Emphasis in Photography

December 30, 2020

There are almost always multiple elements/objects in any artwork or digital image. In a number of these cases, there are some primary subjects of the artwork that we want to emphasise. This article talks about the most used techniques and concepts to lay emphasis on the right part/object of the image to focus on the primary subject. When we talk about emphasis in photography, we talk about contrast and we talk about positioning of the primary object.

Contrast - When something is visibly different from its surroundings in size or colour or shape, human mind tends to focus on the odd element automatically. This concept is used very widely in art especially photography.

Positioning - Different grids specially and scientifically designed to figure out the focus areas of an image to place a primary subject at so as to bring out the best in the image and keep the required focus on the viewer at the required section.

The 4 most popular grids are:

1. Rule of Thirds

The whole image is simply divided into 3x3 grid and the intersection points are treated as focus areas.frame is divided into 9 equal segments and emphasis is mostly on the intersection points. This is a grid which you can easily find in your cell phones.

2. Golden Grid

Here the image is divided in a 3x3 grid with golden ratio and then the intersection points are treated as focus areas.Here objects are mostly placed on the intersection points.

3. Golden Spiral

The image is divided into portions with golden ratio and then the smaller portion is further divided. This creates a spiral shape and the focus area is the last golden portion where the spiral tends to end. This is mostly used when we have to put emphasis on one object.

4. Pyramidal Composition

Pyramidal composition is something found in a lot of artwork and this is another technique of bringing better focus and emphasis to the artwork as the example shown above.The pyramid composition is one of the most fundamental compositions in art and photography. In a portrait that follows the pyramid composition, the subject's body forms an upright triangle shape, with the head in the top center of the vertical space and the shoulders and body expanding below to form a wide base.

Assignment

To understand the concept explained above, we were tasked to compose 4 different objects in different surroundings to explain all 4 concepts/grids mentioned above.

Subject 1 - Shoes

Golden Grid