EX70 Centre of Interest and the Greatest Tonal Contrast Focal Point
In the presentation on tonal composition I talked about matching up the Centre of Interest with the Focal Point. This is something professional photographers work very hard at. It is also the thing that often creates award winning images. Images that speak with a clear voice that matches the composition.
When creating an advertising image, there is to be no doubt in the viewers mind as to what the photograph is about. Think of an advertisement for a soft drink that is highlighting the bottle it sold in. Everything in the photograph points to the bottle, so that the person seeing it remembers what the advertisement is about. I know this isn’t a good example for us artists, but it helps us get a good idea of what I am talking about.
The Centre of Interest is the main subject you are photographing. That flower, that person, bird, tree or bird. So for this to work you do need to clearly identify what it is you are photographing.
The Focal Point is the visual part of the photograph you are drawn too. When we talk about tones, it is usually the area of greatest contrast. It can also be the area of greatest colour contrast. We actually can use many techniques to draw our attention to various parts of the photograph. These are:
Colour contrast
In focus & out of focus
Negative Space
Position in the frame
Lines
Textures
Difference
In this weeks exercise I ask that you work exceptionally hard at specifically using tonal contrast to highlight your main subject. Rather than the others listed above.
I examine tonal contrast before I take a photograph by squinting my eyes to see the highlights and the dark shapes.
Did you know that painters lay down the dark tonal areas in their paintings first with a broad brush. This is so they can get the composition of the dark and light tones sorted out, for compositional balance.
The area of greatest contrast, has blacks next to whites, or the greatest gap in the whole photograph. This needs to be done with large areas, rather than pin point whites or blacks. This is because volume of both the high key and low key areas also matter in attracting the eye.
So, how do you do this? Find a photographic subject that is either white or near white, or at least very high key. Alternatively find a subject that is dark or even black. Now position the dark subject in a pool of brightness or alternatively place your bright subject in a pool of darkness.
To take this exercise to the next level, you can be less obvious in your aggressiveness of using black and white. See how subtly you can achieve the same effect. The brilliant photograph is when it is so subtle we hardly notice you are doing it.
We have been having great success when discussing the photographs when we post three. So please post three in the community forum post so that when we discuss one of them we have a few to choose from. Please try and use different subjects for each photograph rather than variations on the same subject.
Here is the presentation on tonal composition in case you missed it elsewhere in Len’s Club
Camellia, here is a simple example of using a large white flower in a a dark background of leaves. Note how the smaller flower is less obvious because of its size, lack of tonal contrast, and focus. The main Camellia is clearly the main subject of this photograph.
Our love affair with trees, from the forthcoming book created with Jodi Rose. Note how the ballet dancer is so much brighter than the rest of the photograph. She is the largest brightest part of the photograph. She is surrounded by dark mysterious leaves and branches in this Morton Bay Fig Tree. She is the Centre of Interest and the area of greatest tonal contrast. One could argue that the white highlight to the left of the dancer is the area of greatest contrast. The question arises is it a distraction, or too big?
Grasses in the Sand. Note that it works in reverse just as effectively. A dark subject on a lighter background also creates a match between focal point and centre of interest.
