Designing a Photograph: Visual Techniques for Making your Photographs Work

by Bill Smith

During the 15 years since the first edition of Designing a Photograph was published, the field of photography has become much more competitive, with much more sophisticated standards.

This revised and updated edition of the classic manual provides all the information photographers need to bring their art to the next level. Filled with practical, real-life examples and excellent step-by-step exercises, this valuable reference demonstrates techniques of composition, color, lighting, perspective, and more.

With completely updated information and more than 150 brand-new photographs, Designing a Photograph is easily one of the most important additions to every photographer’s library.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Bill Smith worked his way through undergraduate school firing steam locomotives on the railroad, then paid for graduate school as a dormitory resident advisor. Three years later, he was the acting chief of television for a branch of the Air Force in Washington, then acting assistant to the under secretary of a federal department. He was the founding executive director of a state wide public broadcasting network, a founder of a seventeen state public broadcasting system, and the recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award.

See more books by Bill Smith at www.bsmithbooks.com

Reviews

[J.D. Steens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smith discusses the importance of the Gestalt element in a picture and details the parts of a picture that makes a good whole. He writes about “ground” (background) and “figure” (subject) and comments that “the way they work together is critical to the success of the image.” He adds that, depending on the picture and one’s interest, there is a constant changing of figure and ground. Yet, to a degree, what he describes in his picture illustrations comes across as noise or clutter that detracts from the main feature of the photo (the gestalt element). While background complements the main feature, when does too much get in the way?*

While technique can be seen as objective, his Walker Evans quote (“Shoot however and whatever you want. Don’t listen to anyone else, just go in the direction you have chosen”) suggests that there’s considerable room for subjective preference. In one picture, Smith crops out the sky to bring the eyes down to the rolling domes in the foreground. He thinks it improves the picture because it deletes “the dead space of the sky.” But the sky relieves a claustrophobic feel and his cropping decision crowds the picture. In another picture, though, Smith purposefully adds such ‘space’ to make it work.

The pictures in this book are used to illustrate Smith’s preferred techniques. With a few exceptions, the picture content was surprisingly flat (not interesting).

*In a recent New Yorker review of William Gedney’s photos of India, though, I came across this quote: “Gedney never made a fetish out of the dramas of light and angle, so the focal points of his photographs are never instantly obvious. A reader must look attentively at every detail in the frame, each telling her something small and discrete; then, quite suddenly, the details cohere, and the photo transforms into an enhanced whole.”

[Austen to Zafón · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked many of the "assignments" he had for perfecting one's "eye" for composition, although in general, I found his photos rather boring. His focus was mainly commercial photography, which isn't what I want to do. Still, it was worth reading through.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by Ken Rockwell

"how to create great photos out of nothing"

"with exercises"