Ty Swartz (00:01.038)
Hello everybody, this is Ty Swartz and I'm back with SnapLens .com and today we're going to continue talking. Yesterday we talked about the importance of entering in image competitions and I thought, you know what, let's talk a little bit about more. Let's talk a little bit more about image competitions and some of the things that we're looking for.

Even though this is a visual topic, I thought this would be a good episode to talk about while people are driving to work or people are just kind of listening about somebody's take on what the 12 elements are for a merit image. So everybody has their own little take and I have my little explanations and I figured, you know what?

I explain it to students, so I'm going to go ahead and explain it on a podcast because I thought it would be an interesting topic. So the 12 elements of a merit image is something that the professional photographers of America came up with as a criteria that they use to judge and evaluate the quality of an image. And what happens is, once you become a master of photography, then you qualify and you can go to school to learn how to be a judge.

and you're evaluating images and you spend a lot of time learning how to evaluate an image. And so you can help other photographers move along in their journey as a photographer. And sometimes, and I didn't really understand what the journey was until I got, after I got my certified professional photographer.

I thought, oh, I got that, now I'm good. And then I realized, well, that's great, but I got a lot more to learn, so let me go ahead and get this. And then I started teaching people what I knew based on all the photography I've done in my career. I ended up getting the photography craftsman, and I still, on this journey of mine, I realized that you know what? I can teach people, I can talk about photography, I can help other photographers.

Ty Swartz (02:19.95)
But my images need to improve. And I think that's the biggest thing that I learned is my images always need to improve. And so now I had to figure out, OK, so let's figure out the 12 elements. And how do we create an image and all these elements are present or a majority of them are present? But each element plays a crucial role.

in creating a compelling and impactful photograph. And let me explain each element and why it's important. Now, I didn't really put it into any order. I just kind of tossed them up there. There's, and I'll tell you, when it gets to my, I have two that I think are most important for me as a photographer, but other people can say, well, no, no, this is more important than this. So again,

when it comes to talking about images and the 12 milliards, I think everybody has their own, hey, this is most important. But that is a personal thing. I have two that I learned, one that I'll talk about and then the other one I'll talk about. And I'll explain how I explain it to students. And I think most people will understand that. So I'm going to start out with number one, impact. So impact refers to the emotional response.

that's invoked when you look at an image. Now it can be happy, it could be sad, it could be, oh my gosh, what? But it's some type of emotion that's coming out of internally and you're seeing something and you just gotta look at it and you gotta see what's going on. And so that has a strong impact and it capitate, it capitates you as a viewer and draws you into the photograph.

But it also makes it memorable for you and it makes it meaningful. So for me, I think this is like number one and two. I don't want to put number one and two, but for me, this is very important. If you are looking on Instagram and you're scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, and finally you stop at something, that is impact. It's because you are connecting with an image.

Ty Swartz (04:43.48)
and you feel something about it. And it doesn't matter what you're feeling, you're connecting and that image is doing what it should have done for you and that's caused you to stop. So I think that's very important. I think impact is exactly what you have to look for, especially when judges are taking a look at your images. They look at thousands and thousands and thousands of images.

So you have to catch their eye. You have to emotionally connect with them. But you have to do it in your way. You can't do it in any other person's voice because it has to be from you. OK, so let's move on to the next one. And let's talk about technical excellence. This is very important. And this is where I go and.

I always say, do you do the chicken first or is the egg first? For me, in order for me to tell students, hey, I'm going to teach you some photography, but I can't really teach you a lot of photography until I teach you how to ingest images, how to edit the images, and how to create images. So for me, it's a chicken before the eggs or eggs before the chicken.

Which one comes first? So technical excellence, I think, goes hand in hand with photography because this element pertains to the mastery of technical aspects such as exposure, focus, lighting, and composition. So the second you pick up a camera, you've got to take the time and you have to make sure, is my exposure right? Am I using a light meter? If you're not using a light meter, then you're not doing it right. Now, I know a lot of photographers who say, okay, look.

I take a lot of photographs and I don't always use a light meter. And I'll be honest with you, there's a lot of times I will take a lot of photographs and I won't use a light meter because I've taken hundreds and I've taken millions of photographs over the years. So I know sometimes light situations, this is what I'm going to shoot and this is how I'm going to shoot it. This is what I'm going to use. Uh, but, uh, as, as I'm getting older, um, I don't shoot certain F stops anymore because

Ty Swartz (06:59.502)
I would love to tell you that my eyes are perfect and auto focus is amazing, but I do need a little bit of buffer. So I'm moving more to f8 for a lot of things that I'm photographing. So that just helps me keep things in focus that I want to be in focus. But also lighting is very important. You need to always think, how can I push light into it? If I have a model and I'm doing natural light, is my model turning into the light? Am I creating?

natural shadows? Am I creating a cross light that's a little bit weird? So we want to make sure that we understand how light is impacted when we're our lenses and when we're posing things, looking at things, and presenting things. And also composition. Are you left heavy? Are you right heavy? Is it asymmetrical? Is it symmetrical? So your composition is very important. And I just teach very simply.

