What do you see when you look
through your camera’s view finder?
Are
you trying to frame a scenic landscape?
Are you zoomed in on flora or fauna?
Are you finding patterns in architecture or hotel carpeting?
Once you start taking photos with the intent
of creating images for screens, you will start to look at objects in a
different way.
And once you start
using your own images in your artwork, it is difficult to
return to using images other people have created.
If you are not proficient as a sketcher,
which is another way to create images, but like to take photographs, you can create screens from your own unique photos.
Here are some
tips that may help:
- What kind of images
do you like to work with? Nature,
graphics, people, animals?
- Search through photos you have already taken for something that you
think will make a strong black and white image.
- Remember that you
don’t have to use the whole photograph; crop it down to just the part you want
to use.
- Learn a few basics about Photoshop or whichever photo editing program you choose to work with to
convert your images from a photograph to a
black and white image with high
contrast and no gray.
- Learn to apply filters to your black and white photo to
create different effects.
- When taking photos
with screen images in mind, zoom in to your subject to eliminate as much
background as possible.
- Another way to
eliminate background is to angle your camera so that perhaps the sky, if you
are outdoors, or a mostly solid color object, if indoors, is your background.
- If you are
photographing natural elements such as plants that can be cut, you can stage
your photo against a white or black background.
Here’s a photo of a zinnia and
how it looks converted to black and white, with 5 different filters applied.
There are lots of options and once you start playing with images, it's hard to stop!
