Composition! Subject! Exposure!

By Jaymcneil

There are many general "guidelines" or "rules to follow" when taking pictures. The purpose of taking a photograph is essentially to capture a moment in a way that pleases the photographer or other viewers. This means that although for the most part, when these guidelines are followed the results are usually better, it is not necessary to live by the rules. A large portion of photography is creativity and taking risks to create a unique result. Essentially there are no "right" and "wrong" ways to take a photograph, only methods that have proved to be appealing.

Generally the most important parts of a photograph are the composition, subject, and exposure / lighting. For example, a photo wouldn't be a keeper if: half of the rider's body was accidently cut off, the photo was a boring ugly trick, or if the photo was taken at 1:00 a.m. and hardly anything was visible.

Composition

Composition is essentially the framing of the photograph and where objects in the picture are with respect one another. One important thing to look out for while photographing mountain biking is the horizon. As a general rule, the horizon should be kept out of the middle of the frame and usually looks best when it is 1/3 or 2/3 up the frame vertically. This is known as the rule of thirds, which is a term you may have heard tossed around. The rule of thirds also applies to objects placed horizontally in 1/3 increments. This image (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Rivertree_thirds_md.gif) shows the rule of thirds well, as the horizon is 1/3 of the way up the frame vertically and the tree is roughly 2/3 of the way across the frame horizontally.

This being said about the rule of thirds, typically when taking a picture of someone biking, you do NOT want to have them in the dead centre of the image. Generally, you want to have them somewhere around 1/3 to 2/3 into the frame.

Another issue that arises with composition is "guy in the sky" pictures. As a photographer capturing the moment, you want to include where the rider is coming from (the jump), where the rider is (in the air), and where he is going to be (the landing). As previously stated, this does not HAVE to be included to have a good photo! Generally speaking however, including the take off and landing is optimal.

Another issue related to composition is the angle at which you take your photo. People love getting creative on the perspective of the shot, which is great. For the most part, 5-6 feet high is usually not a good angle when taking action photos. Good photography is hard work! Get down low or up high depending on the situation to get a good angle.

And what makes a good angle? A large reason why angle is important is concerning the background. It is VERY important to think not only about what your rider will look like, but what behind him / her will look like. Try to have the rider isolated completely in one type of background, i.e. don't let the horizon run through the rider's body. This means either attempt to have the rider completely against the sky or completely against another background (thick trees etc). This usually isn't too big of an issue when you follow the rule of thirds and placed your horizon in the bottom third which will leave lots of sky to isolate the rider. The rider stands out better when the background horizon doesn't cut the rider in half, however, to help them stand out, you can make sure that your rider wears bright clothing or something that stands out against the background color i.e not a black shirt and jeans against dark fir trees.

Subject

Having a good subject to shoot while biking isn't as much in your control as the other two main points, however it's the photographer's job to make them look good! A big portion of this is timing with your shots, which can only come through practice. Get out and take pictures and your timing will become more accurate every time!

Exposure

Related to timing is your exposure, and what makes up exposure: light, aperture (a hole that can be made bigger or smaller), shutter speed (how long that hole is open to let in the light), and ISO (a sensitivity measurement of the sensor to light, higher ISO means more exposure). When shooting people moving fast on bikes, obviously you need a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. Not everyone can have an SLR to individually control things like aperture and shutter speed, or ISO for that matter. Many must rely on getting to know their camera. Sport mode will boost ISO and widen the aperture resulting in a faster shutter speed. Be comfortable knowing how much of a delay to expect with your camera. If you are fortunate enough to own a camera which does let you manipulate ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, then from there it is all practice learning to manually adjust these to achieve optimal exposure in different circumstances.

For most people that won't be able to constantly adjust settings to achieve a certain look, you can still do things to control the lighting in your photo. Although mid day when the sun is shining directly down on you is typically when most of you head out to the dirt jumps, this is probably the worst time to get great shots. In mid day with the sun shining brightly down, the light is 'flat' and is much less dynamic. This lighting could be called 'harsh.' Typically light is better early in the morning and in the late afternoon / early evening when it is either partway through rising or setting. This is because the sun is shining on an angle which usually gives nicer and more interesting light and shadows. When the sun is in these positions, it's usually advantageous to avoid having the sun directly in the shot (especially when relying on automatic exposure) because this tends to lead to overexposure of the sky and causes details to be 'blown out.' One thing to look out for, however, is that if the sun is directly behind you then it may lead to a big shadow of you taking the picture in your shot. Contrary to what many of you may think, an overcast day is actually a great time to take photos, as this is a great way for light to be diffused and leads to nice, soft lighting.

It's safe to say that most of us take pictures for fun. Don't let all the rules and numbers get you tangled up and prevent you from taking great pictures. That being said, it usually takes a lot of work to take a great photo. Everyone has those moments where all of the stars are aligned and you happen to quickly snap a random shot that looks amazing. However, to get consistent good results, you've got to put in the work practicing different situations and applying different techniques and 'rules.' If you're just starting out, don't get overwhelmed by too many new concepts at once. Focus on one aspect and go out and shoot some photos while keeping that concept in the back of your mind at all times. You can learn more and more every time you shoot photos. Photography is capturing light, and light is a complex entity (ever hear of quantum physics?), therefore you can always learn new things as you explore through your lens.

Posted by O9man at March 19, 2008 10:29 PM

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