Bill Mangold

FORMAL ELEMENTS

Photography is composed of several basic elements; Line, Shape, Pattern, Tone, Texture, Space and Colour. These elements are key to producing meaningful and interesting photos with proper composition and editing.

LINE

Lines in photography are a very important element, proper use of leading lines guide the eye around the image, often placing emphasis on the subject matter, creating depth through perspective or conveying a sense of movement.

SHAPE

Different shapes in photography can portray different atmospheres, for example; organic, rounded shapes or curved lines may imply a calming or peaceful atmosphere, while the rigid, sharp angles and edges of rectangular shapes might seem aggressive or pronounced.

PATTERN

Pattern photography utilizes elements that are repeated, and the repetition of other visual elements can create interesting images. Some photographers also use patterns as the main subject of an image (shown above).

TONE

Tone refers to the levels of brightness in the photograph, from solid black to pure white. Shadows are dark tones; highlights are bright tones. The majority of nature photographs display a wide range of tones, from black or near black to white or near white.

TEXTURE

Capturing texture in a photograph can add visual interest, highlight unique patterns, or even evoke emotions. Texture photography overlaps with many kinds of photography, including everything from fine art to classic portraiture.

SPACE

The element of adding visual space in your photography implies that an object is moving, looking or pointing to imply motion and direction and to lead the eye of the viewer to a specific point.

COLOUR

We use colour in photography to create visual contrast, direct attention or even evoke mood. Of all the Elements, colour is perhaps the most complex, but also, often has the most immediate impact. Colour can impact our viewers’ emotional response to an image.

ISO is a standard or light sensitivity set by the International Organisation for Standardisation.

ISO controls how sensitive the cameras sensor is to light; the lower the ISO, the less sensitive and vice versa. However, when you use higher ISO, the photos taken could look grainy or ‘noisy’ and the overall quality would decrease – as shown below

High ISO is only really necessary in very dark settings as it will make the photos brighter, yet it sacrifices the photos quality. Because of this, you should generally try to avoid using an ISO that’s too high, and find other ways to brighten your photos, such as shutter speed.

The photos captured above show the same general subject, however each taken with different ISO, the darker photos are more sharp however clearly are too dark, but the lighter photos are less sharp and too bright – more detail below – , so be sure to find the ISO right for the environment you’re photographing.

This is a larger example of my ISO 100 photo, and as you can see there is no visual noise, the chairs are in sharp focus, although they may be hard to see well due to lack of light.

Camera Obscura

A camera obscura is an optical device / natural phenomenon which projects rays of light through a small hole and into a dark room, resulting in a reversed and upside down image of the outside landscape or scenery. It’s hard to dictate the origins of this type of photography because it occurs naturally, and has been mentioned in writings since around 400 BC, however its believed that it was used before that to create cave paintings etc.

Nicephore Niepce

Nicephore Niepce was an inventor and photographer, primarily known for producing the first ever photograph. He was inspired the by the art of lithography and the early camera obscura, attempting to capture the images it produced more effectively than a pencil could do. Niepce’s first photograph was called ‘View From the Window at Le Gras’, however before he took that photo, he had made a permanent photographic image using heliography in 1822.

Henry Fox Talbot

Photogenic drawings, meaning drawings produced by light, involves sensitizing writing paper by dipping it in a solution of sodium chloride and coating one side with silver nitrate, which quickly turns dark when exposed to sunlight. As a result of this, an impression of an object was then made by placing it on the sensitized side of the paper and exposing it to the sun, later being stabilised with a salt solution.

Louis Daguerre

Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photographic process, introduced in 1839 and commonly used in the 1840s-50s. “Daguerreotype” also refers to an image created through this process, and a ‘Daguerreotypist’ is somebody who produces Daguerreotype images. However, the Talbot System was more successful as the daguerreotype produced an image with a mirror-like surface which could only be viewed from a narrow angle. Finally, prints of the the photo taken could not be produced.

Anna Atkins

Anna Atkins was a photographer and considered the first person to publish a book with photographic images in 1843, using cyanotype imagery. Cyanotype photography is a camera-less technique that involves laying an object on paper coated with a solution of iron salts before exposing it to UV light and washing with water to create white and Prussian blue images.

Richard Maddox

In 1871, Dr. Richard Maddox invented the Gelatin or Dry Plate photographic process. This involved the coating of glass photographic plates with a light sensitive gelatin emulsion and allowing them to dry prior to use. This invention was so revolutionary because dry plates allowed faster exposure times, making it possible to capture events and objects in motion.

Muybridge’s famous Motion Studies

Muybridge worked closely with Senator Leland Stanford on experiments to record horses in motion. In 1872, he agreed to work for Stanford at his Palo Alto Stock Farm, working to improve photographic shutter speeds and ultimately help determine whether all four feet of a horse are off the ground at any point in mid-gallop, and in 1873 he successfully captured that event in Sacramento, using Leland Stanford’s horse Occident as his subject.

George Eastman

In the 1880s, Eastman developed a convenient method of preparing ready-to-use plates. His improvements led to flexible, roll film as well as photo processing and printing done by mail order. Millions of people worldwide captured memories using cameras and film, manufactured by Eastmans business, Kodak.

Kodak

Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) is an American technology company founded by George Eastman in 1888. It became well-known for its role in photography by creating easy-to-use cameras and affordable film, which made photography accessible to many people. Throughout the 20th century, Kodak was a major player in the industry with famous products like the Brownie camera. However, as digital photography grew, Kodak couldn’t adapt quickly enough and filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

Aperture – Aperture is how wide the hole in the back of the lens is, and it controls how much light is let in. It is measured in f-stops and the lower the number, the more light is let in.

Depth of Field – DOF is what’s in focus in front of or behind the main subject of the photo. Lower aperture (f2.8-f4) gives a shallow DOF (minimal focus) , higher aperture (f16-f22) gives a greater DOF (broader focus).

Focal Length – The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system’s optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative focal length indicates that the system diverges light.

Canon Camera Simulator

Shutter Speed – 1/10 Aperture – f6.7 ISO – 100

The slower shutter speed shows the propellers fast movement, the mid aperture blurs the background and keeps the main subject in greater focus, the lower ISO lowers the photos exposure.

Shutter Speed – 1/60 Aperture – f4 ISO – 400

The slower shutter speed shows the propellers movement, the low-mid aperture blurs the background and keeps the foreground in greater focus, the slightly higher ISO makes the photos brighter.

Uta Barth

Uta Barth employs depth of field and focus in her work by using a wide aperture and capture nothing of her photos in focus. Her work is about vision and perception and to make people really think about what their looking at, by ensuring nothing is in focus.

This photo (Fields #23) is part of a series called ‘Fields’ , a sequel to the series ‘Ground’ , both of which portraying blurred and empty foregrounds. These works also portray motion as the movement of the photos shows motion and movement