vintagesnaps
Been spending a lot of time on here!
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2013
- Messages
- 9,119
- Reaction score
- 3,109
- Location
- US
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
There's no quick easy answer, it's going to take time learning and practicing. It takes getting good at using a camera and getting proper exposures consistently. It takes learning how to compose images well, how to get good balance in your images, how to use shapes and color and lines, etc.
There isn't just one way of learning, you could take a workshop, or online class, etc. There are videos but many are done to make money from ads and aren't necessarily the best info. Books like The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski (not the later books using the same title). Try looking up 'famous photographers' and you should see names like Cartier-Bresson, Kertesz, etc. Try the book 'Stieglitz Steichen Strand'. See which photographers you like.
Usually I'd say to do a search of 'elements of composition in art', not photography because that would bring up good sources, but now many sites are using SEO to bring their crap to the top of a search. Look for sources from places like the Getty museum, artsedge from the Kennedy center, etc. linked below.
Find websites that teach about the elements of composition - line, shape, color, space, texture. Or principles of composition in art - balance, contrast, movement, pattern, proportion. Those are consistent and should be discussed in good articles about composition; if an article tells you something else you can't count on it being reliable.
Here are a couple to start with.
ARTSEDGE: Formal Visual Analysis: The Elements & Principles of Composition
Understanding Formal Analysis
There isn't just one way of learning, you could take a workshop, or online class, etc. There are videos but many are done to make money from ads and aren't necessarily the best info. Books like The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski (not the later books using the same title). Try looking up 'famous photographers' and you should see names like Cartier-Bresson, Kertesz, etc. Try the book 'Stieglitz Steichen Strand'. See which photographers you like.
Usually I'd say to do a search of 'elements of composition in art', not photography because that would bring up good sources, but now many sites are using SEO to bring their crap to the top of a search. Look for sources from places like the Getty museum, artsedge from the Kennedy center, etc. linked below.
Find websites that teach about the elements of composition - line, shape, color, space, texture. Or principles of composition in art - balance, contrast, movement, pattern, proportion. Those are consistent and should be discussed in good articles about composition; if an article tells you something else you can't count on it being reliable.
Here are a couple to start with.
ARTSEDGE: Formal Visual Analysis: The Elements & Principles of Composition
Understanding Formal Analysis