Last week we covered composition. We’ve looked at different types of compositions and how to use them. Today’s lesson is about bringing attention to your subject. Having a subject that stands out is a must, if you want a great photo. Below are a few examples of how to bring attention to your subject.
Focus
Focus is the easiest and the most important way of bringing attention to your subject. Our eyes are trained to always search for the focused part of a photograph. If your subject is in focus, you can be certain that the reader will notice it. Finding the focus is one of the primary ways of looking at photos.
How to use it?
Just make sure that your main subject is always in focus. Use aperture to adjust the amount of DOF to achieve the desired effect.
Composition
Composition is an arrangement of different elements that bring attention to you subject. Read more about it in this post.
How to use it?
A photograph can not exist without a composition. Use it always.
Contrast
Contrast is the difference between different colors or tonal values. The amount of contrast varies from color to color. Some colors and tonal values are in high contrast (big difference), while some are low contrast (small difference). Yellow and blue are an example of a high contrast, while orange and red is an example of low contrast.
How to use it?
Contrast is awesome. It instantly brings attention to your subject, because it makes your subject different from the rest of the scene. If you have a sea of blue tulips, a yellow sunflower will stand out. Even low contrast is better than no contrast.
Eyes
Humans have evolved to always look at eyes. We have a special part in our brains that has the sole purpose of recognising faces. If there’s a face with eyes in a photo, we immediately look at it. No expectations. It’s in our genes.
How to use it?
Make sure that the eyes are always in focus and clearly visible. This is especially true in portraits. We don’t care about how sharp the nose or the lips are, we only care about the eyes, so make sure they’re sharp!
Omit any text
Text can be seen in any newspaper, license plate, advertisement, billboard, logo, product and many other. We have learned to always look at text, even if we don’t understand it.
How to use it?
Get rid of all the text that is not important. Frame it in such a way to not have any text whatsoever. If you can’t get rid of it, just remember, the reader’s gaze will always start at the text. This can be counter productive, if you want to bring attention to your subject.
