Photography Basics: Elements & Compositions

In the third week of semester, Sir Amad started the first lesson in Photography Class which focus on photography elements and compositions. To put it simple and easy, imagine taking a photograph is like baking a cupcake. First thing you need in order to bake the cupcake is the ingredients, which is equivalent to elements in photography. Elements are like ingredients in photography, you need them to produce a good picture. There are 6 of them:

1) Pattern - Repetition of form

2) Symmetry - consists background, the ground and the foreground which are balance in any way

3) Texture - something that can be felt even with just looking at the picture

4) Depth of Field - the object in front is clear and the object behind it is blur

5) Line - vertical, diagonal or horizontal

6) Colour - only one colour and have gradient or shade of tone

The next basic in photography is compositions. Like baking a cupcake, it is not enough just to have the ingredients, you also need to know how to bake it. In photography, compositions can be considered as the way you use the elements to produce the picture.

1) Simplicity - focusing on only the subject of the picture with simple background to make it stand out

2) Rule of Third - the object fall in either four corner of the frame

3) Lines - must only be diagonal line

4) Balance - can be achieved by geometry shape of subjects or left right symmetry

5) Framing - if the can't be achieved by existing frame, there are two ways to do it which is by using black silhouette around the subject or shallow of field ( object in front of subject is blur)

6) Avoiding Merger - don't let anything in the background or foreground looks like one with the subject

By understanding the concept of baking a cupcake, I finally able to grasp what is elements and compositions. All the pictures are taken during class as the exercise of understanding.