Photographic Composition

Background and Foreground

This photo is an example of the use of focus in the foreground and the background. In the foreground, we have a soldier with his gun pointing to a man in the background, however because we can see other soldiers in the background, it adds to the effect of the man being trapped. This would have been lost if we couldn't see the foreground and background together.

Lines

The photo contains a meandering river with a mountain range in the background. The parallel lines of the river back makes the eye of the audience follow it, which then draws them into the mountains in the background, allowing the photographer to control where people look in the photo. This is a good example of using lines in a photograph.

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds have been used to draw attention to the bike and the lights in the background. The bike has been positioned on the right hand-side line which makes our eyes focus on it. Also the lights are positioned on the top line which also provides an area of interest.

Light and Shade

In this photo we see a bright light source at the top of the photo with silhouettes of people in the centre. The people also generate a shadow on the ground which makes the photo look more crowded. The people are all walking towards the light which guides our eyes to do the same. It also has the effect of inferring that the people have a second or split personality.

Cropped/Skewed Image

The photo has been cropped to focus purely on the elephant's eye. This is because the photographer wants the audience to focus on the emotions displayed by the eye, which would not be as successful if the whole elephant had been in shot. The photo has also been skewed on an angle to give the impression that the elephant is looking down at something, which re-enforces the height of the elephant, without it needing to be all in shot.