Did you enjoy the slideshow I put together for today's class? :) If you missed it, we went through general visual literacy vocabulary (on this blog) with pictures to illustrate. Although we went through quite a lot of 'visual' vocabulary, I'd like to mention some specifically relative to photograhy. These terms were on the second handout but we didnt spend as much time discussing them as I would've liked.
Composition- the arrangement of the visual elements within an image. Composition is important and utilises a variety of visual elements to create interesting photography.
Angle- usually high, low or horizontals. We already discussed how angles affect the power dynamic in images.
Foreground- the part of an image that appears to be towards the front.
Background- the part of an image that appears to be towards the back.
Setting- the scenery or physical environment within the image.
Content- the topic or information captured in an image.
Subject- the main person or object in a photo.
Theme- the central idea of the image. May unify elements within one picture or a series of pictures.
Focal point/central focus- the part of the picture which is the most clearly in focus.
Visual Elements
Light/Dark- the areas in the image which are highlighted or in shadow. May refer to natural light (sunlight or window light) or artificial light (indoor lights or flash). May be directly pointed at the subject or may be reflected.
Contrast- differences between: light & dark; texture; size; saturation etc.
Balance- Symmetrical (where elements are equally distributed in an image) or Asymmetrical (where elements are unequally distributed but may still result in a balanced image).
Framing- everything that is contained within the boundary of the photo.
Line- objects or elements in the picture that act like lines in a photograph. They may be horizontal, vertical, diagnoal, straight, wavy, thick or thin etc. Do they outline a central feature? Do they create direction or point towards the subject?
Shape- Geometric (simple shapes found in geometry eg triangle, circle, square etc) or Organic (shapes found in nature eg trees, stones, mountains etc).
Repetition- Any objects or visual elements that are repeated to create a pattern.
Texture- The 'feel' of the objects in a picture and whether they look like they would feel. For example, an old wooden fence or a crumbling brick wall.
Next up, we'll be looking at how to use all these elements in order to compose a photo, and how to use these elements to create meaning within pictures.
-I'd like you to head over to a group pool I set up over at flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/readingpics/).
-You can click on 'add note' and tag specific areas of the photo with notes.
For example...
-I would like you to try and identify at least 3 of the terms in this post (they dont have to be all on one photo).
Have fun!
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