Design+Principles

1. Diagonals Title: Repetition Credit: Hugo Wong

Diagonals serve the lead the eye across the picture, forcing the viewer to take in all the elements. It also serves to unify the picture, or to serve as a sort of landmark or anchor for the viewer. a. The picture is an energetic one. It makes the viewer feel a part of the action, and allows a very long reflection on what must have been a very fleeting moment in the game. b. The subjects go from from right to left, front to rear. It is like they taper into the distance. c. Light is from the sun, but it is mildly overcast so it isn't entirely clear what side of the camera the sun is coming from. d. There could be texture found in the grass but the majority of the picture is smooth because of the uniforms of the players. e. The focus of the photo are the two MD players in the foreground of the photo. I was using the Nikkor 18-105 mm VR kit lens, so the aperture was not wide enough to allow for a very blurred out background; a hint of it can be seen. f. The background is fairly plain, just a row of houses and the sky. It was not the focal point of the photo and really cannot be seen too clearly given the massive size of the players in relation to it, so it is not a key part of the photo. The simplicity and unobtrusiveness of the background serves to highlight the players. g. The photo is about capturing the energy of the moment.

2. Dynamic "S" Arrangement Title: Buffalo, Indonesia Credit: Andrew Ang Even more so than diagonals, an "s" curve leads the eye around the picture. The eye tends to travel up, down, left, and right. a. The picture makes me feel sad for the creature about to take its dying breaths. It is clearly not healthy and the caption describes it being on the menu of a Komodo dragon. b. The critical eye is right in the middle of the frame, but the animal's head is skewed in such a way as to make the buffalo comply with the rule of thirds. The space between his eyes is an intersection point. c. I would say the sun is at camera right. d. Texture is everywhere. The wet fur of the buffalo and the rippled surface of his horn makes the picture "touchable". The stark contrast between his fur and his glassy eye makes the texture more obvious. e. Both eyes are in focus (due to the f/4 aperture), but rest of the animal is out of focus. The background is completely washed out. f. The background of the photo is

3. Framing Title: Epilogue Credit: Hugo Wong

Framing adds visual interest on a photo and distills the subject matter, clearly indicating to the viewer what the most important part of the image is. a. The photo is a quiet one, a calm picture of what was a loud, intense (and bloody) football game. b. I used a centre composition, similar to how a photo frame would contain a picture. The concrete served as the frame while the faraway field was the "photo" in the middle. The central position of the entrance to the stands also adds an element of grandeur (like in the movies when a door opens to a grand castle). c. The dramatic light comes from the orange floodlights of the parking lot behind me, as well as the stadium lights (which are a cooler white). It creates a lot of shadows, which only adds to the drama. A hint of lens flare can be seen emanating from the stadium lights. d. Texture can be found in the concrete surrounding the field. e. There is no use of selective focus in the photo. The camera focused on the concrete, but its not abundantly clear (no pun intended). f. There is a background and foreground, but it is not conventionally "layered" like in a landscape. The background is the night sky, but it does not really serve as a background in this instance as it is only a small part of the picture. g. When I took the shot, I considered the entrance to the stands to be like peering through a telescope at a faraway spectacle, and about being a conscious observer to the action. It also was shot at the end of the game, when everyone was going home, showing the vast emptiness of the place.

4. Color Title: Tree Credit: Hugo Wong

Color lends emotion to a photo. We associate color with certain emotions, and a photo with a lot of that color creates an emotional response. The photographer can choose what emotion to evoke by his use of color.

a. The photo seems to bring up nostalgia for me, as it takes me back to autumn. b. Again, the photo is a centre composition. The tree is all that matters in the photo. I chose not to use rule of thirds as the background did not easily lend itself to it, and I liked the way the sun shone through the leaves. c. The tree is backlit by the sun. d. The texture is in the leaves and in the thin trunk of the tree. e. The focus is clearly on the tree. The sky is a single color and can't really be out of focus, but it is. f. The background is a simple sky with some clouds surrounding the bottom of the picture. g. The picture is about autumn and the past, an idealization of the season.

5. Simple Title: Eehjoon Credit: Selena Chau

Simplicity forces the viewer to spend a lot of time viewing one element, instead of spreading his attention over all the various elements.

a. The picture involves the viewer in her music making. b. Selena used the rule of thirds with her violin in the middle of the frame, similar to how a portrait would be done. c. The dramatic light comes from a spotlight above Eehjoon. I especially like the light falloff on her face. d. There is a bit of texture on the front of her dress, but that isn't the focus of the photo. e. The focus is on Eehjoon's closest eye. f. The background should be the dance studio and the wall of our gym, but the camera metered for her face in spot metering and so sacrificed the background to properly expose her face. It adds to the drama of the photo. g. The photo is about a musician concentrating on her piece.

6. Balance Title: Observation Credit: Hugo Wong

Balance (formal balance) is having a symmetrical photo (similar elements on either side). It ensures that the various elements of the photo work in harmony. Often I use this technique to illustrate size and scope (architectural work often involves formal balance)

a. The picture I think is a little humorous. It makes me feel self-conscious as the observers are much closer than the normally are to the players. They must feel a little self-conscious too. b. The picture is balanced because of the symmetry. If a line is drawn down the middle of the frame, most of the elements on the left match the right. c. The light is not particularly nice. It comes from florescent tubes in the ceiling. The only interesting thing about the light is that the sources are repetitive and dot the upper third of the picture. d. Texture is not a dominant aspect of the picture. There are wrinkles in the clothing that the observers are wearing, but not much else. It's all smooth, like the gym floor. e. The focus is on those watching, with the player doing the lay-up somewhat out of focus. f. The background is the rest of the gym and the players. g. The photo is about taking the place of one of the observers, looking on at the game.

7. Direction TItle: Autumn Leaves Credit: Hugo Wong

Direction is a leading line for the viewer, conveying a sense of distance and space.

a. The picture makes me feel small. The lines convey vastness and show an expanse much larger than a human. b. The picture uses rule of thirds (the tree in the foreground is on one of the lines) and repetition (in the multiple trees). Light and dark are also part of the picture, with one side of the frame conspicuously darker than the other. c. The light is from an afternoon sun. The yellow in the leaves gives the photo a gold tint. d. Texture is in the trees and in the leaves, mostly. e. As a "landscape" photo, selective focus was not used, but what I was trying to emphasize was the line of trees going down the path. f. The background is of a residential street, an odd juxtaposition of human dwellings and an artificial sprinkling of nature in the trees. g. One could say the photo represents humans encroaching upon nature too much (given the shadow of the large house in close proximity to the trees), but I did not think of it that way when I shot it. I saw the repetitious element first, but I noticed that aspect on a second viewing.