Your Subject

A photo needs a subject, and people who look at the photo really ought to be able to tell what it is... No, I'm not trying to be insulting, but it's amazing how many images I see that have no identifiable subject.

When I was 12 (back in the dark ages) my family traveled around the country. It seemed that every rise we went over, every corner we went around and every change of weather, we had to stop, get out of the car, and take a photo.

When all of the slides finally got processed and we watched them, we were impressed by how many "photos of nothing" we had. Ok, so each "nothing" was a little different, but they were still "nothing", and definitely nothing we wanted to show to friends, because they were, after all, "nothing". See? This is a photo of "Nothing". Pretty nothing, but still, nothing.

Another issue with most of them was that the horizon or coast line was dead center in the image. So there was the additional question, is the subject supposed to be the land, or is it the sky? Or is it still, just "nothing"?

So this is step one. Identify your subject. Look through the viewfinder, and ask yourself, "What IS the subject?". If you can't INSTANTLY answer, recompose your image.

And don't be afraid of filling your frame with the subject. We photographers, until we realize that our clients expect it, try to hold back and not "get in their faces". Of course, this doesn't mean that you should be pushy or obnoxious, but it DOES mean that if you are being paid to do a job, you shouldn't be relegated to the background.

Later on in this series, we will cover ways to separate your subject from the background, and ways to clean up your background - but right now, you need to IDENTIFY exactly what your subject is.

 

It may be the children at play, the expression when the 2 year old gets their first dill pickle, the awesome sunset through the trees, the statue in the park with the birds ….doing what birds do. Or even Stonehenge's big BIG brother, The Ring of Brodgar on the Orkney Islands...

It doesn’t matter what you choose for the subject – but it DOES matter that your viewer can identify your subject. Next time, where should you put your new found subject?

Homework? Take photos in or around your home, and fill the frame with your subject. Be a little nuts about it. Make it IMPOSSIBLE to NOT know what your subject is.