20

Can I Exclude More?

IF HARMONY IS ABOUT THE WAY in which elements work together within an image, then asking ourselves if we might achieve better harmony by excluding more from the frame is a helpful question. I prefer to focus more on what I am trying to maximize rather than just asking if there is more I can leave out of the photograph, so I look at this task as one of isolation. How can we use the tools of our craft to best isolate the true subject of the photograph by including only those elements that carry the most information or impact in expressing that subject?

This pursuit is important because the more we put into the frame, the more those unnecessary elements compete for our attention and dilute the impact we hope the photograph will have. Anything that does not help express our vision of the subject has a diminishing effect on the power of the image and its ability to hold our attention or communicate clearly.

The most obvious means of exclusion comes from the frame itself and our mindfulness regarding where we point the lens. A little to the left, and we exclude elements on the right, and vice versa. A little closer, and we begin to exclude elements on all sides. Add to this the isolating or exclusionary effect of longer lenses and their restrictive angles of view, and we have the powerful ability to limit what goes into the final image. But these are not the only tools in the photographer’s toolbox.

We can isolate one moment or action by choosing to photograph one particular sliver of time—this 1/60th of a second rather than that one. Time can be used to isolate in other ways as well. When we choose to use a 30-second exposure, we isolate or exaggerate the softness of moving water, and in so doing, we exclude the particular details of the waves. Alternatively, we can use a longer shutter speed to isolate a stationary object if it’s surrounded by moving objects; that slow shutter allows the moving objects to blur while keeping the stationary object still, effectively excluding the individual moving elements.

Depth of field has long been used to intentionally isolate or exclude based on the plane of focus and how much you choose to keep sharp and how much you allow to blur, often very effectively reducing the visual mass of a cluttered background and isolating the foreground.

Using the behaviour of wider lenses and pushing them in nice and close takes advantage of the foreshortening effect of perspective, making the foreground element larger, the background elements smaller, and effectively isolating the former against the latter. If you recall our discussion of visual mass, this is simply an application of those ideas.

If you want to better isolate one element from another, give the one greater visual mass and/or decrease the visual mass of the other. One sharp element will be isolated against the blurred elements; those blurred elements might not be completely excluded, but their presence can be diminished. Elements that are made larger relative to elements made smaller will also be isolated. These same considerations can be used in post-production as well, the eye being pushed and pulled around the frame with careful dodging and burning.

Questions that guide us toward better use of isolation include:

• Does everything in the image provide either needed information or important impact? No? How can I exclude it?
• Are there elements that would, by their exclusion, give the picture greater clarity of message or emotional impact?
• Can I use a longer lens to tighten up the scene and compress some of the distance between elements?
• Can I use a wider lens pushed in close to give more impact to the foreground?
• Would less depth of field help isolate the subject, or do I need more depth of field to better tell the whole story?
• Would creative use of my shutter speed allow me to give more impact to the subject?
• Would a different choice of moment better isolate this event in time, excluding other moments that are less clear or powerful?
• What can I do in post-production to further isolate and draw the eye to the most important elements?