Strengthening The Subject

So I recently spent some time at a local bird sanctuary near to where I live. I love birds, and I do enjoy photographing them, but I’m not a huge fan of snapping images of birds in captivity so to speak - it doesn’t feel like as much of a challenge to me as spotting an animal in the wild and knowing you’ve got to be calm to capture the shot. That said, I went there with a purpose - to work on the fundamentals of shooting a subject. The reason behind this is that sometimes no matter how experienced you get, when you’re shooting landscapes it’s all too easy to slide back into taking photos of a beautiful scene only to realise it looks average when you get into the darkroom, rather than making a photo by using your trained eye. So today’s blog post is all about putting the idea of strengthening your subject into focus…

Going Medieval

I visited Greatham in Hampshire, near to where I live, to put some of this fundamental work into practice. There, the 13th century “Old Church” ruin stands in the middle of the village, looked after by a mystery caretaker who comes and goes to unlock and lock up the building. It’s an intriguing place, as half the church is fully ruined whilst the other (the chancel) is intact - a great, if slightly spooky place for me to seek some shade. The ruins themselves are nothing spectacular, they’re not dangled on the edge of a cliff and they don’t have any ghostly goings on swirling around them - what better place to practice making the ordinary a little more magical.

The Opening Shot

This was my first shot whilst on location - I got some advice from a fantastic YouTube photography channel once where the guy said “don’t question the Ah-Ha moment, just raise your camera and shoot”, or words to that effect. I like to think of those times as moments of inspiration - the feeling that “this would make a good photo” and just go with my gut. In my case they often turn out to be good establishing shots but nothing spectacular, and it’s no different here - we get a good sense of what we’re looking at for the rest of the series of photos to follow - the ones I had to work a little harder to make.

Through the Window-frame

One of the ways you can continue to focus on a subject, or to make your subject seem more interesting, is to find an opportunity to create a “frame within a frame” shot. Again, this is nothing spectacular as I was just out practicing what I’d regained from my bird park outing - focusing on strengthening the subject. The frame within a frame technique gives your viewer a unique perspective on the subject. I would argue that depending on how voyeuristic a person is, it can even add a little bit of a thrill - as if looking through a window you ought not be able to see through! From a science-y perspective, our brains are hard-wired to find patterns, so this technique is a great way to appeal to your audience’s neurological preferences - therefore making your compositions more appealing.

*Yew* Need a Secondary Subject

Puns aside, a series of images about the same, or similar subject can become a little dry for viewers after a while - there are only so many times you can see a picture of a duck on a pond in the summer, or the same vista shot from a slightly different angle. By the way I am 100% guilty of doing both of those things the world over.

As I circled the medieval church ruin and started to become a little underwhelmed, I got that sinking feeling all photographers know well - I’m here on location, but I’ve run out of things to photograph already…

This is where we cue in the secondary subject - in this case our yew tree branch and berries. A secondary subject can help to amplify and give new life to your main subject - making it seem bigger, grander, more important. A secondary subject can also add contrast, as in this case the cool, shady wall of the church contrasts with the glowing red berries and vibrant yellow-tipped green needles of the yew tree.

So there we have it! A few simple ways to strengthen your subject next time you're out with the camera. Which technique do you find yourself using most often?

Greatham Old Church - a 13th century church ruin on the Hampshire/Surrey border, captured in the hot British summer.

The chancel of the Old Greatham Church viewed through a ruined, ornate, stone window frame.

The medieval “Old Church” at Greatham from behind, with a hanging Yew tree branch and berries in the foreground.