of interest is if you use lines of direction in the image. When using parallel lines in an image they look larger at the foreground and appear to get smaller as they get further away in the image. This can add depth to the image giving it a three dimensional feel to the image. You can create these lines using foliage, building or even lighting, use your imagination.
Image six
For example in the image directional lines have been created using trees, a path and greenery.
If you where to place a point of interest, for example, a person, where would you place it?
You should be placing it near the end of the path so that your eyes follows the path and then reach the point of interest and stay there.
Contrast
Another good way of making things stand out In an image is using contrasting colours. A light subject will have more emphasis if it is placed on a dark background and a vice versa. You could shoot silhouettes against a light background to make the silhouette stand out more or you could use shadows in the image as well. in advertising alot of the photography of products is on a plain background, choosing this background colour carefully is key, if you are advertising a product with white packaging, using a black background would stand out more.
You can also use editing software to increase the contrast of an image to make it stand out more.
Image seven
When looking at this image the point of interest (or main focal point) is the people standing on the rock, the people have been made to stand out due to the contrast between the dark rock and silhouette and the light sky in the background.
You can now use editing software such as Photoshop to increase the contrast to make it stand out even more (see image eight).
Image eight
This also brings out the colours of the sky nicely as well as the people, can you see how image eight stands out and looks much better?
Framing
how you frame an image is also very important because you want to make sure you get everything in shot and that it looks important.
Framing an image of a person is something that many people go wrong with, leaving just the right amount of headroom can be key to a good photograph; this is bearing in mind the rule of thirds. There are various types of shots when taking a photograph, this includes a long shot, medium shot and close up, there are many more but these are the three you need to know.
The long shot - includes a full body shot of a subject.
A medium shot - would normally cut off at the torso of the subject
The close up – this is normally shoulders up; just the face is called an extreme close up.
Think of the rule of thirds, you do not want more than half the top third as headroom, a whole third of headroom unbalances the image, you can of course cut of the top of the head if you keep the rest of the image in proportion. For a long shot keep the shoulders up in the top third, the torso in the middle third and the legs in the bottom third to keep the image balanced and properly composed. For a medium shot the shoulders should be central and finally for a close up the mouth of the subject should be central.
Here are some examples to help you...
So why don’t you go out and try out some of these ideas’s and capture some fantastic photographs that jump of the page for print!
Posted By Victoria Blackwell
