The Photographer's Eye: Graphic Guide

EXACT

Framing can be as rigorous and precise as you have the time or energy for. The extreme is probably studio still-life photography, where there is full control and an absolute obligation to bring things into some kind of order. Here, the subject is a white cowrie shell. What could be simpler than that? The set and the lighting, too, are deliberately simple: black acrylic for the surface and a large softbox overhead. These are not throwaway, get-it-done-quickly decisions, but rather the best way of showing volume and shape. I’ve closed in because I want to play with the elegant curves, and because detail can open up a different world of perception. But how much of the shell to include, and where exactly to cut? How close to bring the curved ...