Shapes

Shapes are 2D elements that are included within photo. Shapes, much like lines, can be used to achieve different feelings or moods within your photos. Rectangles and circles alone come off as boring as they tend to be ordinary and usually mirror the frame of your image. Diagonals and triangles create conflicts to the rectangular frame of a picture and therefore attract the viewers eye.

There is a two fold meaning here. Shapes are the objects within the photo or the way in which multiple subjects are "lined up" in a photo. Ever notice how class pictures or family photos always have a sort of triangular shape to them? The tallest person goes at the middle back to become the peak of the triangle and then there is the next tallest then the next until you've got the shortest of the row on the ends. That's because triangles represent power and photographers want to make groups feel powerful.

Take a look at the picture on tomorrow's front page of the paper. Bet you it is someone standing in front of or with something. That person and the other subjects have been framed to be in some sort of shape... try tracing out their major features and see what you come up with.

I find this one of the more difficult concepts to keep in your head when taking a photograph. I’m still at the stage of keeping lines, colour and the rule of thirds in a photograph so if shapes do appear (other than the subject of the photo) it is usually be fluke or chance. I’m quite interested in trying to keep adding this element to my pictures in conjunction with the other concepts and found the concept of the use of triangles as shown here very helpful to try and emulate.