How To Make Your Images POP! — Photography Visual Patterns #5
Summary
TLDRThis video delves into the concept of contrast in photography, explaining it as more than just a Lightroom slider. It introduces tonal, color, and conceptual contrasts, emphasizing their importance in directing viewers' attention and adding interest to images. The script uses examples to illustrate how these contrasts can create striking visual effects, encouraging photographers to explore and apply various types of contrast in their work.
Takeaways
- 📚 The video is part of a series on visual patterns, aiming to break down visual language to better understand photography heuristics.
- 🔍 Contrast in photography is not just about the Lightroom slider; it encompasses a variety of types that can be utilized in creative ways.
- 📖 The dictionary defines contrast as being strikingly different from something else, which is a key concept in photography.
- 🌗 Tonal contrast refers to the difference between the lightest and darkest parts of an image, often used to direct the viewer's attention.
- 🎨 Color contrast uses color differences, often complementary, to create visual interest and balance in an image.
- 💭 Conceptual contrast involves contrasting ideas such as hard vs. soft, or nature vs. urban, adding depth and narrative to photographs.
- 👀 Tonal contrast is used to highlight important parts of an image by making surrounding areas darker, drawing the eye to the focal point.
- 🌈 Color contrast can create balance by juxtaposing cool and warm colors, or by using shadows and light to guide the viewer's gaze.
- 🏞 Conceptual contrast can be used to contrast elements within an image, such as nature against urban structures, to evoke certain feelings or ideas.
- 🏠 In one example, a small house in a large field uses conceptual contrast to create a sense of scale and minimalism.
- 🗼 The final image combines tonal, color, and conceptual contrasts, using shadows, colors, and the juxtaposition of nature and the Eiffel Tower to create a dynamic scene.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video series on visual patterns?
-The main focus of the video series is to break down visual language into visual patterns to better understand the heuristics of photography and how to apply them effectively in one's work.
What is the first step recommended for viewers who are unfamiliar with the terms used in the series?
-Viewers unfamiliar with the terms should check the first video of the series where the presenter breaks down visual language and visual patterns, providing the necessary understanding to follow the content.
What does the presenter define as 'contrast' in the context of photography?
-In photography, 'contrast' refers to the difference between the lightest and darkest portions of an image, often manipulated using the Lightroom slider, but also encompassing other types of contrast.
What is the dictionary definition of 'contrast' that the presenter emphasizes?
-The dictionary definition emphasized is 'the state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association,' with a focus on the 'strikingly different' aspect in photography.
What are the different types of contrast discussed in the video?
-The video discusses tonal contrast, color contrast, and conceptual contrast or juxtaposition, each serving different purposes in directing the viewer's attention and adding interest to the image.
Why is tonal contrast important in photography?
-Tonal contrast is important because it helps to direct the viewer's attention to the most important parts of the image by emphasizing the brightest portions against the darkest.
How does color contrast work in photography?
-Color contrast works by using colors that are different, often complementary, to create a visual difference that draws the viewer's eye and adds balance to the image.
What is conceptual contrast and how can it be used in photography?
-Conceptual contrast refers to the juxtaposition of ideas or elements within an image, such as hard versus soft, or nature versus urban, creating an unusual or thought-provoking contrast.
How does the presenter use the example of Mount Cook to illustrate the use of tonal contrast?
-The presenter uses the example of Mount Cook to show how making the valley intentionally dark and bringing down the shadows can make the mountain tips and sky stand out, drawing the viewer's eye to the intended focus.
What is the purpose of using contrast in photography according to the video?
-The purpose of using contrast in photography is to create interest and drama, and to direct the viewer's attention to specific elements in the image, allowing the photographer to tell a particular story.
How does the final image in the video demonstrate the use of multiple types of contrast?
-The final image demonstrates tonal contrast with shadows and a bright sky, color contrast with cool and warm sections, and conceptual contrast with the juxtaposition of nature and the Eiffel Tower's hard lines.
