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What Makes a Dramatic Image?

when you're choosing a commission, you're talking about these things here. So the scene, creative skills, creating technical skills and technical skills. So what makes a dramatic image? I did have a really nice picture. I have to describe this picture because he couldn't reproduce it. So who's familiar with on re Cartier Bresson? Have you guys come across him? It was famous for coming up with a turn of decisive moment. It's like, When do you press the shutter? Um, so we're talking about post production, but you can't post produce completely random images. Occasionally, people send me stuff saying Gone three tutorials. Dave. I've tried everything with this image, and I just can't get it to work and are looking to go out. And I'm not going to have to do it, either, because I don't see what you're trying to shoot. So this idea that you can create in America you have the expression creating assault person at the same year. Yeah, you can't You can't do that. It's to see if the photograph is...

completely wrong from the outset. Is your scope to make it better is minimal, So kind of the decisive moment is something you need to think about when you're shooting when we're going out in the alley today does not mean many decisive moments, not for shooting the props he brought along. But we do have a model we could work with the maybe, maybe some decisive moments there kind of things like this. This is one of my favorite shots my daughters, when they're younger and playing in the shower kind of a que shot. If you got the kids laughing, it's just that licking of the time. It was just a two second thing. It kind of captures what it's all about, you know? Can you imagine licking the inside of a shower? It doesn't appeal to me in the least, but for kids, it's kind of something you do, and it's a fun moment, so it's catching it just the right time on this one as well. It's not quite decisive moment and sense of action capturing, but if he just being stood there, it's not kind of the same shot so clearly. When we're talking about dramatic images, there's something about you know when you press the shelter andare thrown image that was taken by a friend of mine is you Else at the bottom. There is kind of both things at once. This is me a couple of weekends ago in black Port, waiting for the decisive moment. So what I was doing, he was just shooting waves. You waiting for the waves to move into a particular position? Um, on the kind of did I didn't. I didn't get anything that was amazingly happy with you. Kind of washing the ways in the foreground. You washing clouds in the background, you watching otherwise break. It was kind of a decisive moment in the process. I kind of threw that winning like that from a few pictures of me that I actually like. I'm not gonna watch this video afterwards because I hate seeing myself on camera s, so I I But I won't be watching it. Contents what I mean by content, that makes a dramatic u me. What sort content makes for dramatic images. The like, the subject that you're shooting and the actual object that's in the photo. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So things like this one of my favorite shots from Dubai. I was lucky enough to get up on a construction site and I know you don't like heights, so if I get like two stories off the ground, my legs start wobbling in. You can't look out the windows and things like this, but we're 86 floors up on this building and just a metal pole at the side of the concrete. It was so high was like flying. I don't mind looking at airplane Windows 86 floors like, Wow, you felt that you could just kind of fly away. Um, so this is the Bush is now the Burj Khalifa it What's the boasted? By initially, it's the world's tallest building. For me, what makes this dramatic is kind of this crew, this chain and hook in the foreground. So I was stood that way. The one with the hook on the end was swinging, so the other was fixed. This was swinging backs and forwards just wait for it to swing into position. But it's kind of, you know, it's not dramatic because of the postproduction. Postproduction helps. It's quite flat day. There's lots of haze. That kind of the key thing here is the content on. It's the same for the shop. It's kind of a dramatic image because it is an unusual scene. Thing was about called or evidence very washed up on Ran aground on the beach near where we live on there again, it's in HD are of the same shop. This is kind of dramatic because the content is dramatic. David, we have a couple people charming in online in terms of what makes a dramatic image. Let's let it share Sheila saying emotion, Yeah, yeah, And then she'll also said story. So just absolutely Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I'm gonna get my story is an interesting one because I've been blogging a single image a day since 2004. So story is something that my website is very difficult to get across because invariably stories and better told with more than 11 image. So bear that in mind as we go through this weekend that we're talking about post producing single images but often a collection of images, particularly if you're talking about conveying a story or conveying something that goes beyond one immediate thing, then, yeah, we might We might think about multiple images at any point. I don't know. Everyone's brought along a set. Then just with you examples. I'm using a role. Single images, but yeah, thank you for that. I was certainly a relevant point. Creative interpretation of a See what I mean by that. Anybody want to guess different. So I would take that to me. Is what my for me. What? My mind's eyes. Seeing that image to be the how I'm visually interpreting that image. What compared to what the actual moment is? Yeah, that's certainly one way thinking about it's not the one I was thinking about immediately. What else could I mean by creative interpretation of the scene? Ask the people in line as well. When I'm asking questions. I know they have to be quite quick to type it in, but yeah, there's just a little a minute delay, but they're on their way. Yeah. Excellent. My thought was a composition. How I would compose it. Yes, this is This is you'll see in a minute. Is this is this is what your point is Absolutely relevant. But what? I was kind of thinking about composition. I'm