Using Contrast and Composition

by Bob Reed

This deer shot was done for a client that had a luxury lodge that was on a 1000 acre farm that several hundred head of deer. The first thing I had to do was to find the rolling hills that composed best and then find out what would be the best time of day for the light on the hills. Then I worked with the farm manager to have his dogs heard the deer across the top of the ridge. Now that sounds easy, but deer are generally very high strung...after half a dozen times it finally worked.

The most striking feature about this photograph is contrast, of which there are a number of types. There is the contrast of the four very distinct and intense colors: green, reddish-brown, blue, and white. There is the contrast of the smooth expanses of solid blue sky and solid green grass and the complex expanses of reddish-brown deer and clusters of white clouds. Another contrast which inspired the name of this photo, "The Art of Leading", is the single deer profiled in front of the herd, standing out from the rest who follow.

Light from the overhead sun creates all key-light (no back-light or fill-light) and casts its only shadows directly beneath the herd, further defining them as part of an emotionally bright whole. There is no darkness in this photo.

Composition also plays into the choice of this photo among the many taken. Western eyes are conditioned to view things left-to-right and top-to-bottom so this shot where the lines of hills, clouds, and animals all move towards the right seems a natural flow. This flow-of-composition also adds a sense of movement to the still photograph, whereas the placement of a tree or another hill on the right would change the scale and balance and stop the flow of our gaze and our imagination. This photo is so well balanced it could be constructed, but it's all natural.

So remember: when selecting photos from the many you'll shoot, stay aware of contrast and composition. Use contrast for high drama. Use dynamic lines of tension in the composition to draw the viewer in to your image and move them through it and beyond.