Perspective Pershmective

Lesson 2 - releasing the artist

It's time to stop looking at stuff, and start looking at stuff. We brought in our stunning attempts at photography and discovered that something can be beautiful in real life, but we cannot truly help the camera to capture its beauty unless we frame the picture properly.

Oops - well NOW we know...

Pictures need to tell a story, draw the eye, interest the viewer, inspire them or tug at their heart strings. And the way you do this is by dividing your frame into nine squares and making sure the interesting stuff sits on one of the lines, particularly where it intersects. Amazing! Seriously, it's called the rule of thirds,
and I tried it with all my favourite snaps, and 95% of them had the subject on a third intersection.

Components to make your exposures interesting are subject matters with pattern, contrast and texture. We must consider taking pictures from other positions than eye-level, which is just like missionary - practical, but after a while, a little boring. Then, you mix that with a good splashing of perspective and depth of field, and presto! Life becomes art.