Part 23 - The roles of tone, contrast and mass in Photo Composition

Part 22, Basic Rules and Guidelines of Photographic Composition, provided information on the physical attributes and conventions that lend artistic structure, visual appeal and balance to a 2 dimensional image. Tone, contrast and mass are also found in every scene and assist each guideline by emphasizing the center of interest as well as psychologically reinforcing or adding mood and atmosphere.

Tone

Tone in a picture refers to the arrangement of the various shades of black, white and colors that make up an image. Our eye/mind is making assumptions based on a lifetime of experiences. Many of those assumptions are based on the tonal values we perceive in a scene. Two tonal "facts of life" assumed by our eye/mind are that:

• Light colors advance while dark colors recede
• Our eyes are drawn "first" to the lighter objects in a scene.

The picture below plays havoc with both of those assumptions:

This white ping pong ball is photographed against a white background and is very nearly the same shade of white. To make sense of this image, time is required. The picture must be studied to determine where the subject is located and to distinguish it from the rest of the two dimensional image.

Place the same ping pong ball against a dark background, as in the picture above, and the eye/mind is immediately drawn to the subject. Since white is perceived as advancing against the receding dark background, a sense of depth is introduced to further separate the subject from the background. This same psychological illusion is at play in every picture we take -- whether the picture is in color or black & white.

Although one picture above is in color and one is presented in black & white, the eye/mind quickly isolates the subject from the rest of the scene based on the man's relative brightness compared to the rest of the composition. In this case, we've satisfied four of the guidelines of composition by moving close to the subject, keeping the subject "tack" sharp, keeping it simple and applying the rule of thirds. To top it off, by carefully controlling the tones in the image, the viewer is compelled to focus on the subject because of the powerful psychological influence of "light versus dark."

The lightness or darkness of tones also has significant meaning to the eye/brain. Images with predominantly light tones evoke feelings of lightheartedness, well being, elation and happiness. On the other hand, pictures with a predominance of dark tones conjure up a mood of secrecy, mystery and even depression. Since the overall brightness or darkness of a picture is one of the first attributes noticed by the eye, photographers must be aware of and control the message a picture's tone is sending to viewers.

Tonal Contrast

Tone Contrast (usually shortened to "contrast") is closely linked to tone and has the subliminal ability to create a mood or atmosphere for the entire picture. When the tones that comprise a picture are very close to each other in tonal value but lack many deep tones (e.g., black) or bright tones (e.g., white), the picture is said to have low contrast. As the tonal situation changes and pictures present more dark and light tones, the images exhibit higher and higher levels of contrast. The concept is more easily understood when presented with some real photographic comparisons:

The three pictures above illustrate the various levels of contrast. The picture on the left has no good blacks or true whites -- every component of this picture is a shade of middle and light grays. This picture is considered low in contrast. In photographic jargon, the image appears "flat". The picture on the far right is quite different. This version contains a great deal of deep black and pure white tones. However, the subtle middle gray tones have been greatly reduced. There is no detail in the blacks or whites as there is in the center (normal contrast) picture.

Pictures with high contrast or low contrast are not necessarily wrong. The degree of contrast is determined by the subject matter and the intent of the photographer.

With that concept in mind, which of the pictures above has the correct level of contrast? The answer is: They both do. However, the impression each picture makes on the viewer is totally different. The picture on the left is actually most true to the shooting situation. The plant was illuminated by light entering a window on a very cloudy day. This type of lighting is considered to be diffuse (as opposed to direct). This picture has no true deep tones of color or extremely bright tones of color. It is by its very nature a low contrast image. But that's exactly what the photographer (me) wanted. The mood is calming and the shades of color are very subtle.

The plant on the right was enhanced in Photoshop to increase the contrast. Deep tones (even blacks) can now be seen as well as very bright greens in the bud. The mood has changed as well. Textures are more apparent and the colors more vibrant. This version of the flower is more visually active with increased vitality, richness, strength and movement. (In photographic jargon, the picture on the right has more "snap" than its lower contrast partner on the left.)

Although our eyes are drawn to light areas of a picture first, a dark object against a light background has similar attention getting results.

In both of the images above, the eye/mind quickly identifies the ball and window as subjects because of the wide tone differences between them and their much lighter surroundings.

This simple picture brings the viewer deep into the composition to explore the details of the small dark window because of the tone contrast. The eye is naturally drawn to the component of the picture whose tone is most strikingly different from the overall composition.

Nature provides us with extremely high contrast scenes at least twice every day.

Assuming the sun is visible, sunrises and sunsets are natural high contrast settings. With the brightest of whites being supplied by the sun, the deep blacks of the silhouetted mountains and very few shades of tone in between, these shooting situations are photographically challenging but emotionally stirring.

Indeed, tone and contrast are powerful tools for establishing the mood of a picture, and accessories for implementing basic compositional guidelines. For beginning photographers, it's important to recognize that tone and tonal contrast are present in every shooting situation. Learning to utilize these artistic and psychological tools in unison with the basic composition guidelines will produce compelling images that reflect your vision.

Mass/Weight

Controlling the Mass/Weight factors of an image is all about making peace with our mind's built-in sense of aesthetics and balance. Photographically, mass or weight in a composition comes in two forms -- tone and physical.

What's wrong with the two-tone picture above? Do you feel comfortable viewing this image? The problem is that our minds "know" that black is a "heavier" tone than white. Thinking about the real world, it makes perfect sense that this relationship has been "locked" into our subconscious. After 100,000 years of mankind's perceptual development, it's now part of our DNA -- the sky is lighter than the ground or ocean -- defining our visual concept of up and down. Consequently, the picture above "feels" unnatural and is doomed to fall over. This is an unsettling arrangement of dark and light.

Ahh... This is much more comfortable. Now the image is stable and in its "proper" position. The dark tone will support the picture, and it won't easily collapse. We experience this mentally troubling relationship when large light areas of a picture are placed below large dark areas. There are times when the photographer needs to break the relationship intentionally. But start your mastery of composition by being aware that the mind wants to stabilize the images it views by having the greatest weight or mass at the bottom of the picture.

The mountain shadows framing the bottom of this picture provide the tonal mass/weight that the eye/mind can quickly recognize to provide stability and balance to the entire image.

The second form of mass/weight is physical. We learn to visually recognize the relative weights of objects in the physical world -- a feather is lighter than a rock. And just like tonal mass/weight, heavy objects belong at the foundation of an image -- or so the mind says.

The boulder in the picture above extends to the bottom of the picture and anchors the picture to provide the orientation most commonly experienced in the real world. Like tone and contrast, mass/weight contribute to an image's believability and appeal. In the end, it's the sum of all the visual elements of a picture, their arrangement within the picture, their ability to satisfy the mind's conception of reality combined with the photographer's own creativity that viewers find compelling.

Practicing the guidelines discussed in Part 22, and applying the contributions brought by tone, contrast and mass/weight to composition, are huge steps towards creating images that your viewers and, more importantly, you will find artistically fulfilling.

And for one final time...

I will say, once again, that the rules and guidelines of photographic composition are adaptable and flexible to the photographer's situation and message. They can and will be broken. BUT, when you're just getting started, assume the rules are rigid. Learn them. Practice them. You will be re-paid immediately with more satisfying pictures. You will also begin to understand when these rules must be bent or broken to achieve your creative goal. When those situations do arise, you will be knowingly and purposely bending the rules to expand the boundaries of your craft.