How to Create ‘Feelings’ in Your Photography?

"What use is having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?"

– William Eugene Smith – one of the greatest photographers of all time

Never be ashamed of what you feel…It’s a natural part of being human. It’s our job as photographers to capture these feelings in everyday life to make sure we create a lifetime of memories. The value of professional photography has become less about technical perfection and more about the ability to tell intriguing, human tales.

Most photographers will agree that a great photo is not one that was edited to perfection, but one that evoked a strong emotion in someone by simply glancing at it. Remember what we, as photographers create, last a lifetime. It’s a memory, a brief moment in time that can be kept forever. The most special, ‘real’ moments are captured at the least expected times, almost as if the photographer is hiding away, waiting for a perfect moment or the perfect emotion to capture with his lens. A grooms facial expression as he watches his bride-to-be walk down the aisle towards him, a new Mother’s face as she meets her new-born baby for the first time, a child frolicking in the waves for the first time. To capture the true emotion of a photo, a number of aspects have to be considered before taking that final ‘shot’.

Photography is art in its purest form. Photography must make you feel something. When you look at a photo, there must be a connection. Every photo that you take must make you feel something or make you feel intrigued or tell a story. Photography is a very powerful medium that connects you to the person and to the world. You really want to impact people with your work. There are so many emotions in the world and we will be discussing a few ways to best capture some of these.

Flat light is not considered to be the most interesting light, but we can use it to capture a scene. By placing your subject closer to the light some of the background falls into the shadows. The farther away you put your subject to the light source, the more of the story you can illuminate so your viewer can be drawn right to the emotion in the scene. Lower light is usually used to photograph men to give the image a more masculine feel while still stirring up an emotional connection for the viewer. Exposure to capture only certain elements of their interaction can draw the viewer directly to the emotional connection you’re trying to portray. Shadow and light are what give an image its definition and depth. It’s important when you are photographing at a specific location, to notice how the light and shadows fall in that particular room, stairwell, corridor, etc.

If you want to isolate your subject and illicit feelings of depression, sadness or loneliness, use hard or directional light. The vignette effect, or ‘hotspot’ effect is also a very popular tool to portray this. Remember to underexpose in camera and expose for the highlights to ensure detail is not lost in the important spots you want to capture.

When you want to focus on the main subject in the photo, keep the focal point in the centre of the shot, so that the rest of the picture is blurred out. Nostalgic photos can also be created by creating an intentionally out of focus image. Not all memories are perfectly visual.

Colors have always been associated with certain emotions. Yellow tends to lift the spirits and is considered to be the happiest color in the world, green creates a relaxed feeling, and pink is associated with love. The use of color can bring out these emotions for the viewer. Colorful images also have a more playful feel. Bold colors convey warmth. Try and incorporate these colors in your photos to capture the essence thereof.

When we see an image in black and white it makes us pause and consider that image a bit longer. Some images bring out greater emotion, or perhaps the right emotion, when they are in black and white. Converting an image to black and white can be a powerful tool for getting the viewer to stop and look a little closer. Black and white photography eliminates the distraction of color, which often gets us looking at the shot a little longer and looking at different elements as well.

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls.” -Ted Grant.

Color can be a very important tool in photography. When the color of the subject contrasts with the surroundings, the viewer’s eyes are immediately drawn to the subject. Using contrasting colours in the same frame allows the viewer’s eye to take in the entire image. To increase the emotion in your photo, make use of the contrasting tool in Fotor’s editing features. This heightens the emotions that you are trying to portray. For example, if you’re trying to elicit anger from your photo, enhance the reds in the photos to make this more effective.

To capture movement and moments of joy or happiness in your photos, increase your shutter speed. This will bring life to the image and allow the viewer to feel the emotion in these photos. Example of these is a child at playing and interacting with one another. Use the sunlight in the background to draw attention to this happy emotion that is created by the movement in this photo. Increase the saturation of the photos to enhance all the bright, happy colors.

People often think that a posed photo, for example, two people standing in a certain way or kissing on cue, will portray their love for each other, but this is not true. The best way to capture the true essence of these two people would be to watch them interact naturally in their surroundings and just capture them in a spontaneous way. You can’t always ‘force’ a photo. It might be in the way that they’re holding hands, or leaning on the other, or looking into each other’s eyes.

Ideally you want your subject to forget the camera is there. Tell them a funny story or ask them to try something silly. This will always bring them out of their shell. You want to draw the emotion from them that you are trying to portray. As you are communicating with them, pay close attention to the expressions on their face and try to capture these moments and natural movements. Little things will happen with their mouth, or their eyes and this will be exactly what you are trying to do to capture these true emotions. It’s the moments that happen in between those other moments that are the most important.

The eyes ‘speak’ a lot. They often show those things which we cannot verbalise. Most people cannot lock eyes for a long period of time. The reason being eye communication is so strong and powerful. Being a photographer, you should keep your focus on the subject's eyes. You can find many hidden emotions in their eyes and you will see this once the final picture is ready. You can capture photos of toddlers and see the happiness in their eyes, you can photograph beggars and you can see the sadness in their eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul!

Body language and a person’s demeanour can tell a thousand tales. Their story might not present itself immediately, but if given time, it will always surface. By using Fotor’s editing tool to crop out the subject’s head or certain parts of their body, it also allows the viewer to put themselves in the shoes of the subject being photographed.

And a final word of advice. Remember, you are capturing a moment in time in the life of a person and that moment will stay with them forever through your photographs. Expressions and emotions are the most important parts of capturing these images. An image without an emotion is just that…an image.