Nature Photography

SEE WHAT YOUR CAMERA SEES outlined in Habit 4 (relating to the impact on spatial rela- this example illustrates an important point about the art of tionships when focal length is altered). photography, which can be illustrated by paraphrasing Ansel Adams. Photography is like music. Once you have Of course, using a longer focal-length lens to reduce the the basic notes, they can be performed in many different angle of view, thereby cropping peripheral detail from around ways. I have heard the choral section of Beethoven’s Ninth the main subject, is a legitimate tool at your disposal and, Symphony played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where the impact on the relationships between two or more and by the 1970–1980s rock band Rainbow. The notes were objects on varying planes is negligible or unimportant, it is the same, but each group’s interpretation of those notes an entirely appropriate method to use. was very different. Neither style is right or wrong, simply different. The following series of images clearly shows the effects of physically cropping information from the edge of the picture In digital photography, the notes to which Adams refers (the space. For the first image, I moved the camera closer to the score) are represented by the visual data; the performance is subject, keeping focal length the same. As a result, edge detail represented by the interpretation of that data in the form of has been cropped but the spatial relationship between the the processed photograph, that is, a print or digital display. foreground and background object is unchanged, maintaining a sense of depth. For the second image, I kept my original Focus and Depth of Field position and switched to a longer focal-length lens. In this When cropping is not feasible or undesirable, a different example, edge detail has again been cropped but, addition- approach to removing pictorial detail must be taken. One ally, the manner in which the foreground and background such option is to blur it. Human beings are visual creatures, objects relate (the spatial relationship) was also altered. The space between the two objects has been squashed, giving the PHOTO © CHRIS WESTON appearance that they are closer together and making for a Cropping in-camera is achieved by either moving the camera closer to the sub- flatter image. ject (p. 179) or by switching to a longer focal-length lens (p. 180). However, note how the spatial relationship between the foreground and background sub- Both of the previous images are legitimate reproductions jects changes from one method to the other. of the original scene, yet they are different. As an aside, 178

HABIT FIVE 179

L E A R N T H E R U L E S ( A N D W H E N N O T T O A P P LY T H E M ) 180

HABIT FIVE In-Computer Cropping cropping will significantly reduce the physical dimensions of the It is, of course, possible to crop an image during in-computer image and is best avoided, particularly if you anticipate producing processing via Photoshop (or a similar software solution). Minimal large, high-quality prints. cropping will have little effect on image quality; however, any large 181

L E A R N T H E R U L E S ( A N D W H E N N O T T O A P P LY T H E M ) PHOTO © CHRIS WESTON The first image shows the full-frame composition. It was impossible to move the camera closer or to use a longer focal-length lens, so I resorted to cropping the unnecessary space in-computer. By doing so I have reduced the resolution from the original 12.2 million pixels to 6.3 million, almost half the original. This will have repercussions if the image is to be printed larger than 10 ϫ 8 inches. 182

HABIT FIVE given that our primary sense is vision. In photography we can Let’s look at an example. In the next image, the background is exploit this by using sharpness (focus) and apparent sharpness cluttered and distracting. However, using a wide-lens aperture (depth of field) to emphasize and give order to objects in the has blurred detail in the background to such an extent that it picture space. has disappeared. PHOTO © CHRIS WESTON By selecting a wide aperture for this shot, I have managed to blur background clutter to the extent that it is no longer visible, thereby removing it from the picture space.

L E A R N T H E R U L E S ( A N D W H E N N O T T O A P P LY T H E M ) Because we are visual creatures, we focus our attention on As well as hiding or revealing objects, focus and depth of field objects that appear sharp and ignore out-of-focus detail. The can be used to determine the order in which we see multiple more blurred the detail, the more our brain processes it out objects in the image space. For example, in the following of our mind’s eye. (By the way, this is also the reason that, in image of gray seals, your attention is drawn to the young seal a wildlife photograph, an animal’s eyes should, in most situa- pup in the center of the frame as it is the sharpest object in tions, appear sharp.) the frame. Your eye then looks to the adult seal to the left of

HABIT FIVE the pup, and then to the one on the right and on to the seal PHOTO © CHRIS WESTON in the foreground, before returning to the principal subject, For this image of a giraffe, I have purposefully overexposed the background to the pup. remove all detail from the sky, an example of using exposure as a tool for omit- ting information from within the picture space. Emphasis isn’t binary; instead objects and detail become less emphasized the more they are blurred. Therefore, using selec- 185 tive depth of field will create a sense of order where multiple objects appear in the image space. Thinking of composition in these terms makes more obvious the power of strong com- position and the ability of a photographer to create images rather than being simply a recorder of events or moments. Lost in Light The third tool at your disposal for removing detail from a scene is exposure. When we think of exposure, typically we think in terms of revealing detail across the full tonal range. However, from a contrary perspective exposure can be used to hide unwanted detail. For example, shadow areas can be underexposed to make them detail-less black, while light tones can be overexposed to render them featureless white. The effects can be subtle or pronounced. In the following image of the giraffe, for instance, I have created a high-key PHOTO © CHRIS WESTON Levels of depth of field within the picture space will determine the order in which we look at objects.