Photo Tips from a Judge

When planning your photography, you may wish to think about some of the following:

Line:

Vertical lines imply a sense of stability in the image, whereas diagonal lines imply a sense of dynamism. Think about the diagonals of fallen trees or take the photograph at an unusual angle.

Shape:

The two-dimensional shape of an object is often best shown in a silhouette. Think of a Celtic cross silhouetted against a dramatic sunset.

Form:

The three-dimensional form of an object may or may not say more than the two-dimensional shape. You might see very elaborate statues with lots of potential to work with their forms. Lighting will be critical to show these forms to their best advantage.

Texture:

Lighting will be critical if you want to accentuate texture - if you want to feature the depth of an object, the light will need to be raking across it; if depth is less important than some other element of your composition you may want to use frontal lighting to minimise its impact.

Colour:

You can use the contrast of bright colours against a drab background. If your image doesn't have much colour impact, consider photographing it as a monochrome image. If shooting in mono, consider using colour filters to alter the contrast in the sky or the foliage, or if converting from a colour digital image, use Channel Mixer in Photoshop to mix channels to simulate the use of filters.

Mood:

As well as the compositional variety you can find in field trips, such as to a graveyard, perhaps more important is the potential to create a mood in your photograph. This can vary from a full-on Gothic image with stormy sky and lots of contrast, to perhaps a more high-key infra-red image creating a mood of peace and rest.

Light:

The observant reader will see that the theme running through all the ideas here is LIGHT. Photography is all about light and it is the use of light which usually makes or breaks a good photograph. So put some thought into how you are going to use light in your photograph. Do you want a stormy sky, harsh midday sun, soft late-afternoon light, early morning mist or a dull overcast sky? In this regard, Photoshop (or any other image editing software) will not help you much; you are going to be pretty well stuck with the quality and direction of the light you capture. So think before you shoot!

** These tips are excerpted and generalized from a briefing by an anonymous photography judge before a competition.