1 The Centre of Interest – decide the element/object you wish to make the focal point of your photograph and decide what viewpoint it is best shot from to give your desired result/effect.
2 Possible Distractions or Intrusions – take careful note of your potential picture, the focal point/centre of interest, foreground and background, and remove any object that may detract from the focal point of your picture.
3 Enhancing the Foreground – it is important to decide whether there may be anything that could be added to the foreground to make it more interesting without detracting from the centre of interest of your picture.
The foreground can make or break your picture – according to the experts. 🙂 The foreground can be used to frame your point of interest or as a tool to lead the eye into the centre of interest of the photo.
Foregrounds are sometimes used to hide uninvited to guests who decide to go 'photocrashing' and just HAD to start with your photo. 0_o Bastards lol Really though, if you have any unwanted intruders in the middle or background of your photo, call Mr. Foreground and he'll throw them out. 🙂 You have to be careful though, cuz Mr. Foreground could very well believe it's his party and try to do some dominating of his own.
Freeman, J. (2007). The photographer's manual: how to get the best picture every time, with any kind of camera. Hermes House. London.
The story told in B&W utilizes texture and tone to create the picture. The tonal range from black through white is known as the grey scale…a B&W print where most of the tones are from the extremes of the scale – without any mid tones – is referred to as high contrast print. If these tones are mostly toward the white end, it is called a high key picture. A picture where most of the tones are near the black end of the scale is a low key print and one that uses the full range of tones is called a full tone print.
It is not necessary to use light filters for black and white films. You may add coloured filters however, to add interest to your piece.
A notable B&W photographer to study is Ansel Adams. Michael Mironov is worth a look up as well (Y).
The door of an old, abandoned Mercedes Benz in my yard.