85mm or longer lens and using your maximum aperture. For more on lenses and aperture values, head to Chapter 3.
Focus on the element that you feel is most important to your message; it will be the only thing in the image that's sharp. Try using selective focus to highlight a person's eyes in a portrait, make one person in a crowd stand out, or give a clearer depiction of a flower in front of a busy background.
This technique is an important one because it helps you emphasize your points and drive home your messages. After you've mastered it, you can use it in conjunction with other compositional techniques to create strong conceptual images. For now, concentrate mainly on using the shallow depth of field in ways that seem to have purpose.
Shoot Until you have Exhausted the Possibilities
Any scene that you come across has the potential to provide many different beautiful photographs. Each photographer would approach the scene differently, and many of them would achieve good results. So, if you take only one image of a particular scene and feel that you have it covered, you're probably selling yourself short.
Explore an area and consider the various elements that exist in it. Use different compositional techniques, and take many shots from different perspectives. (For more on perspective, check out Chapter 8.) For example, you may do the following:
Your first shot of a scene may not turn out to be a keeper, so taking only one isn't a good idea. You may find that you get the best shots later in the shoot when you really start to get familiar with the scene and its elements. Having options is always better than just having one version of a scene to represent it.
Choose a Background That Says Something
When composing an image, consider your subject and determine what you want to say about it. Then analyze the scene to figure out which elements in the background work best to relay your message about that subject. Look for supporting and descriptive qualities, and allow your backgrounds to be even more interesting than your subjects.
For example, if you're shooting an environmental portrait of a college math professor, position her in front of an area of the chalkboard that has a massive equation written on it rather than an area that's blank. By doing so, you allow viewers to gather that she teaches math.
Similarly, your goal may be to create a certain mood when shooting something like a perfume bottle. In this case, pay attention to the colors in your background, and position your subject in front of an area that matches the mood you're going for. Flip to Chapter 6 to find out which colors carry which mood associations.
Tackle Transparent and Reflective Elements
One of the biggest challenges for photographers is getting nice images of reflective and transparent surfaces. These elements tend to reveal off-camera details in their reflections, and they don't follow the same rules as opaque surfaces when it comes to light. The best way to master the art of photographing these elements is to practice, allowing yourself to experience what works and what doesn't.
To practice, find something that's transparent and reflective, like a wine glass, and position it next to a window that's letting in indirect light. Look through your viewfinder and notice how the light affects your subject. Pay attention to how the background is revealed through the transparent surface and how the window and any other elements are reflected in the glass. Change the angle of your camera a few times, paying attention to how everything changes in the scene and in the glass's reflection.
Also change your camera angle so the window is directly behind your glass. Expose an image and see what happens with the light and reflections. Then get between the window and the glass and see what happens. Find what direction of light works best with which camera angle. Strive to create the best representation of the glass that you can.
Treat Liqht as the Subject
Don't pay attention only to the physical elements in your scene; also be aware of what the light is doing. Some of the most interesting images are those that have a significant light situation. When I'm uninspired in a certain location, I pay attention to what the light is doing around me. It can spark some motivation to take a photograph. Light is what makes photography possible, after all. So why not allow it to be your subject?
For example, if direct sunlight is coming in a window and creating unique shapes in your room, take a picture. If the clouds are breaking up the way the sunlight is falling on the mountains, take the picture. The same goes for a situation in which the city buildings are reflecting sunlight onto the people waiting for the bus across the street. Or, if light cuts through some cracks in a wall or a street lamp shines a spotlight on someone, take the shot!
Incorporate a Compositional Frame
When you come across something you want to photograph, move about the scene and see whether anything can frame your subject. You'll likely have to try a few different perspectives in order to line everything up perfectly. Ideally, your compositional frame won't block the view of your subject.
Framing helps to add depth and visual interest to your images. It also provides information about the environment that your subject is in. Practice this concept a lot and you'll be very happy with the results.
Create a Composite Image
In some situations, you simply can't capture the beauty of the scene in just one image. For instance, if you're looking into the sunset, and a beautifully backlit scene is in front of you, you have to choose whether to expose for the sky details or for the details in your scene. The two are so different in brightness that exposing for one does no justice for the other.
If you come across a situation like this one, take two separate exposures (one for the sky and one for the