Outlines
📸 Introduction to Visual Patterns and Contrast
The video script introduces the concept of visual patterns in photography and emphasizes the importance of understanding contrast. The speaker explains that contrast is not just about the lightroom slider but also involves various types of contrast that can enhance photography. The dictionary definition of 'contrast' is discussed to set the stage for exploring tonal, color, and conceptual contrasts in the video series.
🌄 Exploring Tonal Contrast in Photography
This paragraph delves into tonal contrast, which is the difference between the lightest and darkest parts of an image. The speaker uses examples to illustrate how tonal contrast can be used intentionally to direct the viewer's attention to the most important parts of the image. Techniques such as darkening the valley in a mountain scene to highlight the mountain peaks are discussed to demonstrate the practical application of tonal contrast.
🎨 Color Contrast and Conceptual Juxtaposition
The script moves on to color contrast, which involves using colors to create visual differences, often through complementary colors. The speaker also introduces conceptual contrast, which includes contrasting ideas such as nature versus urban or soft versus hard. Examples are provided to show how these contrasts can create balance, interest, and direct the viewer's attention in a photograph.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Visual Patterns
💡Contrast
💡Tonal Contrast
💡Color Contrast
💡Conceptual Contrast
💡Juxtaposition
💡Complementary Colors
💡Intent and Purpose
💡Attention
💡Storytelling
💡Visual Language
Highlights
Introduction to the series on visual patterns, breaking down visual language to understand photography heuristics.
Explanation of the term 'contrast' in photography, beyond just the Lightroom slider.
Transcripts
hello my lovely photogs welcome back to
another video welcome back to the series
on visual patterns the series where we
break down visual language into visual
patterns so that we can better
understand the heuristics of photography
and how best to apply them to our work
now again if you don't know what any of
those terms mean and make sure to check
the very first video of the series where
i break down visual language and visual
patterns and everything you need to know
about it so that you can get a better
understanding of why you would
potentially use this kind of system
versus
something like photography rules for
example now in this video we are going
to be talking about contrast now when i
say the word contrast you probably are
thinking of
you know the lightroom slider this one
and you'd probably be right you know for
most intents and purposes what we're
talking about when we talk about
contrast in photography
is to do with that slider but you'd also
be selling yourself a little bit short
if that's all you thought about
you see in photography there's actually
a whole bunch of different types of
contrast and that's what i wanted to
cover in this video today and introduce
you to a couple of these concepts so to
start this video i actually wanted to
jump into the dictionary meaning of what
the word contrast means
and this will make a lot more sense as
we go on through the video but the
dictionary meaning is the state of being
strikingly different from something else
in juxtaposition or close association
now the strikingly different portion is
the key phrase that i want to focus on
especially when it comes to photography
because we usually are talking about
tonal contrast when we're talking about
the strikingly different portion the
contrast of an image and that is the
brightest portions of the image versus
the darkest portions of the image but
as i alluded to earlier in this video
there are other different types of
contrast that are super useful to us in
our photography practice that i want to
introduce you to as well so let's dive
into some of those okay and just to
recap the basics what i just mentioned
tonal contrast tonal contrast is the
difference between the lightest portions
of the image and the darkest portions of
the image usually done with a purpose
usually done with an intent and we will
get more into the purpose and the intent
in the examples later on in the video
but for now this is the basics of
contrast this is the basics of tonal
contrast now the next one is color
contrast and if you haven't checked out
my last video on color theory then i
highly recommend that you do that before
you watch the rest of this video as
it'll make a whole bunch more sense but
color contrast is exactly what it sounds
like it is using color to create
difference to create a contrast usually
that's done through the complementary
colors so the colors on the opposite
sides of the color wheel not always but
it is usually in done in that way and
the third and final contrast that i want
to introduce you guys to is conceptual
contrast or juxtaposition
now this is more of a kind of grouping
together of ideas when i talk about
conceptual contrast but it refers to
ideas like hard versus soft or nature
versus urban or old versus new it's
generally these elements within the
image itself that are contrasting each
other in a way that's a little bit
unusual maybe it's a person standing you
know left and another person standing
right and the two people contrast each
other because of what they're wearing or
something like that there's a whole
bunch of different styles of contrast
that it could be so this conceptual
