Snap Shots: Become a composer for maximum effect

by Harry Flashman

What is it that makes some photographs stand out from others? Why are some portraits so powerful visually, and others merely snaps of people? Even photographs of the same seashore or mountain range landscape can be eye-catching or dull. What is the secret? What is the difference?

An excellent composition by Ernie Kuehnelt

It certainly is not a technical reason relating to exposure values. With the increasing sophistication of today’s automatic cameras the vast majority of photographs are properly exposed. The new film stock materials are also such that the colour renditions are very satisfactory these days. Auto-focus will keep the subject sharp, so it is not the fuzzy photo problem either. So what then differentiates a “good” photo from a “bad” or “ordinary” one?

The simple answer is our old friend “composition”. Put another way, understanding photographic composition is the key to getting great photographs. Now the so-called ‘photographers eye’ is something that you may or may not be blessed with, but there are some easy hints which will improve the composition of your shots and the final effect of any of your photographs.

The first rule of composition is to “Look for a Different viewpoint”. While the standard, “Put the Subject in the Middle of the Viewfinder” idea will at least ensure that you do get a picture of the subject, it will also ensure that your photographs will most likely be dull and boring!

In attempting to get that different viewpoint also try to take some shots not from the standard eye-level position. Squat down, lie down, stand in the back of a pick-up, climb a ladder - anything! Just don’t get stuck with standard eye-level views. If nothing else, take two shots, one in the “usual” horizontal format and the second one in a vertical (portrait) format. That’s at least a start!

The next way to add interest to your photographs is to take the subject out of the geometric centre of the frame. Be brave and place the subject one third in from either edge of the viewfinder. Just by placing your subject off-centre immediately drags your shot out of the “ordinary” basket. The technocrats call this the “Rule of Thirds”, but you don’t need to know the name for it - just try putting the subjects off-centre. Some of the latest cameras, such as the Nikon D2X reviewed a couple of weeks back, even electronically monitors for placement one third in.

While still on the Rule of Thirds, don’t have the horizon slap bang in the centre of the picture either. Put it one third from the top or one third from the bottom. As a very rough rule of thumb, if the sky is interesting put more of it in the picture, but if it is featureless blue or Bangkok grey include less of it. Simple!

Now what else can you do to improve those shots of yours? One good little trick is to include some details in the foreground of a shot to lead your eye towards the main subject. Look for lines, roads, telephone wires, fences etc with strong lines to include in the shot. Arrange the picture so that the lines “point” towards your main subject. Even without lines, a few foreground details also help add interest to any photograph.

One foreground detail to always look for is the possibility of producing a “frame” around the main subject. We call this the “Frame within a Frame” technique. It is a very successful way to convert an ordinary shot into one with a lot of visual appeal. And this is indeed a successful ploy in photo competitions. You will see the technique used over and over, and yet it does not lose its appeal.

Perhaps the last tip in making your shots more interesting is to include people in them where possible. That shot of sweeping rolling hills always looks better if you can put some human interest into it as well. A girl on a horse, a couple on a seat or a jogger all help to elevate a landscape above the hum-drum. Always look to add the human element as it gives relative size, if nothing else.

with Andrew Watson

In one of my lives, I worked in the fields of Northern Israel, from before dawn to dusk, in picturesque orchards fit to bursting with succulent, aromatic apples. We rose before first light, when dew was thick on the grass and the air was clean, cool and crisp. It was demanding work, as the unforgiving summer sun beat down and burnt our brows, yet it was uplifting.

“Each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge.”

In working the land, by hand, with a group of volunteers in camaraderie and without enmity, we sensed, individually and collectively, that we were close to God. By which I mean, that instead of withering us, our exertions only fuelled our sense of purpose and we felt our physical and spiritual worlds converge. It was a glorious sensation, which has lasted from the moment of my arrival in that magical place to the present moment.

The Kibbutz where I discovered such nirvana (as well as my wife) ran along the Lebanese border. The difference between the Israeli side, where verdant, irrigated, variegated fields lay easily between hills populated by cypresses, and the barren, arid, dusty ochre-brown baldness of Lebanon, could not have been more pronounced.

Sometimes we would watch the Lebanese farmers tilling the land, or planting or harvesting. The callousness of the border, with its razor wire, electrified fences and trenches on either side, could not prevent us feeling a sense of brotherhood with those who worked as we did, under the same sun, with the same wind in our faces. I’ll grant you that their lot was a great deal tougher than ours, but I doubt whether their spiritual sustenance was less profound.

The border, in the big picture, wasn’t really there. And that’s as close as I’m going to get to Middle East politics, other than to say, as a historical footnote, that even as we picked the apples, we were soon to witness Ariel Sharon’s almost universally condemned invasion of Lebanon and that wasn’t a pretty sight.

It was about this time (1982) that I was first introduced (by an Israeli Kibbutznik) to the work of a Lebanese mystical poet and artist called Gibran Khalil Gibran. According to John Walbridge, in his own mind he was primarily a painter, but it was his writing that made his reputation. His simple colloquial style and vivid short stories and “prose poems” were immensely influential in Arabic literature.

A philosophical essayist and novelist, he spoke a language of love and hope and compassion, which mirrored my own feelings. Looking at the landscape of Lebanon, I felt I knew him. Maybe I felt kinship with him - they say he wrote like he painted. “The Prophet” is a book of 26 poetic essays.

