we've had a lot to request from you guys to tell you more about composition
composition is all about lining up the elements of your image within the
camera's viewfinder
so that they line up in a pleasing interesting dynamic sort of a way.
I'm sure most of you have heard of devices such as the rule of thirds, or the rule
of diagonals and others
to help you with your composition but I also know that
there's a lot of confusion around well how do you line up
immovable objects within a picture I'm sitting here right now with a load of beach
huts behind me, they're pretty immovable aren't they
I have an annoying sort of little extra head growing out of my neck
which is that tree over there
another very immovable object, nwo the obvious thing that most people would do is say mike
just move a bit
there's an extra head grwoing out of your neck, well there's a much much easier way.
If you were shooting a candid picture, with somebody gazing off into the distance
you don't want to alert them to something and you also dont want the thing
growing out of their neck, so all you have to do is move yourself just a little bit,
so now that annoying tree
has moved across the frame so it's now over here
as opposed to growing out of my neck,
also the beach huts have realligned themselves slightly, it's a little more pleasing
because there's a bit more seperation between me and them.
Another way you could lose the tree if we just pop it back again
for a moment, would be to lower the camera, now before we do it
the movement that jayne just did, with the video camera wasn't a
turning and twisting movement like that it was a physical sideways movement
of both herself, and the camera and that is what made those elements
move further apart. This is what created a gap between my neck
and the tree. The next one could be
to lower down to get lower so that the tree
will disappear behind me also
the beach huts have pretty much dissapeared aswell and now it's me against the sky
but we've now got some foreground stuff going on in this shot in the shape these
little wooden posts, that movement was slightly more complex,
as opposed to being a straightforward sideways
or up and down Jayne moved the camera
like this as she should have crouched down to take the picture
I'm gonna take one of her so you can see where she is in relation to me
there we go, she also had
to lower the camera but tilt it upwards as she did it,
so there's this kinda motion going on. You could also move things like
the horizon, now that is a very very very static
and solid thing to have in a picture
so if you come round this way a little bit Jayne, and as Jayne is keeping the camera on me and moving
you can see we've also recomposed the picture, I haven't moved an inch but now there's no becah huts.
it's just a little bit of a movement, it's about what eight feet.
Now i've got the horizon behind me, now the horizon is obviously
very immovable indeed, but you can move it around within your picture.
by moving that up-and-down motion again
you can move that horizon up and down in the picture
all Jayne's doing is raisng and lowering herself off by i don't know
a couple of feet by bending at the knees
and that's having the effect moving the horizon around
within the picture it really is as simple as that
so more about the tilting kind of emotion.
so am i framed full frame?
Here we go, full frame shot of me
so now i have a gap at the bottom, which is the shingle and a gap above my head which is the sky.
now this tilting movement in that plane that is all about
altering these gaps above and below
and either side. Where am i in the view finder Jayne
am i in the middle? Pretty much in the middle.
okay so by doing a tilt like this, Jayne can move me to one side
or the other, so just by making a slight tilt, one way or the other
I'm moving from side to side in your picture
note this is that kind of movement this isn't a
a physical side to side this is a twisty sort of a movement with the camera.
if she wants to alter the gap
above or below me then that's an up and down
sort of movement like this so right now
I've got a little tiny bit of shingle below my feet
and a fair bit of sky, but by tilting the camera down
only a tiny bit only a couple degrees its reversed those gaps.
I've now got a much smaller gap at the top and much more below.
You have to train yourself to look all aorund the view finder.
scan it with your eye.
imagine your viewfinder is a picture frame,
look all around look at those gaps and you need to make minute
little tweaks and adjustments to the tilt and the side to side
and the up and down planes of your camera to adjust those elements.