Photography Fundamentals for the Creative Teenager

Anyone who has been a teenager or raised one knows that self-expression is core to creative development. For families looking for outlets for their stuck-at-home teen, Getty’s Unshuttered tutorials explore the fundamentals of photography.

Unshuttered is a dynamic online community that connects teenagers online and IRL using the medium of photography.

Even if you can’t go out, you can still learn about perspective, composition, shot size, lighting, and portraiture. All you need is your phone camera and a little bit of time to practice.

Check out some lessons below, and use your creativity to do these exercises at home.

Shoot Low to Look Tall

Perspective in photography is defined as the sense of depth or spatial relationship between objects in a photo, along with their dimensions with respect to what the viewer of the image sees. By changing perspective, subjects can appear much smaller or larger than normal, lines can converge differently, and much more.

Framing

In photography, composition refers to paying attention to what will be photographed, how it is placed in relationship to other objects in the image, and how well the subject matter is expressed.

The Close-Up

Shot size means how much of the scene is included in the picture, and whether it mainly shows the setting, people in the setting, or details of faces and things.

Natural Light

Photographic lighting is the illumination of scenes to be photographed. A photograph simply records patterns of light, color, and shade; lighting is all-important in controlling the image.

Portraiture

Portrait photography or portraiture in photography is a photograph of a person or group of people that captures the personality of the subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses.

Check out additional Unshuttered tutorials here, and download the app here. 

Getty Unshuttered is inspired by Genesis Motor America and their commitment to education through the arts.