Principles of Photography - Simplicity

beach huts
Originally uploaded by Nevoir.

I've spent the last 10 years reading pretty much everything I can get my hands on to do with photography.

I'm going to try and distill a lot of what I have picked up along the way into a series of blog posts that focus on different principles of photography.

The first principle that I am looking at is simplicity.

In the photograph of the beach huts I deliberately went in close and tried to simplify the subject into blocks of vivid colour.

I could have gone for a wider shot but that would have added nothing to the shot as it's clear what the subject is despite showing so little of it.

This technique can be used when photographing something that has been shot a million times before. It can enable you to take a unique shot of something familiar.

It makes for an interesting challenge when you frame a shot to ask yourself how you can simplify the image. 

Be ruthless and try and reduce the amount of clutter as much as possible. This can be particularly effective when shooting monochrome to produce graphic images that look like fine art.

When you first get to a location it can be hard to see what to shoot. By learning to simplify your photos you will begin to realise how many shots can be made from just one location.

Simple shots are easy to visually process and are as a result pleasing to the eye. You can see how effective these can be to convey a mood by studying the style of shots available from shops such as IKEA. Much of their photography makes use of this principle which allows people to mix and match to easily create a relaxed feel to decorate a living room or bathroom.

The next time you go and shoot challenge yourself to simplify your image. Force yourself to consider every element within the frame. Cut out anything you don't want within the frame and not during post processing. 

Let me know how you get on!