Create a Visual Impact with Composition
Lesson 4 from: Portrait Photography FundamentalsScott Robert Lim
Create a Visual Impact with Composition
Lesson 4 from: Portrait Photography FundamentalsScott Robert Lim
Lesson Info
4. Create a Visual Impact with Composition
Lessons
Class Introduction
04:10 25 Shots That WOW
14:08 3Four Fundamentals of Photography
08:05 4Create a Visual Impact with Composition
07:04 5Importance of Foreground and Background
08:30 6Create Depth in Landscape Images
18:09 7Photos Don't Always Follow the Rules
02:11 8Composition Practice Exercise
10:41Composition Critique of Student Images
05:28 10Keys to Posing
05:37 11Shoot: Classic Elegance Female Pose
14:46 12Shoot: Modern Female Pose
09:04 13Shoot: Rollover Female Pose
08:10 14Female Hands & Arms Poses Overview
19:52 15Shoot: Hands and Arms Poses for Female
08:58 16Seven Posing Guidelines
04:18 17Headshots Poses with Male Model
14:59 18Shoot: Headshot for Male Model
06:45 19Shoot: Sitting Poses for Male Model
10:03 20Shoot: Leaning Poses for Male Model
06:43 21Shoot: Standing Poses for Male Model
03:32 22Keys to Couples Posing
10:31 23Shoot: Couples Posing
06:17 24Couples Transitional Posing Overview
14:28 25Shoot: Transitional Posing
15:25 26Keys to Group Posing
07:12 27Accordion Technique with Groups
07:46 28Shoot: Accordion Technique
04:11 29Shoot: Best Buds Pose
04:54 30Shoot: Talk with Your Hands Pose
02:33 31Shoot: Lock Arms and Hold Hands Pose
04:34 32Run at the Camera and Dance in Your Seat Poses
04:13 33Shoot: Pod Method Pose
17:58 34Posing Critique of Student Images
09:32 35Introduction to Lighting
05:38 36Soft vs Hard Light
17:10 37Difficult Lighting Situations
05:52 38Bright Light Techniques
18:16 39Overcast Light Techniques
10:34 40Low Light Techniques
10:27 41Lighting Techniques Q&A
14:58 42Drama Queen Lighting
06:26 43Laundry Basket Lighting
09:44 44Make it Rain Lighting
03:48 45Smart Phone Painting with Light
07:53 46Mini LED Bokeh Lighting
08:22 47Choose the Right Lighting System
13:30 48Hybrid Flash System
06:42 49Innovative Accessories
05:35 50Gear Overview
06:19 51Theatrical Post-Processing
06:07 52Ten Keys to Post-Processing
08:37 53Essential Skills to Post-Processing
08:25 54Headshot Post-Processing
24:53 55Bright Light Post-Processing
09:45 56Flat Light Post-Processing
14:46 57Low Light Post-Processing
08:24 58Introduction to Fine Art Post-Processing
09:06 59Light & Airy Fine Art Post-Processing
27:34 60Dark & Moody Fine Art Post-Processing
13:36 61Post-Processing Critique of Student Images
36:56Lesson Info
Create a Visual Impact with Composition
Composition. I'm really excited to teach this next section because composition really is about creating visual impact. And I think for 2017, if you were to ask anyone of my students, I would say a great majority of them would say, "You know, Scott, you're great at lighting and posing, blah, blah, blah, but where I really learned the most was your ideas on composition." That has impacted their photography immediately. And so I feel like once I go through this lecture, for some of you, you immediately will photograph better. That's how exciting this next section is and let's just get right to it. Okay, so, you remember seeing this? What is it called? Fibonacci, or something or whatever. Look at the fancy equation at the bottom. Guess what, folks? That's too complicated. And when everybody talks about composition they bring up that darn spiral thing. I don't even know once if I've ever used that or even thought about it, but I guess it's the thing to do when you talk about composition. Bu...
