Composition: Should We Incude People In Our Photos?
Feb 2, 2017 08:40:35 #
I go back to the old days when someone showed their images and said........here my wife here, here i'm here etc etc. All I saw was 10 photo of themselves. I hated them. Except if they were family member or close friends.
Today I allow people into my images if they are part of the story or I just can't get rid of them. Many times the person is the story and the background takes a back seat.
Bottom line is that most of the time I try to have no people unless they tell the story.
Today I allow people into my images if they are part of the story or I just can't get rid of them. Many times the person is the story and the background takes a back seat.
Bottom line is that most of the time I try to have no people unless they tell the story.
Feb 2, 2017 09:18:00 #
Feb 2, 2017 09:40:31 #
Feb 2, 2017 09:46:27 #
SharpShooter wrote:
In the Eiffel Tower shot I've included two people ... (show quote)
Great posts SS! I agree that having people in the photos adds to the realism of the shot. Sure, you can take landscape and architectural shots and (hopefully) not have people in them. But why? Even if you go to an architects office and look at his "artist's renderings" of a building, the artist will probably show cars in the parking lot and people on sidewalks, around fountains etc. They actually add life to a static image. If I'm out shooting landscapes or nature then I possibly don't want people in the shot. If I'm shooting monuments, buildings etc. then it depends. Shooting the Washington Monument, or the Lincoln Memorial in DC would be difficult without people, so you just pick and choose. And, if you're really anal, you can always take them out in post processing. LOL!
Feb 2, 2017 10:08:07 #
On the Eiffel Tower and Windsor pictures I would erase the people. Most of my pictures have no people. If the people add to the composition than it's OK. If they are part of the story, silhouettes in a sunset. Sports players and other subjects the it works. David
Feb 2, 2017 10:18:09 #
Thanks SS!! As usual, your posts are informative, instructive and accompanied with superb images. I've attached two from a Canyon trip in 14'
Mark
Mark
SharpShooter wrote:
On the heels of whether our fotos should have a su... (show quote)
Feb 2, 2017 10:25:37 #
photoman022
Loc: Manchester CT USA
Should we include people in our photos? It depends. There are photos I've taken that including people would add nothing to the shot; in others, adding people would actually detract from the shot; still others where people would make the shot. Last September I was in Santa Cruz, CA, climbing the stairs toward the old mission. I turned around to photograph the stairs and a man was climbing the stairs carrying his bicycle. I asked permission to photograph him; he refused. I didn't bother with the shot because that person made that shot, all I would have had was an empty staircase.
Feb 2, 2017 10:26:28 #
For a good many years, wherever photography has been discussed, the Op's question is certainly not a new one.
I'm surprised, however, that no one here has mentioned any connection to regional preferences. I have read that they
exist and do believe it, even note that I have always been aware of it and experienced it.
Following the examples of 19th cent. painters and photographers then and later, the great untamed west was depicted
in totally uninhabited and unspoiled vast and glorious nature scenes, the wonder of which existed in a new and unused
new world newly explored. Unless it was for scale, such as to render woodcutters as nearly as small as ants against giant
trees, the idea of putting a human in such a picture was definitely not the thing to do in order to appreciate Nature with a
capital N. The tradition is still carried on with photographers looking for outstanding scenes, and by such groups as photo
clubs and those with environmental concerns.
But the whole "picture" was summed up for me when hearing the joke about the east coast cousin invited to spend vacation
with his western cousin. They went fishing. After driving some distance the western cousin became thoroughly disgusted
because there were 3 other people fishing in even the very last spot he chose,and he called off fishing for the day as there
were,"Too darned many people around here !!" The eastern cousin was mystified at this outburst. But it does say much
about what people are used to and where they can feel more comfortable. Born and brought up in the east, i find many
western landscapes "empty", that are more "normal" for folks who grew up in the west. (There are regional differences in
amount of color in landscapes as well, but that is more climate-related.)
I'm surprised, however, that no one here has mentioned any connection to regional preferences. I have read that they
exist and do believe it, even note that I have always been aware of it and experienced it.
Following the examples of 19th cent. painters and photographers then and later, the great untamed west was depicted
in totally uninhabited and unspoiled vast and glorious nature scenes, the wonder of which existed in a new and unused
new world newly explored. Unless it was for scale, such as to render woodcutters as nearly as small as ants against giant
trees, the idea of putting a human in such a picture was definitely not the thing to do in order to appreciate Nature with a
capital N. The tradition is still carried on with photographers looking for outstanding scenes, and by such groups as photo
clubs and those with environmental concerns.
But the whole "picture" was summed up for me when hearing the joke about the east coast cousin invited to spend vacation
with his western cousin. They went fishing. After driving some distance the western cousin became thoroughly disgusted
because there were 3 other people fishing in even the very last spot he chose,and he called off fishing for the day as there
were,"Too darned many people around here !!" The eastern cousin was mystified at this outburst. But it does say much
about what people are used to and where they can feel more comfortable. Born and brought up in the east, i find many
western landscapes "empty", that are more "normal" for folks who grew up in the west. (There are regional differences in
amount of color in landscapes as well, but that is more climate-related.)
Feb 2, 2017 10:33:08 #
As a statistician, I appreciate hahersh's comment. There are times when people are important in a photo to provide scale. For example, in the CA redwoods last year, I deliberately included people in some shots and even had my wife in some shots with the enjoinder "please don't pose." One of my favorites was a couple in the distance both gazing intently upward.
Feb 2, 2017 10:34:56 #
Feb 2, 2017 10:46:48 #
Delderby wrote:
is it that photographers who don't like people pics just don't like people?
* ** * *
There IS some of that Delderby, but many shy beginners simply hesitate to ask where they are close
enough to do so, and the more shy if not having family as cooperative subjects, or if they have a
special interest in floriculture or entomology etc. And as already mentioned, following a tradition,
looking for that great unspoiled Nature in a nature that isn't there a century and more later.
Feb 2, 2017 11:11:09 #
I think scale makes a difference to including people in photos. I am now trying to include people every chance I get, which is few as I seem to be in places where I am a lone photographer...
Feb 2, 2017 11:22:37 #
dcampbell52 wrote:
Great posts SS! I agree that having people in th... (show quote)
This is true all my renderings have people, cars,when appropriate and a golden retriever always is peeking out from behind a column or around a corner.
Feb 2, 2017 11:25:43 #
Depends. For street photography, definitely include people, facing towards or oblique to the camera (pictures of their backs don't count for street, IMHO) Classic landscapes probably not if you're emphasizing the beauty of nature - unless you want to add the human scale, but a barn or fence could do that. For urban architecture, I think people or person would be desirable for human scale, but don't clutter. As for dating the picture by their clothing, I think that would be desirable for future generations of viewers.
Feb 2, 2017 11:31:36 #
SharpShooter wrote:
In the Eiffel Tower shot I've included two people ... (show quote)
Lovely images! Subject such as these need people, people add interest, life and a sense of scale.
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