contrast is kind of an umbrella for all
of those of course there are a great
many different types of contrast out
there in the world and so i encourage
you to go out there and look for them
yourself and add them to your
photography
as for now we will go through a little
bit of the why you would use them and
how you would use them through the use
of some examples okay so in this example
we have an image from mount cook we have
all of these lovely mountains here
and i want to talk about the reason why
tonal contrast works tonal contrast
works because the eyes are naturally
drawn to the brightest portions of the
image contrast in general like you would
use contrast so that you can direct
attention as the photographer so that
you can show the viewer exactly what is
important to look at in the image so in
this example
what i wanted to show the viewer is this
top portion of this mountain is the most
important part
and so i in lightroom made all of this
valley intentionally dark and i brought
down the shadows for that so that it
makes the tips of this mountain stand
out and the rest of the sky stand out so
that's automatically drawing your eye
into that in this example i'm doing the
same thing i'm accentuating what already
happened in the world
which is this nice big ray of sunshine
right here and i made this portion of
the image a lot darker
than what the human eye would see
so that the actual image
pops so that the portion of where you're
supposed to look it gets accentuated and
that is the purpose of tonal contrast
and that's why it works so well in this
example it's very obvious what is going
on and where you should be looking at as
the viewer and in this image in
lightroom i've actually darkened these
outer portions so that this one sliver
of light is the only thing that you see
as the viewer that's very intentional
and it makes images
very easy to understand it gives a cue
to your viewers as to where they should
be looking in this image i wanted to
show you guys color contrast and the
idea of color contrast what we've got
here is two colors that aren't exactly
opposing each other
in like the strictest of senses when it
comes to
complementary colors but they're close
what we've got here is a cool
top portion and a warm middle portion
contrasting each other in a sort of 50
50 kind of relation and in my opinion
that makes the image quite balanced and
quite easy to look at and easy to
understand in addition we've also got
the silhouettes of the very dark city
versus the very bright sky which has
these two colors which gives the rest of
the image balance in this image what i'm
using is an abundance of cool colors and
just a very small flash of you know warm
colors
in addition to
tonal contrast so a lot of shadows up
here you know down here and then only a
very sliver of light
and again this has the
intention of drawing your eye in to
exactly where it needs to go now when it
comes to conceptual contrast what i
wanted to show you guys is
this image of you know nature versus
urban
what we have here is a very natural
foreground of sakura very gentle
you know flowers
and then we have this very hard
man-made
castle in the background which
has a strong juxtaposition right you
have this nature element and you have
this man-made element that both go
together whatever meaning you want to
associate with that is obviously up to
you but this is a technique that you can
definitely add to your practice in your
photography in this image we've got the
whole man-made versus nature again in
the form of these you know this little
house in the middle of nowhere
we've also got this idea of you know
soft and soft and then very hard lines
in the middle as well so you know there
are a whole bunch of different avenues
you can use to
instill conceptual contrast into your
images and they all have a different
kind of feeling and a different kind of
mood in this instance you know it what i
was trying to do with this image is
actually make it quite minimal and so i
was actually focused more on the
contrast of big and small where you
would have this kind of small
little house in the middle of nowhere
juxtaposed with this huge
field and this huge sky
and this kind of sense of
i guess you know giant planet little
person kind of vibe
and that's what i was trying to go for
but again there is a lot of different
conceptual contrasts that you can use
all right and in this final image we've
got a little bit of everything that i
mentioned in these last examples we've
got
tonal contrast so we've got a bunch of
shadow here with this very bright sky
behind it and they both juxtapose each
other then we've got color we've got you
know very cool colors up the top
juxtaposed against this very warm middle
section
and then to a lesser extent we've got
nature in these birds
adding you know very soft very round
lines to the overall image juxtaposed
with the very hard lines of the eiffel
tower alright just to wrap this up
when you're creating
contrast in your images you are creating
difference and it is this difference
that creates interest and drama and
allows you as the photographer to direct
your viewers attention to the exact
elements in the exact position that you
want the viewer to look so that you can
then tell the story that you want to
tell
alright that's it for this particular
episode of contrast in the visual
pattern series i will see you in the
next video but until then get out there
and make something that matters
peace
you
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