Teresa Pilcher“I believe in intuitions and inspirations…I sometimes FEEL that I am right. I do not KNOW that I am.” ― Albert Einstein
Emphasis is simply where your eye lands first in an image.. So what exactly does make a for strong image or composition? There are many elements of an image such as line, value and perspective that often work together to create emphasis, and give an image impact. Personally, I prefer to look through the viewfinder and not think too much about composition. Like Albert Einstein, I like to feel that I am right without thinking it, leaving the analysis for later when I am processing my images.
Emphasis is created here with the silhouette effect, my eye lands immediately on the subject. There is a nice echo of the lady reflected in the window leads my eye back and forth from the subject to the reflection, and the leading lines of the path again direct our eye back to the subject. There is also an added emotional impact for me, I wonder about her life where she has been and has she walked that path many times before.
In this image my eye is drawn directly to the face of this Scotty dog, his white face stands out from his dark backdrop. It also works because of the low point of view here, I particularly liked the eye contact and expression of curiousity. So a good question to ask yourself about your images include.. What is the tonal value of the subject/backdrop? is it high or low contrast? Is it clear what is your main subject or element? Will your subject stand out and invite the viewer to look more closely at the image or will they be unsure of the subject and move on.
This image was taken at the Apple store at the Louvre, I liked this for its abstract qualities and the suggestion of the subjects. This is a high contrast lots of blacks and lots of white, and not much in the grey tones in-between, so it definitely has high impact, and would stand out if your were scrolling through the newsfeed or if it were on the cover of a magazine.
So how do we know if an image has impact or not?? My next point of clarity.. simply look at the thumbnails, the high impact images will stand out from the crowd..
T
Is emphasis something you think about when composing your images??
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