The rule of thirds don't ever put anything in the center put things in the corners and put things on the corner of the tic -tac -toe inside the rule of thirds But so but also technical excellence you have it demonstrates the photographer skill and you know how to take a photograph and the proficiency in Executing the technical aspects of photography. So that's very important, especially if you're working with clients They want you to they want to feel confident that you know what you're doing

So let's talk creativity. When you're creating your photographs, creativity involves the originality and innovation displayed in the composition. And what is the concept of the photograph? So if you're going out and you're photographing headshots and you're doing, you know, a hundred headshots every two hours and you know, just a big...

repeatable process. I don't, in my mind, there's not a lot of creativity there. You can do a lot of creativity stuff with the lights, but people have to look good and they don't want to sit there forever. So you want to get those images quickly because that is, you know, bulk photography. You know, you can also look at creativity when you're shooting sports. What angle are you at? Are you at the always at the same height as the athletes?

Ty Swartz (09:17.25)
Why not go low? Why not go high? Why not try change your perspective on how you're shooting? I always say move with your feet, not with the lens. But you know, sometimes that doesn't always work. So you have to create that mastery of creativity. And when you're creative with an image, it offers a unique perspective of how you see things. It's your interpretation of an event or your interpretation of a feeling.

But you're also engaging with the viewer's imagination and their curiosity to look at your images. And so those are some of the things that I think are very important to learn. Then also we have style. Now, some photographers, if I just look at their image, I automatically know, hey, this is their style and this is how it looks. And I get it, I understand it, and I love it.

And how do I incorporate some of it? I don't want to be that other photographer, but I do like some elements of how photographers are doing different things. And then I take that element, I learn kind of how they do it, and then I add my twist on it because that's how I see the world. And not be a, might not be everybody's cup of tea, but you know what? It's mine. And I sometimes like a hot tea, other times I like a very...

warm or lukewarm tea and you know what in summertime gotta throw some ice in that iced tea. So you want to create a style that's distinctive or you know if you have a signature approach to something you want to develop this because it's going to set you aside as a photographer. So you also want to think about developing a recognizable style that helps other photographers

Well, it will recognize a little style does is it helps other photographers recognize your work. And then sometimes your clients will purposely go out of their way. Hey, I want this look. I want this photographer. And this really does, again, help your business. But, you know, it's your artistic identity and your differentiation. You're creating a differentiation between yourself and the work of others.

Ty Swartz (11:37.198)
and that's really the difference between a mediocre photographer and somebody who really stands out is what are their body of work and does it stand out? Does it make me go back and look at that impact and say, wow, I really like the way that it was done. And then let's talk composition. Composition number five. Composition refers to the arrangement of visual elements within the frame.

And a lot of times a well -composed image guides the viewer's eyes and creates balance. It creates harmony and visual interest. So you want that viewer to go around your image and look in your image, but you don't want the viewer to leave your image. So, you know, you have to create a photograph that is going to cause their eyes to want to look around, but also you want to make sure that you're not getting people stuck.

or kicked out of the frame by using different techniques. Sometimes I'll do a color blocking and it'll just kind of have people looking at a set color and away from the subject. So if I, my goal is to always set up the composition so I control where the viewer is looking and I control what they're seeing. And I think that's very important for photographers to understand, hey,

You might have 50 things going on, but when you're creating a photograph, there's one subject. There's no two subjects. There's secondary subjects.

Ty Swartz (13:10.126)
but we want to make sure that we're just focusing on that main subject. OK, so let's get to number six. Now, this is kind of a hot debate lately, is to do presentation or not to do presentation. I'm in right now, and I'm still in the court of adding presentation. I want to see my image and what it's going to look like. If I was going to frame it, hang on.

So I do like that idea of a presentation. So when you're submitting an image for competition, you want to create a presentation that encompasses the manner in which the image is presented or displayed for a judge so they understand that it's part of the image and not something that's just thrown. And I want you to look at this also.

So you want to spend a little bit of time creating your presentation and you want to encompass the presentation in such a manner that the attention is given to the details and how you're setting up your matting and your framing and the overall impact and does it look professional and if I could give this to a customer.

So I always look at whatever I do, I want to be able to give that to a customer. And is my presentation of high quality, and it does not detract from my actual image itself? Or is it adding to my image? And I think that's very important. OK, so seven is color balance. I think color balance is an extremely important element, because sometimes you want to create an image that is all the same color.

