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Create a Visual Impact with Composition

Lesson 4 from: Portrait Photography Fundamentals

Scott Robert Lim

Create a Visual Impact with Composition

Lesson 4 from: Portrait Photography Fundamentals

Scott Robert Lim

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Lesson Info

4. Create a Visual Impact with Composition

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

04:10
2

5 Shots That WOW

14:08
3

Four Fundamentals of Photography

08:05
4

Create a Visual Impact with Composition

07:04
5

Importance of Foreground and Background

08:30
6

Create Depth in Landscape Images

18:09
7

Photos Don't Always Follow the Rules

02:11
8

Composition Practice Exercise

10:41
9

Composition Critique of Student Images

05:28
10

Keys to Posing

05:37
11

Shoot: Classic Elegance Female Pose

14:46
12

Shoot: Modern Female Pose

09:04
13

Shoot: Rollover Female Pose

08:10
14

Female Hands & Arms Poses Overview

19:52
15

Shoot: Hands and Arms Poses for Female

08:58
16

Seven Posing Guidelines

04:18
17

Headshots Poses with Male Model

14:59
18

Shoot: Headshot for Male Model

06:45
19

Shoot: Sitting Poses for Male Model

10:03
20

Shoot: Leaning Poses for Male Model

06:43
21

Shoot: Standing Poses for Male Model

03:32
22

Keys to Couples Posing

10:31
23

Shoot: Couples Posing

06:17
24

Couples Transitional Posing Overview

14:28
25

Shoot: Transitional Posing

15:25
26

Keys to Group Posing

07:12
27

Accordion Technique with Groups

07:46
28

Shoot: Accordion Technique

04:11
29

Shoot: Best Buds Pose

04:54
30

Shoot: Talk with Your Hands Pose

02:33
31

Shoot: Lock Arms and Hold Hands Pose

04:34
32

Run at the Camera and Dance in Your Seat Poses

04:13
33

Shoot: Pod Method Pose

17:58
34

Posing Critique of Student Images

09:32
35

Introduction to Lighting

05:38
36

Soft vs Hard Light

17:10
37

Difficult Lighting Situations

05:52
38

Bright Light Techniques

18:16
39

Overcast Light Techniques

10:34
40

Low Light Techniques

10:27
41

Lighting Techniques Q&A

14:58
42

Drama Queen Lighting

06:26
43

Laundry Basket Lighting

09:44
44

Make it Rain Lighting

03:48
45

Smart Phone Painting with Light

07:53
46

Mini LED Bokeh Lighting

08:22
47

Choose the Right Lighting System

13:30
48

Hybrid Flash System

06:42
49

Innovative Accessories

05:35
50

Gear Overview

06:19
51

Theatrical Post-Processing

06:07
52

Ten Keys to Post-Processing

08:37
53

Essential Skills to Post-Processing

08:25
54

Headshot Post-Processing

24:53
55

Bright Light Post-Processing

09:45
56

Flat Light Post-Processing

14:46
57

Low Light Post-Processing

08:24
58

Introduction to Fine Art Post-Processing

09:06
59

Light & Airy Fine Art Post-Processing

27:34
60

Dark & Moody Fine Art Post-Processing

13:36
61

Post-Processing Critique of Student Images

36:56

Lesson Info

Create a Visual Impact with Composition

Composition. I'm really excited to teach this next section because composition really is about creating visual impact. And I think for 2017, if you were to ask anyone of my students, I would say a great majority of them would say, "You know, Scott, you're great at lighting and posing, blah, blah, blah, but where I really learned the most was your ideas on composition." That has impacted their photography immediately. And so I feel like once I go through this lecture, for some of you, you immediately will photograph better. That's how exciting this next section is and let's just get right to it. Okay, so, you remember seeing this? What is it called? Fibonacci, or something or whatever. Look at the fancy equation at the bottom. Guess what, folks? That's too complicated. And when everybody talks about composition they bring up that darn spiral thing. I don't even know once if I've ever used that or even thought about it, but I guess it's the thing to do when you talk about composition. Bu...

