Picture Doctor: 3 Ways to Better Backlight
By Megan • Sep 5th, 2007 • Category: News for Creatives (archives)Pop Photo informs us of photography tips:
“Why It Works
•Fundamentals: A skewed horizon line, strong color contrasts.
•The tilt: The deliberately tilted horizon goes way back in the history of photography (perhaps the greatest practitioner: Aleksandr Rodchenko). Like any effect, it can be misused and overused. Here it works for a variety of reasons. It creates a momentary disorientation on viewing the picture. It makes the triangle of the rice farmer, the reflection in the water, and the boy in the background more dynamic. And it leads the foreground figure’s reflection into the corner.
•Color contrasts: With a diagonal dividing line, the photo effectively plays off two complementary colors — the blues of the sky with the greenish-yellow of the water. The hat, clothes, and hoe repeat the scheme.
•Lighting: An overcast sky, with the sun low on the horizon, keeps the shadows open.
•Rule of Thirds: Turn the picture so the horizon is level, and the picture loses interest. The subject is now in the middle of a dead-center horizon. The tilt, in fact, throws picture elements off-center and into power points in the grid of thirds. Clever!”
Megan is a creative producer at Wise Elephant.
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