Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about effective composition for compelling photography. Look at any basic photography book or internet post and you’ll see discussions about the usual suspects — the rule of thirds, leading lines, etc. One of the realizations that I’ve been coming to is that dynamic use of contrasts can really breathe life into a photograph and make it interesting for the viewer.
When photographers think about “contrast,” it’s almost universal that they start thinking about macro contrast and micro contrast as measures of lens performance (the former being the difference between black and white that a lens can reproduce and the latter being a lens’ ability to distinguish very close tones from one another). What I’m talking about has nothing to do with lens performance.
I’m looking at how to effectively create tension in a photo with contrasting elements. The difference between black and white can certainly be one option for this. Think about a low key photo, dominated by dark tones. Compose a bright subject against all of those dark tones and it will automatically grab your viewer’s attention. Highlights playing directly against shadows create a tension that our eyes are automatically drawn to. Much of how we process the world comes through perception of contrasts so it’s natural that our eyes are drawn to contrasty photographs.
Tonal contrast need not be the only source of contrast in a photo, though. Color constrast is another vehicle for a dynamic composition. Think about a red apple on a green lawn. Red and green are diametrically opposed on the color wheel. Even if their tonal relationship yields little or no contrast of value, we still perceive a tension between the subject and the background because the colors create a point of contrast in the scene. Again, its an effective tool for guiding our viewer where to look in a photo. Conversely, it’s also why camouflage works for animals/people that *don’t* want to be seen. Camouflage takes away tonal and color contrasts and makes it hard for us to discern a subject.
There are still other contrast realms that can be explored in our composition, though. We can contrast subject matter. Think about a picture of a grandmother holding her grandchild. We’re drawn to this combination of subjects because it represents a contrast between the spirit of youth and the wisdom of age. Viewers start contemplating the relationship between the two subjects. Immediately, they will see the obvious — young and old — but with time they will ponder the paradox that the grandmother was once in the grandchild’s place. The subject contrast creates a storyline for viewers to ponder.
In the picture at the top of the post, I’ve featured one of the images from my “Power of the Wind” series. I think it’s an effective photo because I’ve managed to mix several elements of compositional contrast. There’s the contrast of the old and new windmills. That relationship is bolstered by the fact that the new wind turbine is in the last bit of daylight while the older windmill has already succumbed to the shadows of the evening light. Additionally, the sky offers a strong color contrast component as a background for the subject matter. In sum, I feel like it’s one of my best efforts at using contrast as a compositional tool.
What are your thoughts on using contrast as a compositional element?