what can affect the mood of a photograph? draft 1

8/15/2019 What Can Affect the Mood of a Photograph? Draft 1

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KYLE THOMPSON

MICHAEL OLAITAN

WHAT AFFECTS THE MOOD OF

A PHOTOGRAPH?


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contents

1 – Introduction

2 – Subject matters

2 - Lighting

3 - Focus

4 - Camera Level

5- Camera istance! - "ction

# – Case Studies

WHAT AFFECTS THE MOOD

OF A PHOTOGRAPH?

MICHAEL OLAITAN

Many diferent actors afect the way mood is constructed by

Artists and perceived by audiences. But rstly what is ‘mood’?,

the dictionary denes it as ‘a temporary state o mind or

eelin’, !he way photoraphers construct their imaes is vital

to the way it is perceived by viewers, mood is essential to the

imae and the way viewers understand the art, it may be that

audiences understand the wor" in its preerred readin, the

way the photorapher intended it to be perceived, or viewers

may come up with their own concept o what the photorapher

tried to achieve.

!he imaes that are deemed most memorable are the ones

that incite a specic mood or eelin to its viewers# artists aim

to capture that mood in pictures to evo"e a specic eelin in

viewers.

$n the e%amples above, three diferent moods are portrayed in

the imaes, the rst o a youn boy# it shows a sense o

innocence and youthulness. !he second is ives a eelin o

conusion and loss, maybe even mental health problems. !he

third portrays a eelin o restraint and stanancy. !hese

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%ubber &and b' (es

)aman

$rinting *ista+es II%ed ,ead b' $riscilla Fran+


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imaes, which have been constructed diferently, show how the construction o an imae

emphasi&es the meanin in the imae.

SUBJECT MATTERS

'ne pivotal aspect when tryin to capture mood is the sub(ect, the easiest and most

obvious way to portray an intense emotion or mood is to capture someone who is

e%periencin a stron emotion or mood, the human ace can display an innite amount o

e%pressions, ranin rom happiness to aner. 'nce the sub(ect o the shot has been

ound, consideration into the construction o the shot should start to be made# eatures to

thin" about include the lihtin, ocus, camera levels and camera distance.

Lighting

)hen dealin with lihtin, the mood created by a lihtin efect should be a considered

actor, i a happy, (oyul efect is what is bein tareted, the shot should be briht and

should eature a lot o hih and a ew mid tones, to achieve this a shutter speed o around

*+- to *+*/ can be used to let liht into the camera, the $0' can be set to around $0'

-- 1 2--, a wide aperture could be used to allow a lot o liht into the lens. $ a sad,

loomy mood is what is the desired efect, a lot o low tones and mid tones should be

common in the shot, a 3uic" shutter speed should be used to allow less liht to reach the

sensor, !he $0' should be around $0' *-- 1 --, this means the camera will add no

additional liht to the shot, the Aperture should be small so that the amount o liht

allowed in the lens is reduced, i a deep depth o eld is wanted in the shotand a wide aperture is re3uired, the 0hutter speed and $0' can be used to

compensate or the wide aperture.

$n this imae by 4atharina 5un, a dar" loomy eel has been achieved,

the sub(ect and the way the imae has been ta"en both reinorce the

dar" loomy mood. !he sub(ect appears disorientated, the blac" paint

on one side o her ace and her messy hair enorces this, and her ace

shows a blan" and lieless emotion. !he sub(ect has been constructed

in such a way that ma"es the picture appear dim and loomy, the

photo eatures a lot o mid tones and low tones, this aain is another

convention o a dar" and loomy photoraph. $n addition to the sub(ect

and shot bein constructed in a specic way, the photorapher has

used a studio set up to convey the dar" and loomy mood. !he studio

set up is a mid6"ey setup so a lot o mid tones will eature in the

imae.

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Surreal Concetual

$hotograhs b'

.atharina /ung


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!his photo by 7ere" )inchester is an e%ample o a happy and (oyul

imae, the sub(ect is smilin and appears to be happy, the

photorapher has put a lot o consideration into how he wants the

sub(ect to appear. !he shot is ull o color and the ocus o the shot

is solely on the sub(ect, there are some low tones but the imaeprimarily consists o mid and hih tones on the sub(ect.

