Simplicity: Improve Your Photography By Simplifying It.
It is tempting to want to capture everything in a single photo, we want to show the grandeur of the vast landscape we are looking at, but sometimes a photo can say so much more when we simplify, isolate and focus on what is most important in an image. The sense of calmness created by simplicity can speak volume allowing the viewer to contemplate on a single point of focus.
Simplicity is not easy, it is something I am consistently working on to get better at.
Here are 3 principles I keep in mind when I am shooting to try to achieve the simplicity I am after in my photography.
01. Have a Subject
Having a subject allows the viewer to focus on a single point or area in the image. It could be a person, bird, rock or tree, etc. It will also help with the composition of your image as you have a subject to frame and build a story around. A subject gives the viewer more reason to look at the image and have more opportunities to tell a story through. By having a person or man-made objects in your image, you will make it easier for the viewer to connect to your image at a human level.
02. Eliminate Distractions
Once you have found your subject, you need to try to isolate and eliminate distractions that could take away attention from your subject. This can be done through composition and editing, it is best to do both.
Here are some techniques I use to try to achieve it.
Lighting
Understand Lighting is key to photography, lighting is used to highlight or diminish the importance of certain objects or area in an image. Use light to create contrast and depth between your subject and the background and foreground. When I am shooting indoors I usually place my subject next to a window to highlight my subject, when I am in a forest, I would place my subject in a forest opening or a spot of light through the trees surrounded by shadows.
Bokeh
Shooting in a shallow depth of field is one of my favourite ways to isolate the subject. it creates focus where you want the viewer's eyes to go and blurs out things where you don’t want the attention on. To achieve this I would usually shoot in wide apertures, f/1.4 to f/2.8, to create the desired bokeh I want in my image.
Negative Space
Negative space is the area surrounding the subject, it is the space that is left unoccupied. Negative space helps define the positive space, the subject, and helps direct the focus on a certain part of the image. Different moods can be created by varying the amount of negative space you allow for around the subject. Usually, the more negative space you allow for, the more focus you create, it can also be used for creating the feeling of emptiness or vastness.
Remove Unnecessary Objects
This maybe sounds obvious but it is something I am constantly trying to be mindful of while shooting. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and shoot straight away or focus too much on shooting the subject and forget to take notice of the details of the foreground and background. Before shooting try to remove things that may distract from the subject and while shooting try to remind yourself to take a brief moment to check the surrounds once in a while. Unfortunately, sometimes things will slip through and I would have to remove things during editing to clean up the photo. However, it is best to try to get it right while shooting.
03. Directing Attention
When you have a subject, the goal should be to direct the viewer's attention to it. This can be done through many different ways, below are some of the ways I use most often.
Create a visual frame around the subject.
By having non-distracting objects surrounding the subject, such as dark trees, grass, a wall, out of focus people, etc your create a frame for which the viewer will look through. (Reference to image: Top light hightlights the subject while the dark trees and rocks create a frame around the person.)
Colour Contrast
Our eyes are naturally drawn to things with the most contrast if your subject is in a forest surrounded by greens, have your subject dress in red or other colours that stands out from the background.
Leading Lines
The idea of leading lines is to have the subject in an area of the image where the surrounding object guides the viewer's attention towards the subject. This can be done through the use of:
The shape of objects
The shape of light and shadows
The direction of where people are looking
A person pointing towards a direction
Lines in rocks or ice
(Reference to image: The shadow and the cliff lines leads towards the person standing in the middle)
There are many ways to achieve simplicity in photography, above are just some of the techniques I use the most often. It is also not necessary to try using all the techniques, I use one or three at most for my photos but keeping those principles in mind will help you identify and find good locations to shoot and help with the composition of your image.