Before you can find something, you have to know what you’re looking for. What should you be looking for? Line, shape, form, texture, color, dimension, and the subject itself; these are among the most critical visual elements.

Line, shape, texture, form and color are idioms of the visual language that the eye and mind speak in order to identify the world. Common to most subjects, these idioms are not always given equal importance by the mind, which tends to distill, especially when it identifies only one characteristic. The key to identify sky may be color, to identify an egg shape, and to identify sand texture.

To become better in communicating through photography, I try to become competent in linking the idioms of speech, such as texture to form and shape to color, in order to make a clear and concise statement.

Line, shape, texture, and the remaining make up what we consider aesthetic elements; when arranged pleasingly they also make up a good photograph.

Lines can be thick or thin, long or short, straight or curved, explicit or implicit, horizontal, vertical or oblique. Lines lead, separate, connect, stabilize, and destabilize. Mood and action are often attributed to orientation and shape of lines. Vertical and horizontal lines are considered formal and stable, and oblique lines are said to be dynamic. S-shaped lines are said to be tranquil.

The ultimate effect of lines, or any other element, depends on subject matter and treatment. Interestingly enough, the appeal of lines has a physiological basis as the eye and brain seek them out as the basic building blocks in identifying objects.

When a line closes it forms an outline we call shape. Shape is two-dimensional. It shows only the horizontal and vertical dimensions and excludes depth or volume. Sought out by the eye, shape quickly identifies many objects. For most objects, your mind holds one or perhaps two shapes as representative. However, not all objects can be reduced to a single shape, and seen from different angles the several other object shapes can be mysterious abstractions. The purest of shapes is a silhouette.

A silhouette is a bare-bone shape stripped from all hints of texture, form, and color, which arouses the imagination to wonder what’s not showing. In a sense, silhouettes appeal personally because viewers heavily draw on their own experiences in order to fill in the blanks.

Shapes most readily come to the foreground when an object is clearly separated from the background, either by tonal or color contrast, and when viewed head-on. Color contrasts also attract attention to shape because contours become obvious. Lipstick for example may be the most obvious use of color to highlight shape.

Form reveals the world in its three dimensions, adding volume and depth to height and width. Whereas shape identifies lips, form conveys their fullness. Different forms arouse different responses. Forms of little objects generally elicit a stronger physical response than forms of large objects.

Small by nature, texture easily escapes our notice. One should learn to think of textures in different ways. Oranges and eggs for example seem relatively smooth, but relative is relative. Enlarge an orange to the size of the earth and its crevices swallow the Grand Canyon.

Color has always been attributed powers to affect mind and body: red excites, blue has a calming effect, green heals, and brown saddens. The most obvious effect of color is that it attracts. Throughout evolution, the exchange between bright colors and the eye has founded a strong relationship. Although the appeal of bright colors is natural, subtle colors shouldn’t be overlooked. How often do you use subtle colors in your photographs? Not often probably. Dull is dull. Or is it? Look again. Observe and analyze. Only thoughtless photographers are dull.

“Give them any color they want so long as it’s black”.

Gerrit Scheper