Contrast is what makes photography interesting

I hope this gives you some ideas to use in your compositions. In order to have contrast, you need two of something. Those two things should have a striking difference.

Opposite sides of a position. The people who view your photos have an innate concept of contrast. It's in everything we do and how we live. Day or night, we see contrast in our lives. Anything that's so much a part of a person's life is a great tool to use for visual storytelling.

That's why stories don't just have heroes. What would a hero do without some problem to solve, or a good villain to cause problems? Contrast causes interest. That's why people love it, even if they never talk about it. Think about the interesting photos that you enjoy. How often are they flat with even lighting on every part of the image?

Photographers work with light and darkness. Contrast is inherent in our field. Too much of one thing or the other and our audience loses interest in what we're doing. Before we start talking about different methods of using contrast in photography, let's discuss the difference between high contrast and low contrast. High contrast images have some pretty stark relationships between light and dark parts of the photo. Today, Lola is here to teach us about high contrast.

Black dog, white background. You don't have to hit someone too hard over the head with this photo to understand the stark difference in contrast. I had to use a stock photo for this example, because I just don't like low contrast photos like this one. Apparently, it's good for advertisers so the photo doesn't conflict with the text or message. A post shared by J A N A creative photography jana.

Many of the low-contrast photos you see on social media are meant to emulate vintage film photography, which featured a very low dynamic range. You can easily create beautiful low-contrast images by using vintage filters from your favorite photo editing app. VSCO , for example, includes hundreds of filters that were designed to imitate various types of film. Understanding how contrast affects your photos can make you a better photographer.

Follow Backlight. What is contrast in photography? How does contrast work in photography? Types of contrast in photography With contrast photography, you can make different contrast adjustments that affect not only the mood of your photo but also the tones, textures, clarity, and colors. Here are the different types of contrast you can use to improve or change your image: Tonal contrast High contrast Low contrast Color contrast Tonal contrast Tonal contrast refers to the difference in brightness between the elements of the image.

How to increase and reduce contrast in editing Every editing app will have a contrast slider that makes it simple to increase and reduce contrast in your images. Follow these steps to quickly reduce or increase contrast in your photo: Open the Photos app and choose a photo to edit. Tap Edit. Scroll through the tools and tap the Contrast tool, which looks like a circle divided in half with black on one side and light on the other. Move the slider to the left to reduce the contrast or to the right to increase it.

Tap Done when you are happy with the results. High contrast in photography High-contrast photos have bright whites and dark blacks without a lot of medium tones. How to shoot a high-contrast photo When you first start shooting high-contrast photos, try using the black and white filter on your camera app.

Low contrast Low-contrast photos have very little tonal contrast, so instead of whites and blacks, you will see a lot of gray tones. How to shoot low-contrast photos Since low-contrast photos include lots of middle tones, seek out similar colors when planning a photo shoot.

Color contrast in photography Color contrast makes use of other types of contrast tonal, high, and low contrast to create an image with varying degrees of contrasting colors. Back in the film days, photographers would have to invest hundreds of dollars to get darkroom equipment, and then maybe thousands to build a proper space. That means everyone willing to invest their time can learn how to make spectacular photographs.

Hands down. Looking at your photos and editing them on your computer will help you learn to take better photographs in the field.

We all started here. Many people will start in Lightroom Classic by simply using the contrast slider. A contrasty photo will have deep deep blacks, little information in the shadows, and bright whites. But a photo with good contrast is one where there is an obvious subject that is contrasted with a background.

Take for example, the above photo from Death Valley. This desert would normally be pretty flat, and uninspiring during the day. Meaning there is no obvious focal point, and there is no contrast, because the highlights and the shadows of the image are relatively equal.

I took this image at golden hour, which means the sun was low on the horizon, causing some deep shadows. As well, the dunes in the background are dark, contrasting with the bright dune in the foreground. None of these contrasting features were included in the image by mistake. Master Sword. Nice post on high contrast photography! Good job highlighting the use of color contrast to make your subjects stand out more for this type of photography.

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We would love to publish an article by you if you are interested in writing for us. See what we are looking for and get in touch. Contrast in Photography by Joaquin Duenas. Like This Article? Don't Miss The Next One! Join over , photographers of all experience levels who receive our free photography tips and articles to stay current: Email Subscribe. Related Articles. Tutoriale Photoshop says:. Wednesday, October 29th, at pm. Master Sword says:. Friday, April 6th, at am.