who shoes Children. You sure? Children wet. Where to position the camera when you're shooting Children. What is it? Yeah, where do you position yourself in relation to the Children. I get down. Why'd you do that? Um, so I'm not shooting down on that way. Yeah. Why is that high level yet? Why, Um it's just the way I want to see it. Yeah. Why does it work better? Excuse me. Why does it work better when you get down to their level? I feel like I'm in their world. Absolutely. Yeah. You were gonna say that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that's what David folks are saying online. So you're saying unusual angles below the child. Sheila says, Yeah. Creative interpretation involves a photographer putting himself or point of view into the image by Sam Cox. Yes. So with Children, Children regret example. I haven't got any images of Children coming up in this next section. But if you stand up and you just kind of do this and you point down at them, that's what everybody sees. That's where every adult sees when you get down on the ground or their eye level or below. You become part of that world. It's a kind of creative interpretation of a scene for me is thinking about what is the vantage points that will give me something that other people are going to see. If all you take is the pictures that people see is they walk around the world, they're not gonna be that interesting, I think part of the duty of the photographer trying to with duties too strong a word. But I think it is. I think if you want to produce very compelling images, you need to show people something that's different. So for me a lot, a lot of that comes back to post production, so the scene doesn't look quite right. How can I post produce it so it matches my vision? But it's also about giving people something that they wouldn't necessarily see for themselves. So things like what we're looking at that how is how is it shot? What do you actually looking at? It's a piece of architecture shot with a wide angle from the low vantage point in black and white. What's why, by size mirrored, you presumably wanted some level of symmetry to create dry mind your image. How was how was it done that your next to ah, glass wall shooting the reflection? Yes, that's what Kevin P is saying online as well. Reflection in a window? Yeah, And then the post production is your no. If you shoot reflections that the reflection is always lacks a bit of contrast. It's always a bit darker to the post. Production here was balancing the two sides of the image. So bringing up the contrast in the brightness for the reflection a za quick tip reflections and near you get to the surface that you using for the reflection, the better the reflection will be to kind of lower the angle of incidence. So for this one, I got my lens stuffed tripods leading on the window, the cameras leading on the wind and the lenses close. I can get because then you don't see the window. If your foot away from it, you'll see some details on the window. The closer you get, the better it works. So this is kind of the thing that it's a scene you don't see on. This is the Dubai International Financial Centre. I'm shot from behind the building, but it's not something that people would see because they don't walk down with the head trailing, scraping the head along the windows. The goat Aziz they walked past. But it is kind of a unique take on the scene, so the building is actually symmetrical, Which is kind of why I like it does look like that. But you only see in half and half in this image. So fruit Ron White. It's a kind of a stretch for me. The strength of this images, it shows people something different. So even people who walk through here every day won't have seen. Seen by the mayor. That may have done the mark opulence of it may have been standing by the window, but they won't really thought about it. So what you're looking at that a reflection in the water? Yeah, building that. What what else was done? That's unusual. How do you imagine the original looked on? What? What's the nature of the water? Where where is this water? What's that? What's this stuff kind of at the top of the image here, Spry studios is saying that looks like a ground reflection that see camera upside down, says the gray. That's one way of thinking about it. It was It was flipped over. Yeah, you know what? We get a lot of flip Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was flipped in postproduction, probably standing on my head because that's easier on the sand. It's on the send. Yes, so this is This is why you get kind of the bigger bits of the top on. It seems to get smaller and more broken up at the bottom. This is I'm It's a photograph of a bit your friend in there. Imagine it the other way up. Um, and it's the ripples in the sand on the beach with kind of the water in the ripples on. The reason it's getting smaller as you go back is it's actually shot over quite long distance you can't tell. The ripples are all the same size, but they look small at the bottom because they're further away. Is that kind of makes sense on the original image on? I'm not sure I got this one in the set of images we've got, but it is very, very flat shot in overcast day. So the color the car was kind of brought out, but added, so it's a lot warmer than the original, but again, it's kind of you walking on the beach. It's the scene you would see, but to take the time to process it through to produce something that looks like this. You wouldn't see this. Is he walking on again? This is kind of one thing about creative interpretation. What's this one? Now? Give you a clue. Now the bend was added. New first shops and kind of this drifting down on the curves were added later. The colors fairly natural on the content is natural. Driving in a tunnel? No, there's no no car involved. Um, let's see. Gente que it's Ah, walk away at the airport. Absolutely. Should be looking on the website asking some other guesses. Sam Cox was seats in a theatre escalator. Yeah, it is a movie. It's a moving wall. Quiet at Manchester Airport. So where's the camera in relation to the walkway? How low is it? I would venture to say you're very close to the right where the ramp is floating. Yeah, so you kind of see the studied bits along the bottom there, you know, they're kind of this sort sides. It was actually shot with a little compact camera with a very