The “Prophet”, who has lived in a foreign city for 12 years, is about to board a ship that will take him home. He is stopped by a group of people, and yields to their demands to know more of the mysteries of life. The Prophet speaks of Love, Marriage, and on Giving. He speaks of Joy and Sorrow, Crime and Punishment and Pain, Friendship, Good and Evil and on Prayer, Pleasure and Beauty (and more). He also writes of teaching and I must credit him with being the inspiration behind my love of this particular art:

On Teaching:
Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which
already lies half asleep in the dawning of your
knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple,
among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but
rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the
house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the
threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his
understanding of space, but he cannot give you his
understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which
is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which
arrests the rhythm, nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can
tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he
cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to
another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s
knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his

knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.

I wrote some time ago of the interconnectedness of the world, more recently of the indomitable nature of the human spirit and often of what I regard as the imperative to ‘do the right thing’, especially in teaching. In the line, “If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind,” Khalil Gibran illustrates how precarious the life of a student can be.

It takes a brave teacher indeed to encourage that which Gibran espouses and a brave student to recognise their rights as an individual. My greatest fear is, what if neither are brave? A cowardly teacher entreats, nay, demands obedience. A “cowardly” student is invariably an oppressed student. So I say unto the oppressed student, in the name of Khalil Gibran, Be Brave! For “Each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge”.

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Next week: The Road Not Taken

Dear Hillary,
I regularly take an early morning stroll along Beach Road and have become fascinated by a female street cleaner. She has the most sparkling eyes I have ever seen. They are dark brown and reflect the first rays of morning light. When she looks at me, she flutters her long, curly lashes in a provocative manner. Unfortunately her eyes are all I can see, as her face is completely covered by a veil protecting her from the dust and the elements. I’ve tried talking with her but she apparently doesn’t speak English. In stead she hums the old Beatles song, ‘Love Me Do,’ as she swishes her broom around me. Are her mannerisms indicative of a female trying to sweep me off my feet and how can I entice her to reveal herself?
Mighty Mouse
Dear Mighty Mouse,
How the ‘mighty’ hath fallen - now we’re infatuated with street cleaners! When will this ever end? Or where? My poor little Mouse, since when have you been combing the lovelorn streets at first light? That’s around six in the morning, my Petal. Mornings don’t have a six o’clock unless you’re coming home late. No wonder you’ve fallen for the lady with the birch broom after fruitlessly traipsing the streets all night. However, on second thoughts, are you a masochist, looking for a right proper birching? (Always keep in mind the difference between sadists and masochists. The easy way to remember is that a sadist is someone who is nice to a masochist.) As far as revealing herself to you, have you tried 500 baht? The old ‘purple persuaders’ never fail. But, I say again, little Mouse, you should be happily tucked up in your mouse hole when the first rays of morning light strike the accumulated rubbish in the gutters.
Dear Hillary,
I was shocked to see that that Michael Jackson person was let off in America. How could this be? Our group were quite sure that justice would be served. Anybody who has been following the case from the beginning could see that he should have gone down for a long stretch. What do you feel about this, Hillary?
Janet
Dear Janet,
Your last name certainly wasn’t Jackson, was it, Petal. Honestly, Hillary does not want to get into this case, or any others, about which I know nothing other than what comes out of pulp media and that dreadfully biased American TV “news” reporting. Quite frankly, I know of nobody who has been following the case from the beginning. None of my friends were that interested - they had their own lives to lead. The case was tried under the American judicial system and the 12 tried and true jurors found him innocent. End of story, and let’s get on with our lives. Your group interests me, though. Do you all wear funny pointed hats and bed sheets?
Dear Hillary,
My husband and I are both getting on and are forced to use reading glasses. This would be fine if we both used the same strength - we could share, but this cannot happen because of two reasons. The first is that my husband needs weaker ones than me, so he can use mine, but I cannot use his. Second is the fact that he is a most forgetful man and loses his all the time. I carefully look after mine, to find that he has lost his, taken mine and lost them as well! This is driving me quietly batty. What do you suggest Hillary?
Myopic Minnie
Dear Minnie,
The answer is easy. Wear your glasses around your neck at all times and refuse to let him borrow them. If you are in a restaurant then still don’t pass over your spectacles either, but order for him - of course it will be something he doesn’t particularly like, won’t it! Eventually he must get the hint. Anyone who keeps on losing things is either doing it deliberately to annoy or is truly dopey. You work out which one it is.
Dear Hillary,
On Thai beaches there appears to be some sort of discrimination or secret code. The beach concessionaires arrange the chairs in long rows at the front closest to the sea which are taken up by foreigners, while they arrange the chairs in squares, with the seats facing each other for the Thai’s. Is this a deliberate thing or what? I know you will know the answer, Hillary, you seem to know the answer to everything else.
Ellen
Dear Ellen,
Thank you for the vote of confidence, though I must say, my little friend Mighty Mouse is worrying me these days! We’ve had this query before, but it is simple to answer. The farang holidaymakers go to the beach to lie in the sun and try to get brown, so that when they go back to their home countries their friends all say, “Haven’t you got a lovely tan!” You will therefore find them lying, covered in oil and slowly broiling on all sides. The Thais, by comparison, go to the beach to have fun and chat with their friends and stay out of the sun as much as possible, so they don’t get a tan! You will have noticed that the deck chairs in square formation are grouped around a table and underneath beach umbrellas. So it’s different strokes for different folks, I guess.