"Find Natural Frames
Memorable pictures are made using time-tested techniques, methods -- and, yes, even tricks. To help photographers of all stripes up their game, LIFE.com is launching a series of "lessons" on photography, focusing on elemental aspects of picture-taking. One of those aspects, for instance, is composition, or how a picture is framed, and how that frame is filled. LIFE.com asked professional photographer Tyler Stalman to offer insights on effective composition. "I love this photograph," Stalman says of Ralph Morse's shot taken on a naval ship in 1942 for LIFE. "Keep an eye out for natural frames for your subjects. Here, even if the doorway or hatch had not been there, it would have been a nice photo. But the framing adds an extra level of drama: You get a kind of voyeuristic look through the door, which is heightened because the guy is not looking at the camera, as if he's unaware of it.""
"Simplicity Can Seem Complex
Memorable pictures are made using time-tested techniques, methods -- and, yes, even tricks. To help photographers of all stripes up their game, LIFE.com is launching a series of "lessons" on photography, focusing on elemental aspects of picture-taking. One of those aspects, of course, is the critical consideration of lighting. LIFE.com asked professional photographer Tyler Stalman to offer insights on effective lighting, use of shadows, shooting at night, etc. Of this stunning Andreas Feininger picture of a young Dennis Stock (a formidable photographer in his own right) holding camera in front of his face, Stalman says, "The main lesson here is that a smart, accomplished photographer can manipulate light and shadow so the viewer is not immediately aware of what's going on -- while knowing that the image itself is somehow powerful. I admit, I went for years without realizing that it was simply lighting at work in this picture, creating an amazing 'shape' within the image, rather than the subject wearing gloves, or a sort of cowl on his head. So sometimes a really simple technique -- like this tight circle of bright light on a face -- really goes a long way.""
"In the early 1960s, the great LIFE photographer Paul Schutzer went to Berlin to chronicle the construction and the effect on everyday lives of the then-brand-new Berlin Wall. What he saw, and what he photographed, provides a chilling glimpse into an era both eerily familiar, and profoundly alien. Pictured: Shadowy silhouettes of seven West Berliners waving to their relatives on the other side of the Wall."