Focus

8ocus is another aspect that can afect the mood o a photoraph, the depth o eld in the

shot can reatly afect the mood o a picture, or e%ample i the sub(ect is in ocus in the

oreround but the mid round and the bac"round is out o ocus, the sub(ect becomes

the sole ocus o the imae, i the sub(ect, the mid round and the bac"round are inocus, the attention o the viewer can be pulled around the photo, the content o the

imae can also develop the meanin o the imae. Aperture is the part o the camera that

controls the depth o eld. 7epth o eld reers to the rane o distance that appears

acceptably sharp, a small aperture means the depth o eld will be shallow, and a lare

aperture means the depth

o eld will be deep.

1

!his diaram demonstrates the correlation between the aperture and the depth o eld, a

wide aperture, li"e +., will cause a shallow depth o eld, this means a small section o

the imae will be in ocus. A small aperture, li"e + will cause a deep depth o eld, this

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Still a smile b' ere+

(inchester0

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means a bi section o the imae will be ocus. !he efect o the aperture varies rom lens

to lens, to successully identiy the aperture# the ocal lenth will need to be "nown.

!his imae by 0teven Mc9urry is an e%ample o an imae ta"en with

a small aperture, the sub(ect is in ocus and the bac"round is out o

ocus, or audiences this reinorces the ocus o the imae, it is clear

that the man is the primary sub(ect o the photo. )hen considerin

the bac"round, $ thin" Mc9urry used an aperture that will still allow

the bac"round to be identiable# doin this sets the scene o the

imae. $t is clear to see that the location is somewhere e%otic, the

sub(ects costume and the brown tones in the picture ma"es me

assume that the location is in the 0aharan reion. !his imae

demonstrates the efect o 8ocus upon the mood o an imae# the in

ocus sub(ect and out o ocus bac"round are e3ual in terms o

symbolism in the photo.

!"# L"$"%

!he positionin o the camera in relation to the sub(ect can also afect the mood o an

imae. $ the camera is at eye level with the sub(ect, this will build as sense o e3uality

between the audience and the sub(ect, i the picture has been ta"en above the sub(ect it

will convey a eelin o vulnerability towards the sub(ect, this is because viewers eel as ithey are above the sub(ect. $ the lens is below the sub(ect, they will loo" more imposin

on to the audiences.

!his imae is an e%ample o a hih anle shot# the shot eatures a

little boy holdin a toy. :ih anle shots can ma"e the sub(ect

seem vulnerable or powerless when applied with the correct

mood, settin, and efects. 8or audiences, this constructs a sense

o superiority because they are loo"in down at the sub(ect.

!his photoraph by 5ean6Baptiste is a ood e%ample o a low anle shot,

the sub(ect loo"s bi and this is due to the consideration into the anle o

the camera. A low anle psycholoically ma"es the sub(ect appear stron

and powerul. !ypically low anle shots have bac"rounds that are plain

(ust li"e this one# this bein a s"y or a ceilin, the lac" o detail reinorces

the power o the sub(ect. !he heiht o the sub(ect encouraes the idea o

idea o ear and insecurity in audiences.

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)ational eograhic Series b'

Steven *cCurr'

$hotograher n+non

Jean-Batiste


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!his imae by Mc4enna ;eslie is an e%ample o an eye level

imae# this is a common shot in photoraphy, the camera at

eye level with the sub(ect, or audience it ma"es it seem li"e

they are observin a scene. imae by

7aniel ;ocurcio# this is when the camera is not placed

hori&ontally. !his imae ives a sense o imbalance and

instability. iewers may develop a sense o uneasiness or

tension.

!"# Distnc"

)hen dealin with camera distance to sub(ect, there are many diferent actors whichafect the way audiences perceive the imae. A camera that is close to the sub(ect has the

ability to eliminate all distractions in the imae ma"in the sub(ect the sole ocus o the

imae. @hotos where the sub(ect is the primary ocus o the imae ma"es the mood o that

imae dependent on the sub(ect. A wide shot allows more elements in the rame# these

elements have the power to alter the mood o the photoraph.

