composition – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Art’s Profound Impact on the Soul

Lens-Artists Challenge #304 – Behind

This week is a lesson in paying attention to the background BEHIND your subject, does this not sound like a challenge, but it is, if you really start to focus on it. So, think about different techniques you use to elevate your photos and share them with us.

Backgrounds play an essential role in photography, significantly impacting the overall aesthetic of an image. When composing a photograph, the background serves as the canvas against which the subject stands out. The background provides context and narrative to your photo. How your main subject interacts with the background shapes the story within the frame.

Here are some key considerations: Whether it’s a serene landscape, a bustling city street, or a simple studio backdrop, the background influences the mood and message of the image.

Same cityscape – three backgrounds for the dome.

Different colors evoke specific emotions. For instance, blue backgrounds often convey calmness, while red can evoke passion or energy. Patterns in backgrounds can either enhance or distract from the subject.

Simplicity, achieved through minimal distractions, often yields powerful results. Additionally, controlling depth of field allows you to guide viewers’ attention to specific focal points in both foreground and background.

Remember, a well-chosen background enhances your photo, adding depth and visual interest.

Usually, this means making your background distraction-free. That is often when taking photos we’re laser-focused on our subject: a portrait, a flower, a couple on a bench.

Cactus – two takes with different backgrounds, each has a different story to tell.

A good background pairing (whether that’s making the background disappear with exposure or blur, or enhancing it with color or story will allow your SUBJECT to shine.

You can pair your subject with a colorful background to match or contrast your background to your subject.

You also may want to keep your background dark, relative to your subject, to allow your subject to pop, or vica versa.

You might want to elevate your photography to another storytelling level by creating a picture within a picture. You would see the main scene up front, but little scenes from the whole story would complement it on the side.

This can be children studying in a classroom, with a detailed scene behind them.

Or boys sitting, watching a document on a screen. Use your “canvas” to portray your entire creative story, from end to end, for both your subject and of course, your background.

Background Blur: Utilize depth of field to blur your background, keeping focus on your subject

Color Harmony: Harmonize or contrast colors between your subject and the background for visual impact.

Darker Background: Adjust exposure to darken the background, spotlighting your subject.

Negative Space: Embrace negative space, using it to highlight your subject against a minimal background.

Last week we stepped into the lovely world of connections with Donna’s beautiful photos to guide us. We were shown lovely interpretations of connection this week. There is always need to be connected…

I am already looking forward to next week’s challenge with Egídio. Join him Saturday 12:00 EST to enjoy his beautiful photography, captured through his Brazilian eyes.

Interested in knowing more about the Lens-Artists challenge? Click here for more information.

Lens-Artists Challenge #289 – Tools of Photo Composition

lens-artists, Photography

Of the many composition factors in photography, this challenge focuses on Shape, Form, Texture, and Light, that’s what John’s from Journeys with Johnbo challenge this week is about. I really had to concentrate on this one, not the easiest to tackle. Thank you John for providing great samples to get me started.

Photographers often capitalize on the architects’ use of triangles, circles, rectangles, arches, and other basic shapes.

Click on the photos to see the larger images of this Amalfi Catholic church and the many shapes it has. Also the last shot from Capri has some nice arches.

For Geometric form I am taking you to Paris 🙂

The difference between shape and form can be muddy, but artists typically consider shape to be two-dimensional while a form is three-dimensional. Organic form in flowers – in black and white from my garden.

Texture images entice viewers, create moods, and communicate ideas. Old rusty tools, newspaper clippings on wood show the time added textures. The spiders’ web with droplets and decay of the flower has a lovely texture. The vibrant orange jellyfish gracefully floating. The jellyfish exhibits delicate, translucent tentacles that appear to glow, and its bell-shaped body displays intricate textures and layers.

Capturing light.

Photos wouldn’t be possible without light and since the first cameras, capturing light is what photography is all about. This is the most important thing about photography. I still have tons to learn more about it. There are so many ways to describe light in photography; Ambient Lighting, Long Exposure, Key Light, Light Soft or Hard . It does not matter what you call you need to use it , or you don’t have a photo’s.

Last week I hosted my first official challenge as team member. I was happy to see all your responses and how you all have interpreted the topic. So many beautiful posts. Thank you for the nice welcome you gave me. I did my best to notice all your entries.

Next week Ann-Christine of (aka Leya) is hosting, and she always has interesting topics and her photography is beautiful and inspirational, always a blog worth a visit.

To participate in this challenge, you should link to or leave a comment on the week’s host’s original challenge post and please use the #Lens-Artists tag in your own post, so the post is easily found in the Reader.

And if you want even more information on the Lens-Artists Challenge, please click here.

door – in italy

Cities, Traveling Italy

The composition of an image can significantly alter the mood it conveys. The door to a Mecca building from Italy I chose demonstrates it , choosing between a landscape and portrait orientation can evoke different emotions. With a landscape orientation, the focus may broaden, capturing more of the surrounding environment, while a portrait orientation can emphasize the details and grandeur of the building itself. This shift in perspective can subtly influence the emotional impact of the image.

It’s intriguing how such a simple adjustment can evoke varied emotional responses, highlighting the powerful role of composition in visual storytelling.