Photographic techniques

To take a good photograph you must consider:

• Shot distance
• use of tilt
• shot composition
• Eye line
• tone
• line
• colour , including vivid , primary and monochromatic colours
• Texture and hints on creating texture
• patterns and hints on capturing patterns

Shot distance types

ELS/LS- good for showing the insignificance of character or for showing characters as powerless in an overpowering environment.Also good for establishing location.

MLS/MS-good for showing movement or for a balanced tracking  of characters and their environment.

MCU/CU-good for portraiture or for moving image

BCU/ECU-good for showing the significance of a character or for showing the characters as powerful.Also highly useful drawing attention to character emotions.

Tone

Control of tones including variations of light and dark , emphasising important parts of the image and colour generally set the mood of your photograph.Tone control can be used to emphasis the shapes of the most important elements of a page.

Photographic / moving image techniques 

Composition

You need to think very carefully about how you compose a photograph.Many photographers place their subject in the middle of the photograph , which may result in a dull image.Use of the centre image composition can create a focal point.

Foreground/background

When designing a shot remember to keep in mind both the action in the foreground n the background

Framing

Keep the rule of third in mind when designing your shot.The viewers eyes are drawn to the cross sections of a frame, this is where your action should be taking place.

Lines

Lines are useful for emphasising and leading the viewer towards a  main area of a specific subject.They may divide up the picture into segments and differ in size and shape.This can influence the mood of a photograph.You can easily control the appearance of lines in your pictures by camera viewpoint.

Using colour

Taking control of the way in which colour is used in your photographs is a key way of improving your images.Keep your eyes open for for the vibrant coloured subjects , but also look for delicate coloured subjects and ones with muted tones.

colour sells -Bright bold colours are used on magazine covers so choose or plan the shots you will take on magazine covers.

Primary colours- include blue , yellow and red

Monochromatic colours- often have a sense of harmony and have two subjects

Textures

We must look at texture and patterns when taking a photograph.Texture can be used on a close up .Direction height and quality of lighting all combine to create a texture.