Bringing Out the Hidden Artist

From the PMA editorial bank

Everybody has an artistic side. Are you ready to break with convention to bring it to the surface? Here is a list of some of the conventional rules and suggestions on how to break them.

1. Conventional Rule 1. Place your subject one-third of the way from the left or right side of the frame, facing inward toward the center of the frame. Artistic License. Set your subject to the far side of the frame, looking outward. You’ll need a strong visual element to pull this one off, not your run-of-the-mill subject. Example: A tall, mysterious man in a trench coat (what is he looking at that we can’t see?), a child laughing hysterically (at what?), a tree or an old building getting ready to fall out of the scene (we can almost hear the crash).

2. Conventional Rule 2. Photograph people from eye-level for a "natural-looking" shot. Artistic License. Shoot the subject from way below or above eye level. Shoot from a balcony someone peering crane-necked up at you. Or capture your subject looking down as you shoot up from a flat-on-the-back position.

3. Conventional Rule 3. Separate your subject from the background. Artistic License. Have your subject disappear into the background—so that only a close examination of the scene will reveal it. A single seashell on a beach full of rocks—all the same size--is a good example.

4. Conventional Rule 4. Picture nature as it really is. Artistic License. Picture nature as you really see it. Don’t be afraid to use props. An apple tree loaded with fruit—and a hangman’s noose dangling from one branch—is a loaded image. It may not be what people expect—but, then again, giving people what they expect is not the goal of a true artist