Subject Selection: How to Find Subjects to Photograph

Subject selection is the process of choosing certain people, places, or things that appropriately fit a given photography task Subject selection as a skill gives you the ability to master that process, no matter what genre of photography may be preferred. Subject selection is a necessary skill to be able to recognize scenes that are worth photographing.

Don’t confuse subject selection with storytelling – the process of subject selection focuses more on the specific object of the story rather than the story itself.

To begin to understand the process of subject selection, start by asking the following questions:

• Are some subjects more interesting than others?
• What makes a subject interesting?
• Can I increase a viewer’s interest in a certain subject?
• If yes, how can I achieve this?

Subject selection involves awareness and appraisal of a subject’s interest value. Awareness is knowing what to look for in a subject while appraisal is an active assessment of a subject.

Interest value is a conceptual rating that is given to a specific object to determine how interesting it is. It is also called visual value or visual response value.

Interest value is subjective in that some subjects are inherently more interesting than others. And since everything in life has an interest value, the higher the value, more likely the chance that the subject will be selected.

One thing to keep in mind is that interest value is dictated by your target audience, and those audiences vary from photographer to photographer and project to project. For instance, at a wedding, the couple is the subject, with the bride receiving special emphasis.

If the subject doesn’t have a high interest value, its visual value can be increased, instead of discarding the subject in favor of another one. This can be done by creating more drama with lighting effects, changing the vantage point or enhancing the environment around the subject. This is also where composition comes into play. The subject should be recognizable by the viewer for maximum visual interest.

Subject selection is part of the pre-production phase of photography, with the concepts of Visual Interest Value being considered before the subject is photographed.

Over the course of time, everyone improves their process of subject selection. A photographer gets used to subjects that are more effective and therefore more desirable and begins to realize some objects are more interesting than others. Repeatedly photographing the same subject on a regular basis leads to boredom, and the mind begins to seek other subjects.

Make every time you go out with your camera a learning experience by practicing Subject Selection.

This and many other techniques can be practiced on all WPS safaris ~ Book your safari today!