2020 Photo Challenge #49

December’s theme / technique: Shape and Form

If you want to see what this month’s assignments are in advance then please click here. All the assignments are available from the menu on the left under the 2020 Photo Challenge / Assignments.

Line, shape, and form are three building blocks to add depth and interest to your photos. How do you use them in your photography?

Shape and form are not the same.

Shape: Squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles. Shapes are two-dimensional and “flat” in nature. Think about a bird silhouetted against the sky, easily recognisable as a bird by its shape.

        • Organic shapes occur frequently in nature (hence the name). They include curves, such as those you might see in the petal of a flower and irregular shapes such as those you might see on a rock face.
        • Geometric shapes, on the other hand, are straight and symmetrical. Often man-made and found in architecture, roads and bridges
        • Regular shapes such as circles, squares and triangles with even sides convey a sense of order and stability. Note that when squares and rectangles occupy a huge part of the photo without anything else, it will appear very flat. Triangles can act as arrows to direct the attention of the viewer.
        • Irregular shapes such as rectangles, skewed triangles, parallelograms and ovals can give a photograph the illusion of motion or simply make it seem more dynamic.

Positive shape: What you see is what you get. Positive shapes are whatever the objects/buildings/things are.

Negative shape: Whatever shape that is created in the negative space as in an archway that is formed by various rock formations or two swans facing each other forming that wonderful heart shape.

Form: Spheres, cubes, cylinders, and pyramids. Forms are three-dimensional and have “volume”.

      1. For the simplest version of this idea, look at shooting into the sun, or a bright light behind your subject which created silhouettes (shapes, 2D)
      2. Shape – negative space counts too in highlighting a subject’s shape.
      3. Form – is created by light and shadows changing shapes into a 3D
      4. A 3D object can also have a strong shape
      5. Move around your subject — see how lighting and shadows changes the shape and form.
This week's assignment - get out and find an object where its outline is more dominant than its three dimensional qualities, you need to approach your photograph with an eye for shape rather than form. 

Tip: If your subject is more interesting because of its shape, you need to focus more on angle, perspective and the placement of other objects in the scene.

If you would like to join in with the 2020 photo challenge then please take a look at my 2020 Photo Challenge page. No complicated rules, just a camera required 🙂

    • Create your own post with some information about how you composed the shot.
    • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
    • Add the tag #2020PhotoChallenge so everyone can find your entry easily in the WP Reader
    • Get your post(s) in by the end of the month, as the challenge finishes on 31 December.

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

55 thoughts on “2020 Photo Challenge #49”

    1. I’ve just checked. I’m pretty sure it is. I have a very similar photo taken at the National Museum of Scotland.

      1. Indeed I did. I was there with the restless one, 4 years ago! Practically the last time I left this county to go on holiday 😕

        2. Did Becky ask if it was there? I’ve had no time for WP today. How long ago was that? I started to look at my Barcelona folders the other day (for your challenge) but it’s just too time consuming. I think I’ll probably ditch the lot and live on memories. No- I don’t mean that 🙂 🙂 Food time now!

        4. My but time flies when you’re having fun 🤣💕. Don’t know where the day’s gone. Loads of Christmas cards to write. A couple of friends dropped in at dinnertime. Video call with Lisa. Very short walk. Lots of interaction with WhatsApp group about Christmas. Wanted to write a Monday walk but it’s not happening.😘💕

  3. Great photo, and brilliant explanation. Will try and play this week – once we have central heating and study is not so cold!

      1. We did on Wednesday, yay! So much though to now catch up on. Last few days was caught up with charity work online, and hoping next week to catch up on blogging

  6. Interesting photo and I love the hint of the shadows in the background. Challenging assignment this month jude

        4. Well be wearing masks on the plane and in Sydney. This will be the first time we have needed to wear them…😷

        5. Horrible things. I can just about manage the 20 minutes to get around the supermarket before I want to yank it off. I get very hot and breathless. And looking down in one is terrible! I think my ears must be in the wrong place!

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