You can have contrasting colors. You can have all kinds of colors.

Ty Swartz (15:03.374)
that are important. So the color balance and you're talking about harmonious distribution of colors within your image, but you also want to have good color balance and you're ensuring that the colors appear natural and accurate. One of the things that I also notice with newer photographers is they love to oversaturate or do split toning. So if you're making things half black and white and half color,

or a little bit of color, some black and white, don't do that. Try to make it look as natural as possible. I think it's very, very important that the colors be as close as possible to real life. We don't want to take away our image impact by saying, oh, wow, that was like really green. And I say green because a lot of times it is green that is oversaturated or red. Red, oh my gosh, too much red is just.

way too much. But also, you know, it's going to set a mood. So if I'm setting a mood, am I making it a color that's going to make sense for other people? All right. So we are now down to number eight. We're getting close to my favorite one, and that's number 12. And I'll talk about that last because it's very important to me. And so let's talk about the center of interest. I think I mentioned it up a few minutes ago. The center of interest is your primary focal point.

or subject of an image. So you want to have one subject. You don't want to try to do two subjects and I used to do that all the time. Oh, I can do that. I want people to look at one thing. There's going to be secondary things that I'm going to have their eyes bounce to, but there's only one subject that I want them to know about.

Ty Swartz (16:52.303)
So I want to be very clear and I want to make it compelling. And I want that center of interest to draw the viewer's attention and provide a focal point in the composition so they have an idea of exactly where I want them to go. OK, so number nine, lighting. We're going to talk about lighting real quick. I can go hours and hours and hours into lighting. But there's a lot of different ways to light things. I'm.

Right now, I'm kind of into a kick of doing an LED style light. I just bought some constant lights. And I really like the way they look. I don't think that I bought as powerful as I should have. But you know what? For what I'm looking to do, they work out perfect. But lighting plays a crucial role in shaping the mood or atmosphere. It's also going to add.

Ty Swartz (17:51.63)
to the visual impact of the photograph. So we have to think about how we're going to effectively use light and how we're going to enhance the dimensionality. Are we going to use light to add texture? Are we going to use light to add contrast? Are we creating depth when we're making light? Or are we going to create a drama image? So we want to think about our lighting. And this is part of where pre -visualization comes in, is how do we see this image when we're

done? And you know, is it going to be natural light? Are we using flashes in the studio? Are we using flashes outdoors to pump in a little bit of light into the shadows? Are we going to use constant light? So we want to think about how we're going to use light, how we're going to properly light it, and are we going to use our lights in such a manner that the viewer is going to have trouble seeing where all the light went. It's going to look more natural.

So if you are new to lighting, you just want to practice a whole bunch.

So number 10, let's talk about subject matter. And I think this is important too. Subject matter is the content or the theme depicted in the photograph. So who are you photographing? What are you photographing? How are you photographing? Are you telling it? How are you telling that, the viewer, what the subject is? So you wanna have a strong and compelling subject that communicates a clear message or a narrative.

And that's good. And that narrative and everything is going to resonate with the viewer and it's going to create an emotional or intellectual level. It's going to it's going to interact with the viewer in such a manner that they're going to see it and they're going to understand it and they're going to see what your subject is and you're using it to tell a story or make a point or create some type of event.

Ty Swartz (19:54.542)
within that photograph that you can use. So I think it's very important that you have a strong subject and you're purposely directing the viewer's eyes to that subject. So also now the number 11, and we're getting down to number 12, so it's getting close, is talking about technique. So, and this really is your skillful application of photographic techniques.

So are we using a shallow depth of field? Are we using a deep depth of field with everything's in focus? Or are we doing a rack focus? Are we photographing the foreground, the midground, the background, and then putting everything together in Photoshop and making sure everything's 100 % in focus? Are we using our exposure? Are we purposely overexposing, underexposing?

Are we exposing for the shadows when I go out and I do sunrise? That used to be a client's favorite thing is hey, we want to do a sunrise couple portrait I'm exposing for the the sunrise and the background, but I'm using my flash to Flash my subjects, but I'm using it in such a manner. You can't tell that I'm using the flash And I think that's important is is like again. I'll go back to the lighting You don't want to be able to see

Oh, well, they use this light and it's a little done. It's cross lit. I want it to look natural as possible. So you want to be able to show your technique. Are you how are you processing? What's your post processing procedures or what's your repeatable process? What's your workflow? So it's very important that you create a technique and a repeatable process, because if you do not have a repeatable process and you're editing every single image that you shoot,

then you don't understand ROI and that'll be completely different talking point podcasts later on. So you wanna master a technique and by doing that, you gotta do it hundreds of times. And this allows you as a photographer to effectively translate your creative vision into a tangible and visually compelling image. And that's really what...

