Photo Tip #4 -- Focus on the Foreground

Consider this when looking for variety in compositional style - create a dominate foreground that connects and leads the eye to the photo's larger subject. You can tell a story, make a portrait, snag a detail and intentionally give the viewer a point of entry into your photograph. Here are a few examples:

In the first photo, Matt Young, director of education for the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus, holds the 1861 sword of John Julius Guthrie, the second commander of the C.S.S. Chattahoochee. This image is a portrait of the sword, but the soldier is an integral visual element to help convey the story of the sword. I pulled the sword handle away from Matt's body, used light from the side and let his face go out of focus just a bit. This creates some separation so the sword can be seen more distinctly. If he had held it close to his body, the sword would have simply blended into his uniform. Creating this space allows the focus to be on the sword and at the same time keeps the 'soldier' present.

This portrait of Northside High basketball players James Vincent, left, and Torin Walker (both 6' 10") brings an environmental element, the basket, into the foreground that then leads the eye directly to the athletes. This also solved the problem of how to make a clean and tight shot given the basket is 10 feet high. Interestingly, this photo didn't run. I selected an image that I shot from below knee level to the young men to accentuate their height.

In this image of Muscogee County Sheriffs pallbearers carrying the casket of their colleague, Deputy Sheriff Meredith "Tag" Rhodes, I framed the photograph of the young officer in the foreground in order to bring his life into the foreground of the story. The bowed heads and their open stride add to the emotion of the moment.

The Habitat for Humanity bag photo is a nice example of how you can to tune into a small detail and use it to spice up a photo - and offer a little different perspective to the scene.

In the above photo, Clubview Elementary students Abby Fitzgerald, left, Katie Smith, and the entire fifth-grade class filled a truck bed with the dozens of boxes of books that they collected for a school in Belize this past spring. Shooting this from the front emphasizes the truckload of books and keeps the teacher's and the youngsters' faces in the picture. To take this picture from behind would have lost them both. And this keeps the entire frame filled with useful information (the crowd of kids, students carrying boxes, teacher, and truck), there is no wasted space or cluttered background.

Try these out. I hope these are ideas that help you in your photo-taking endeavors. And please write in with any questions or comments. Either click on 'comments' at the end of the blog post, or email me at rtrimarchi@ledger-enquirer.com. Thanks.

Robin