t let's not think of that at all. Let's simplify the process, okay? And so I say you need to go and see your compositions as shapes, okay? So when you look at your composition, you're looking for shapes, and you place that subject in the most in the middle of the most obvious shape and you're gonna create impact. And so what you want to do with your composition is when somebody sees your photo, immediately, bam! The subject's right there. There's no looking at it and go, "Whaaa. Where's the subject? Oh, there it is down there?" That's not creating impact. As soon as a person looks at your photograph you want to hit 'em hard and say, "Bam! Look at this." And so that's how you have to think of when you're arranging your compositions is that you want your idea to come out extremely, like, immediately. And this is one of the ways that's gonna help you do it. And so what I say is looking for that "Scott Spot", right? So let's just get right into it and show you some examples. So let's take, for example, this picture that I did in New York, right? Central Park. Now, do you see the spot immediately where I put the subject in? And they just stick out and pop right there? Boom! You see the shape. So as I was looking and walking around this beautiful park, I looked up those stairs and I go, "There's a Scott Spot right there". Bam! Let me put my couple right there. And let me pose them in a way that kind of fits that spot too. And so, immediately, you can see the impact of that. Okay? So now let's get on to my not-so-great family portraits. Okay? So this is my family. My two girls and my two nieces and we're out there in Hawaii and this is the last night and my wife wants me to take some pictures of them, so I take this picture and, you know what, it's okay and not great. But, let's analyze the shapes and see if we can make it better. So, the horizon is the easiest way to see two shapes, right? There's the top and then there's the bottom, okay? And so when the heads are real close to the line of that shape it's to going to be very impressive because that line is going to distract the eye. So what you try to do is keep those heads in the middle of the largest shape and the largest shape, of course, is at the bottom. But, question is, can I change my perspective to make the top shape larger? Yes, right? If I lower my camera view. So here's a next photo, it looks a lot better. Why is that? It's, well, one: I created a silhouette. So whenever you create a silhouette, you want to show an interesting shape and so I posed them in a way where it's more interesting. And I took a lower perspective to make that shape larger. And so your eye immediately goes to that top shape now and then their heads are more in the middle so it has more impact, right? Now, so let's look at more examples. Now, let's take this other picture where I messed up. What's distracting about this picture, right? You can see the top shape. I put the head right where the line was. And it's very, very distracting. Let's go back, see that? That's very, very distracting. And so can I change my perspective to put them in the bigger shape? And what's the bigger shape? On the bottom. So what can I do? Well, do not place the heads on the border of the shape, which I just did. So if I raise my camera angle, I can put their heads, now, in the middle of the largest shape. And it makes it for a cleaner images and you see the subjects quite quickly when you do that. Okay, so you can see that right there. Heads in the middle of the largest shape. And so what are these two things about raising your camera and lowering your camera. When you raise your camera angle, when you take a high camera angle, you are showing depth, right? So, isn't it, we do that too, we'll take like a two hour hike up to the top of the mountain. So what? We can have a fabulous view. So we can see the depth of the beautiful city or whatever the landscape that we're looking at. Same thing when we raise our camera angle and we have a higher position, you're gonna see more depth and so when you want to emphasize depth, take a higher camera position. Now, opposite of that, when you're lower, what does that accentuate? That accentuates height. So when you want to maybe give somebody a larger-than-life kind of hero feel, you may take a lower angle so you can make them seem like they're a little bit larger than life or you're having the people jump and so forth. And so look at this photo, right? They're jumping, but they're bam! They're right in the middle of that shape, right?
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Vitor Rademaker
This course is amazing! Scott is extremely straightforward. He goes directly to practical problems, tips and etc. He explains every thing very clearly, and he is also very funny and charismatic, making you laugh as you learn. He shows that you don't need a lot of expensive gear to make very nice pictures. So I have saved some money as well, cause I was about to buy some gear that I wouldn't need right now. It is for sure one of the best photography courses I have ever attended to! I highly recommend! Thanks a lot Scott! You are the best!
user-9994d2
I have purchased a number of classes, this being one of them. The quality of the information was good and the level at which Scott spoke was appropriate for me. Having a course sylibus would add greatly to the value, which usually is not part of the programs I've purchased including this one, unless I've missed it. I believe the speaker should be required to provide one. After watching the videos, much of material can be recaptured by seeing it in writing. I would like to hear back from Creativelive their thoughts. In sum, good topic, good speaker, good technical audio and video quality by Creativelive
user-b48fe5
Another fantastic class with Scott Robert Lim! The combination of his knowledge, willingness to share, passion & entertaining personality makes him a top choice for photography education. Learning not only the "what", but the "why" & "how" can transform one's entire approach towards MAKING pictures. A constant inspiration to get better & better through practice.
Student Work
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Portrait Photography