tight macron. So coming where I was going now. But I had my luggage behind me on the floor with a little camera. People walking past doing this. I mean, I get to the end of fall off this three of these because it's quite a long way from the building to the terminal. It was on the third when I finally got the shot. But, you know, I come off the end, the luggage would pile up behind me and people were just family that went past. But in the end, it was kind of worth it. But again, it's creating interpretation of scene. You're very, very close together, almost kind of the ant's eye view of the world. Does it work? I should be asking, Actually, Do you think these images are effective? Because if not, then we're in a bit of trouble. But other reason to dramatic so far. These ones Excellent. Good, good to you, right camera angle. We kind of talked about camera angle. I just want to reiterate the point. So what sort lens was a shot with fish islands pointing up What's missing at the image. What's gone? You're gone. I'm gone. Was that without an online response? No. Sorry. That was that Was it Yeah. Where would I have Bean? Where would you see me in this image? Looks like you would be in. Yeah. Yeah, this is It's a sculpture in again in Dubai. It's probably about eight feet tall. It's articulated. So the bottom thing you know that this globe salt like this on a metal ring around it and then a hinge at the top to the whole thing. With swing backs and forwards, I spent ages swinging it back and forwards, and it just looked like a broken it. Every time you get the shot, there's no sense a movement just like so in the end, I'm kind of laying on the floor, shooting up on the thing that's gone is my reflection with it there. It doesn't work anywhere near as well, you know, it's kind of obvious what's being done on. It just draws attention to the fact you take a picture of the creative angles. It is looking up. It's framing between the buildings on kind of the fishing adds a nice touch, but you get this sexual curvature of the buildings and again some sort saying this is again the I. F C. Dubai International Financial center, just kind of looking up from underneath. We'll talk about your own second nature. The army, right? One of things you do when you shoot an architecture is you know, you spend a lot time worrying about things like converging verticals. So if you're shooting skyline, one of my tricks of skylines is shoot with the horizon in the middle and then cropped the image so you crop it down to two by one or 16 by nine. But you put the buildings in the middle on. They don't tilt. You put them in the bottom, the frame and kind of leaning unless the shoot tilt shift lens. But I see something you can use to create images like this. You know, it doesn't look like that. You don't get the sense that the buildings that kind of falling in on themselves when you look at it, your brain kind of adjust. So what you're looking at, But it is something you can use to correct more dramatic angle. So this kind of thing is something maybe you want to think about when we got later. We'll talk about shoot in the alley in a while, but kind of different. Different angles. Different orientations. Pond, pond of those as we go along. Sam Cox would like to know what time of day do you shoot? Preferably and specifically for the Dubai shots. When I'm in Dubai, I kind of have to fit into what's available to make some. I'm out there teaching a lot of time, and we do have some time off. Ideally, I'd like to shoot first thing in the morning and shoot at dusk and the golden hour in the great light on everything else, Um, in terms of post production on, it doesn't so much applying to buy. But certainly a lot of stuff I shoe are in Blackpool, north west coast of England. I prefer Dole days eso flat light, so it's like you're shooting under a huge soft box. The benefit of that is when you get to post production, adding contrast is very easy. Taking contrast away is very, very difficult, so you got kind of almost clipped highlights. Very black shadows. Softening. That contrast is difficult. Post production shoot in soft light is much easier, kind of counterintuitive. You. It's nice to go out in the lights fantastic, and you can almost now the shot when you take it, but thinking about post production, I love Clary Skies. You can add contrast this guy. You've got this beautiful soft line on the ground, and you can selectively and contrast back into an image. Typically, that I end up shooting when I got time to go shoot, which isn't as often as I'd like. The irony of turning professional is that my time to shoot images just dropped for some strange reason. But anyway, yeah, so the golden hour is possible, if not soft light. So especially techniques. We're talking about dramatic images you'll see when we come to look at its image on Sunday. The meeting exposure. The sky is completely blown out, virtually completely blown down the bottom right here, this kind of broken up duck ducting. It's almost completely black. There's no detailed roof eso by shooting HDR. You bring out a lot more of this detail on the same images like this is kind of a more photo. Realistic ation are for me. Does that look like an HDR? It kind of does. You know, it has to bay because you know what that scene would look like and you can see the shadows and you can see there's no much distinction between the brights in the darkest areas. But it doesn't scream HDR. It doesn't kind of odd. Wacky colors on the halo is gone, which took hours with this image will come back to that again, Um, but this one is kind of a more subtle ones. Bringing out the detail in the foreground is bringing out the detail in Sky on Again. It's this one's reasonably reasonably photo realistic. You can imagine what this looks like. This is again is the Dubai International Financial Centre, one of my favorite buildings to shoot you. Imagine what the roof would look like if you expose for the Emirates Towers in the background. So you're looking through the building to these talents. Imagine how dark the top would be. You know, it's almost black. Okay, so we've gone through credit skills, credit, technical sales, tax schools. We looked at some dramatic images with agreed, the dramatic, which is good. It's always worry when you get to that stage in people go on national dramatic. That wouldn't that wouldn't work so well