Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

4. After you've sharpened your image, use the Layer Mask to paint over the areas you don't want sharpened. To do so use a black brush.

These options enable you to sharpen images that are a little soft overall or to sharpen details that are slightly blurry without affecting the details that already are sharp (or that you want to remain soft).

For example, if you meant to focus on your subject's eyes but the person moved slightly when you were taking the shot, the focus may be on her nose or ears. Select a radius that's big enough to sharpen the eyes that are fairly soft and, on your Layer Mask, paint over the nose and ears with black. This will ensure that your subject's eyes are sharpened but the nose and ears are not.

Experiment with the filter to see what happens when you create different combinations with the Unsharp Mask's three sliders. The preview window gives you instant visual proof of how your image will be affected.

135mm, WOO sec, f/B, 100

Figure 18-6: The effects of not sharpening, sharpening correctly, and oversharpening.

Part V. The Part of Tens

In this part. U

W^M ere in this traditional For Dummies part, W m you get quick bits of information that help you take your compositional skills even further. These chapters give you ten composition-focused projects to hone your technical skills and ten ideas for finding photographic inspiration. Finally, I show you ten compositions from a single scene; see how many different looks you can get from one location.

Chapter 19. Ten Ways to Improve Composition

In This Chapter

t Developing your photo composition skills ^ Gaining inspiration for your photography

more than natural talent and a good eye, experience is what makes photographers great. Using the information you discover in this book will help you create beautiful and meaningful compositions. And the more time you spend composing images and analyzing your results, the more likely you are to capture amazing images wherever you go. To help you gain the experience and practice you need, I include ten projects in this chapter. They provide a nice overview of the most important photography concepts. So, if you find yourself having a difficult time coming up with ideas or inspiration, refer to this chapter and give yourself some homework.

ReVeal Contrast with Complementary Colors

Contrast is important in compositions because it draws a viewer's eyes to specific areas of a frame. You can use complementary colors (those that are on opposite sides of the color wheel) to create contrast and show viewers exactly where to look in your images. The color wheel in Chapter 6 can help you recognize which colors, when used together, provide the most contrast.

Here are examples of complementary color schemes: yellow and blue, red and cyan, and green and magenta. Allow yourself to concentrate only on these combinations and to seek them out when you're photographing. Notice the person holding the red balloon that's floating up in the cyan sky or the magenta flowers in their green bed. Or take a portrait

of your blonde friend wearing his blue hat. Spend the day looking for complementary colors to shoot. You can even create a photo essay on complementary colors.

Explore different ways of using contrasting colors in your compositions. Try filling the frame with just two complementary colors, and then try positioning them somewhere specific in your frame to draw the attention of viewers to that area. Make one color more dominant in the frame than the other or split the presence of each in half.

Harmonize with Monochromatic Colors

The subtlest approach to photographic composition (with regard to color) is the monochromatic color scheme — a design that incorporates colors from a single hue, or one area of the color wheel. You can use the various shades of red, green, or yellow, and so on. Each color has specific moods or associations attached to it, so by creating a monochromatic design, you can emphasize those moods or associations in your image. (See Chapter 6 for more details on color and the related terms.)

This color scheme may be challenging to find at first, but with a little practice and creativity you can make it happen. For example, look for a light green plant in a dark green pot in front of an even darker green wall. People often wear monochromatic outfits, and you can sometimes find this color scheme in stacks of fruit or in the decor of people's homes.

Make a Subtle Statement with Analogous Colors

The analogous color scheme (one made up of colors that exist side by side on the color wheel) is a mixture between high contrast and no contrast in color. The contrast level is somewhat subdued, and the result is a pleasant and comfortable design. Using three colors to create an analogous color composition often is helpful. Doing so provides a wide enough range in color to have some contrast but not enough to be dramatic. Refer to the color wheel in Chapter 6 to see which colors reside next to each other in the spectrum.

Try to create photographs that have a sense of flow by seeking out analogous colors in your scenes. A woman wearing a yellow hat and a cyan dress lying in a green meadow could give the same feeling as a slow love song, while a

man in a blue suit with a magenta vest in front of a red brick wall could give the same feeling as modern jazz may provide. Experiment with this type of color design and analyze your results. Mix the color combinations (making sure they exist in a row on the color wheel) to see what moods they create.

Use a Shallow Depth of Field to Tell a Story

Your depth of field controls how much sharp detail is revealed in a scene (see Chapter 7 for more information). A shallow depth of field is a useful tool for blurring out distracting backgrounds and pointing out exactly what you want viewers to see in an image. The key to minimizing your depth of field is using an