This means that they see a lot of the same things, do a lot of the same things, and as a result don’t experience the unique or extraordinary often. In general, people are habitual in how they live their lives. While adding people is one way to add a human element, this goes further than directly adding people to a photograph.Īdding a rusted bicycle, a discarded doll, sneakers, or even footprints in the sand on a beach, helps connect your viewer with something human.īy doing this you are able to associate your photograph to their experiences, which will help to add interest to the image they’re viewing. In the photograph above the person adds a bit of extra interest to the wall behind her. The viewers of your photographs are of course people themselves, and as a result, having a person as the focal point of your image is a strong way to connect your viewer to the scene. Let’s break these down a little further and explain how these ideas can create focal points within your photography. So how do you determine what that anything is when you’re taking photographs?Ī few simple ideas that can help you add more interesting subject matter (and ultimately focal points) to your photographs include: How do you find focal points within your scene?Īs mentioned earlier, it’s up to you as the photographer to decide what the focal point of your photograph is going to be, and to be honest, it can be just about anything. Can you find the same scene captured with the telephoto? Big difference right?īy focusing on simplification, and defining the focal point of the scene, you are able to point the viewer toward exactly what captured your attention, and by guiding your viewer in this way they won’t have to guess why you took the photograph. Take a close look at that wide angle shot. The second photograph was taken with a telephoto lens, and simplifies the same scene down to one of the more interesting falls. This is a photograph that tries to capture the entire cascade, river, and background scenery.
In this first photograph you’ll notice a vast scene, shot with a wide angle lens. Here’s one more example to drive home this point of simplification. Often, simplification of a scene through the use of composition tools and depth of field, can be have more impact on the focal point than the subject itself. The subject matter of both images may be essentially the same, but the focal points are quite different in how they capture the viewer’s attention. The first image was taken a bit further away, has a more distracting background, and a weaker composition when compared to the second image. In this first example above you see two photographs taken of butterflies, perched on flowers. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples: That is to say that boring subjects have trouble being improved, even by the most interesting composition, while boring composition will hurt even the most interesting of subjects. Therefore, boring subjects will often lead to boring focal points, and boring focal points will make interesting subjects boring. However, it’s not just being the subject of your photograph that makes it a focal point, but how you capture that subject within the frame. In general, a focal point is the subject of your photograph.
Focalpoint photography how to#
What is a focal point?īefore you can learn how to create photographs with focal points you must have a basic understanding of what they are, and more importantly, what exactly it is that they do in an image, that help to make it more interesting. So with that in mind, let’s talk about focal points. Without purpose, the viewer won’t know where to look, or even why you took the photograph at all. What this means is that for a photograph to be interesting, the person viewing this image must have a clear vision of why the photograph was taken – what was its purpose – and having a focal point accomplishes that. There are a lot of ways to improve the composition of your photos, but one of the most direct ways of answering this question is by discussing the concept of a focal point. The problem with this question is that it is not an easy one to answer. You’ve probably even asked this question once or twice – even if only to yourself.
A common question I’m asked by new photographers is “How can I improve my composition to make my photos more interesting?”
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