I bought this book called "Framed Ink" by a fellow named Marcos Mateu-Mestre. Maybe you've heard of him as he's been very big in animation and comic books. If you look his stuff up, his style is colossal.
The book is a master course on composition using light and shadow. Your photo is interesting to me, since if you would have cropped the top maybe an inch or so, the light and shadow would exactly have balanced.
The book explains how you put things you want the audience to see in either light or shadow. So beautiful Sylvia is in the dark, so are all of the table props aligned in the shadow as well. The only thing that gets lit is the tabletop and part of the background.
Lit the opposite way, you could have had Sylvia in a beam of light with her drink and the rest of the BG shrouded. Or Sylvia could have leaned her face into the light but kept herself in shadows. Or she could have her hands wrapped around the drink in the light but the rest of herself hidden in darkness.
The book has opened my eyes to composing with light and shadow, although none of this is new. Mateu's style, though, is utterly masterful, and if you can follow his example, you can create these elements for yourself. Not that it's easy.
His book is intended for people who draw, but his lessons apply for all visual storytellers. I highly recommend it, even though you're probably booked up with books right now.
I bought this book called "Framed Ink" by a fellow named Marcos Mateu-Mestre. Maybe you've heard of him as he's been very big in animation and comic books. If you look his stuff up, his style is colossal.
ReplyDeleteThe book is a master course on composition using light and shadow. Your photo is interesting to me, since if you would have cropped the top maybe an inch or so, the light and shadow would exactly have balanced.
The book explains how you put things you want the audience to see in either light or shadow. So beautiful Sylvia is in the dark, so are all of the table props aligned in the shadow as well. The only thing that gets lit is the tabletop and part of the background.
Lit the opposite way, you could have had Sylvia in a beam of light with her drink and the rest of the BG shrouded. Or Sylvia could have leaned her face into the light but kept herself in shadows. Or she could have her hands wrapped around the drink in the light but the rest of herself hidden in darkness.
The book has opened my eyes to composing with light and shadow, although none of this is new. Mateu's style, though, is utterly masterful, and if you can follow his example, you can create these elements for yourself. Not that it's easy.
His book is intended for people who draw, but his lessons apply for all visual storytellers. I highly recommend it, even though you're probably booked up with books right now.