t let's not think of that at all. Let's simplify the process, okay? And so I say you need to go and see your compositions as shapes, okay? So when you look at your composition, you're looking for shapes, and you place that subject in the most in the middle of the most obvious shape and you're gonna create impact. And so what you want to do with your composition is when somebody sees your photo, immediately, bam! The subject's right there. There's no looking at it and go, "Whaaa. Where's the subject? Oh, there it is down there?" That's not creating impact. As soon as a person looks at your photograph you want to hit 'em hard and say, "Bam! Look at this." And so that's how you have to think of when you're arranging your compositions is that you want your idea to come out extremely, like, immediately. And this is one of the ways that's gonna help you do it. And so what I say is looking for that "Scott Spot", right? So let's just get right into it and show you some examples. So let's take, for example, this picture that I did in New York, right? Central Park. Now, do you see the spot immediately where I put the subject in? And they just stick out and pop right there? Boom! You see the shape. So as I was looking and walking around this beautiful park, I looked up those stairs and I go, "There's a Scott Spot right there". Bam! Let me put my couple right there. And let me pose them in a way that kind of fits that spot too. And so, immediately, you can see the impact of that. Okay? So now let's get on to my not-so-great family portraits. Okay? So this is my family. My two girls and my two nieces and we're out there in Hawaii and this is the last night and my wife wants me to take some pictures of them, so I take this picture and, you know what, it's okay and not great. But, let's analyze the shapes and see if we can make it better. So, the horizon is the easiest way to see two shapes, right? There's the top and then there's the bottom, okay? And so when the heads are real close to the line of that shape it's to going to be very impressive because that line is going to distract the eye. So what you try to do is keep those heads in the middle of the largest shape and the largest shape, of course, is at the bottom. But, question is, can I change my perspective to make the top shape larger? Yes, right? If I lower my camera view. So here's a next photo, it looks a lot better. Why is that? It's, well, one: I created a silhouette. So whenever you create a silhouette, you want to show an interesting shape and so I posed them in a way where it's more interesting. And I took a lower perspective to make that shape larger. And so your eye immediately goes to that top shape now and then their heads are more in the middle so it has more impact, right? Now, so let's look at more examples. Now, let's take this other picture where I messed up. What's distracting about this picture, right? You can see the top shape. I put the head right where the line was. And it's very, very distracting. Let's go back, see that? That's very, very distracting. And so can I change my perspective to put them in the bigger shape? And what's the bigger shape? On the bottom. So what can I do? Well, do not place the heads on the border of the shape, which I just did. So if I raise my camera angle, I can put their heads, now, in the middle of the largest shape. And it makes it for a cleaner images and you see the subjects quite quickly when you do that. Okay, so you can see that right there. Heads in the middle of the largest shape. And so what are these two things about raising your camera and lowering your camera. When you raise your camera angle, when you take a high camera angle, you are showing depth, right? So, isn't it, we do that too, we'll take like a two hour hike up to the top of the mountain. So what? We can have a fabulous view. So we can see the depth of the beautiful city or whatever the landscape that we're looking at. Same thing when we raise our camera angle and we have a higher position, you're gonna see more depth and so when you want to emphasize depth, take a higher camera position. Now, opposite of that, when you're lower, what does that accentuate? That accentuates height. So when you want to maybe give somebody a larger-than-life kind of hero feel, you may take a lower angle so you can make them seem like they're a little bit larger than life or you're having the people jump and so forth. And so look at this photo, right? They're jumping, but they're bam! They're right in the middle of that shape, right?

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

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Ratings and Reviews

Vitor Rademaker
 

This course is amazing! Scott is extremely straightforward. He goes directly to practical problems, tips and etc. He explains every thing very clearly, and he is also very funny and charismatic, making you laugh as you learn. He shows that you don't need a lot of expensive gear to make very nice pictures. So I have saved some money as well, cause I was about to buy some gear that I wouldn't need right now. It is for sure one of the best photography courses I have ever attended to! I highly recommend! Thanks a lot Scott! You are the best!

user-9994d2
 

I have purchased a number of classes, this being one of them. The quality of the information was good and the level at which Scott spoke was appropriate for me. Having a course sylibus would add greatly to the value, which usually is not part of the programs I've purchased including this one, unless I've missed it. I believe the speaker should be required to provide one. After watching the videos, much of material can be recaptured by seeing it in writing. I would like to hear back from Creativelive their thoughts. In sum, good topic, good speaker, good technical audio and video quality by Creativelive

user-b48fe5
 

Another fantastic class with Scott Robert Lim! The combination of his knowledge, willingness to share, passion & entertaining personality makes him a top choice for photography education. Learning not only the "what", but the "why" & "how" can transform one's entire approach towards MAKING pictures. A constant inspiration to get better & better through practice.

Student Work

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