Ty Swartz (22:11.246)
technique is it's it's you're taking your skills and you're making small decisions to impact how those images are seen viewed. And, you know, if you use a deep depth of field, what's the point? Well, I just photographed a timed exposure inside of a building with people walking. And so I dragged the shutter and I made people blurry so they could see so they could be walking through. But also.

I was very mindful of the depth of field of what I needed to get that large space all in focus. Because when you're looking at it, you want to see everything in focus. So that was very important. And a very shallow depth of field would have completely filled that image. So those are decisions that you always are making as a photographer. How is this going to look?

And sometimes, you know, hey, I'm going to put this in huge focus, but I tell you what, I get into the computer and I say, oh, I didn't do that. I'll throw a gossip blur on it and get rid of that background that didn't be there. Okay. So number 12, we're hitting 23 minutes. Oh my gosh, this is a long podcast. I apologize for that. But again, it is 12 different subject areas that I'm trying to quickly run through. And hopefully this is helping you a whole bunch kind of just understand a little bit about.

what the 12 elements are. I'll probably end up doing a video series. Maybe I'll do a lesson on it. So that'll help people visually and give me an opportunity to pull some photographers' photographs and promote their work for how amazing they are. And I'm so jealous of so many photographers, especially since it's image competition season. And oh my gosh, just such amazing work I'm seeing this year.

Okay, so number 12 my very favorite and I would be remiss to say that I did not really understand what stories telling was until I went to Disney and I learned storytelling because I realized how important it is and honestly that could be my number one and two so impact storytelling or storytelling impact and sometimes storytelling impact is is exactly where you're at as a photographer.

Ty Swartz (24:28.399)
So what is storytelling? Well, that's gonna be your ability to create a photograph that conveys a narrative or invokes a story in a viewer's mind. So, you know, there's always saying that, you know, a photograph is a thousand words. Well, you know what? If you create a photograph that a viewer could sit down and just simply write out everything that they think's going on in that image, that you have.

you have definitely done your story. But if you have a viewer looking at your image saying, hmm, I don't really know how to explain the image and I don't know what they're doing, then you've not gotten or grasped that storytelling point of view. But the big thing is you want to have your images all to be successful. And to me, successful images tells a compelling story.

and it sparks the viewer's imagination and it asks them to have some type of emotional response. So like I said, storytelling impact, impact storytelling. I'm telling my story how best I can tell my story, but it has such an impact to my viewer. So those two elements go back and back, but all the elements that I talked about have to come together.

and you have to be able to use and put those 12 elements and think about each element as you're creating each image. And that's really something that you work on. And it's not something that, hey, I went to a class, I learned this, I know it now. No, it's sitting down, it's watching image competitions. It's saying, hey, I need somebody to show me this, go sit down in some classes and learn this.

Ty Swartz (26:26.318)
In 2017, 2018, I went to Imaging USA and I said, hey, I'm going to learn this. And I did. I sat down and I learned from Rich Newell all the important things about image competition. And I learned the difference between a good image and a bad image. And I went to a class to learn how to understand what the 12 elements were. And then it took me five, six years to figure out, OK, now this is how I do it for me.

And then I have a consistent style now. So in every year I come up with a different thing. Hey, this is what I want to work on this year. This is my theme. This year, for instance, I worked on a lot of landscapes because I really love landscapes and I'd like to master it. And I think next year I'm going to actually focus on portraits. It's a we, it's, it's, I do good at portraits, but I don't think I've actually won, but maybe one or two awards in.

portrait photography. So I'm, I'm ready to start trying some things that, that, uh, frustrate me the most. And I think next year is going to be a portrait year. Uh, so anyway, as you're thinking about each of these elements, I want you to see how they contribute to the overall quality and impact of your photographs. Um, but, but knowing these 12 elements and adding them to your everyday workflow is awesome because that is going to be how you create better images for your clients.

And that's all this is about. What kind of images can I create for my clients? That's just simply amazing. And they want to hire me to do this. So by understanding how to apply the techniques or what the techniques are in the 12 elements, you're improving yourself as a photographer and you're continuing to move forward in your journey. So I want you to be able to create images that...

When people look at it, it just emotionally impacts them and they think about it and they see you behind that photograph. And I want your images to stand out and I want people to brag about how amazing your artistic work is. So if you have any questions, definitely give us a, send us an email or make a comment below. But again, our new website is snaplens .blog. That's where all the blogs are housed.

Ty Swartz (28:53.326)
And pretty soon we're going to have actually snaplens .com up and we're going to have our lessons to start pop out so you can start learning some other things. So if you have any questions, definitely send me an email. But again, I am Ty Swartz with snaplens .com and I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to me today and you have a great day.