!his photo by 9aleb Mercer demonstrates how

diferent elements in a wide shot and chane the

mood o an imae. !he sub(ect o the photo is smilin

which is usually lin"ed to a (oyul photo, but becauseo the rey s"ies, the dull reen rass and the overall

lac" o hih tones in the imae, the photo ta"es on a

loomy mood rather than a (oyous mood. !o reiterate,

the wide shot allows elements into the rame which

have the capabilities o chanin or alterin the

overall mood aain. 'pposin this, elements in a wide shot can reinorce the mood o the

sub(ect,

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McKenna Leslie

Daniel Locurcio

Caleb *ercer

http://mckennaleslie.weebly.com/http://mckennaleslie.weebly.com/http://mckennaleslie.weebly.com/http://mckennaleslie.weebly.com/http://mckennaleslie.weebly.com/


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$ the s"ies were blue instead o rey and i the rass wasn’t so dull, the imae will appear

much more (oyous.

$n this photo by 7ani 7iamond, we see a close up o a

emale# this illustrates how the camera distance to the

sub(ect can afect the mood o the picture. :ere we see

a close up o a emale in an outside environment# thisphoto is very similar to a documentary style imae.

!he sub(ect appears to be on her way, mindin her

own business, $ thin" this photo traps her emotion and

mood at the time, her straiht ace represents a "ind o resilient spirit, much li"e a lion,

her briht iner her reinorces this. 'pposin the wide

0hot, the sub(ect has much more control on the mood o this imae# the reason or this is

because she is in ma(ority o the rame. !he camera ocus also reinorces the sub(ect

bein the primary ocus o this imae.

ACTION

Action is another way in which mood can be developed in photoraphy, the physical action

in an imae can be very important to the way viewers build an interpretation o mood in

an imae. Action is vaue, it can reer to a shot ull o ast paced activities, but in contrast,

action can address the lac" o motion an imae demonstrates. Action can be developed in

numerous ways such as acial e%pressions, body movements, props and location.

9onsideration into action is a ood way to develop mood in a photoraph.

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ani iamond


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!his imae by 8erli is reat e%ample o a shot

with ast movin action, the movement in the

shot is very clear. !he action in this shot ma"es

the imae attractive, many elements ma"e this

happen such as the le swin rom the man on

the riht, the man on the let duc"in and the

dust particles swinin, all o these elementsma"e this imae very aesthetically pleasin and

the action is stron in this imae. uic" paced

shots are enerally ta"en with a 3uic" shutter

speed to eliminate motion blur.

!his is a landscape photo by 5ose amos, this is a ood

e%ample o a calm photoraph. 'pposin the 8erli imae, this

photo lac"s ast movin ob(ects and emits a calm, tran3uil

eelin. !he lac" o human presence reinorces the peaceul

eelin o this imae, :umans tend to be 3uite proactive so

the inanimate ob(ects in the shot reinorces the calm eelin.

!he water bein still is somethin else that shows a calm

eelin. Cou can clearly see the reDection o the s"y in the

water, this emphasi&es how still the water is. 0till landscapes

are typically ta"en with a slow shutter speed to ull capture allthe details in the shot, this means a small aperture could be

used to capture more detail.

CASE STUDIES

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Ferli

/ose %amos


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@hotoraphers employ a lot o techni3ues mentioned into their wor", sometimes more

than one techni3ue in one photoraph. !he case studies below will evaluate how diferent

photoraphers adopt the mentioned techni3ues into their wor".

BRICE LE GALL

!his photo by Brice ;e Eall, a lot o the techni3ues mentioned have

been used in this imae. 8ocus is

somethin that stands out or this

imae a shallow depth o eld had

been used which "eeps the man in

the oreround in ocus, this ma"es

the man in the sinicant to this

imae, the smo"e in the mid

round and the mob in the

bac"round are out o ocus, theyboth play a role in

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REFERENCES

1 – "erture iagram - htt0digitalcameraorld0com26136#1#hat-is-deth-o7-7ield-ho-

aerture-7ocal-length-and-7ocus-control-hats-shar

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what can affect the mood of a photograph? draft 1

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