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Improve Your Photo Subject Selection
The Photo Subject
Should Grab Your Eyes
Imagine that you're on a tour, looking for the ideal
photo subject in the harbor at Gdynia, Poland. You see a light warship
at dock. Somewhere on this ship is an exciting composition that helps
convey your impression of the ships character. How do you find that
point of view?
 To start, in the spirit of the
critical eye, consider what works well in this photograph, and what
doesn't.
Positives
Overall, the image has good exposure and good contrast.
The masses of ship and cloud are balanced well against the sky, and
there is strong direction moving the eye to the left, leaving a bit of
mystery as to what the bow of the boat is like.
Improvement Suggestions
Although the image has good range of tonal values, the
large foreground area is all in shadow. That leaves the eye to focus on
the highlights of the bridge and guns. This suggests that you look for
a better lit part of the subject with fewer distractions.
Then, perhaps a minor point, but the red and white rope
blocking traffic stands out in the shadow area and pulls the eye away
from the ship. Look for an angle of view that omits the rope, perhaps
by stepping closer to the rope so it drops below the frame.
To help with these suggestions, many experienced
photographic authors emphasize two basic photo composition rules:
- Change your angle of view
Walk around the subject (OK, you might get a bit wet on this one if you
walk too far around). Look for a different perspective. Try high – try
low. Look for parts of the ship that don't immediately catch the eye.
- Get close
This is a common and very useful hint. Getting closer is the best way
to clear out clutter and draw the eye to what is important in your
images. As you walk around, walk closer or use your zoom lens to bring
details closer to you. When you think you are close enough, try getting
even closer.
 Here's what you might find as you
walk around: Better lighting and a photo subject worth zooming into.
In the anchor image, the mass and strength of the anchor
plays well against its shadow. Note the care in painting the anchor to
blend with the blue stripe.
Most telling are the dents where the anchor hits the
hull – that suggests that this ship has been around the block (or the
Baltic Sea) more than a few times. You'd expect that from a World War
II ship, but the dents bring the point home.
 From a totally different point of
view, consider these mooring lines.
- They have strong color.
- They provide strong diagonal motion that almost
parallels the edge of the bow on the left.
- They stand out well against the neutral color of the
hull.
If you want mooring lines for a subject, you should hang
on to this one (and check out this mooring line). But, if you are looking to make the ship your subject,
keep looking.
 On the other hand, these lines offer
a photo subject that you may not have noticed when you took the
picture, unless you looked carefully. You could have zoomed right in on
the spider for a study in contrast of color and scale.
As it is, that chance is gone and you'll have to settle
for this low resolution view of what you might have had...
Arriving at Your Subject
Between the anchor and mooring line, a great photo subject stares you
in the face - the bow of the ship coming right at you. Strong lines
move the viewers eye right to the ship - from the breakwall on the
left, from the edge of the dock on the right, and from the mooring line
coming from behind the viewer. The clouds and their reflection frame
the ship. And, the foreground shadows provide effective contrast to the
ship's hull.
To summarize, the quest for a great photo subject led to an overall
evaluation of the ship and to an examination of different viewpoints
and different elements of the ship. The result - a successful quest for
a strong and dramatic image.
Believe it or not, there is more to explore with this
photographic composition. Take a look at how the
rule of thirds impacts your image balance.
Then, take a look at how cropping your image can improve it further.
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