Guest Speaker – Caroline Preece LRPS

On 15th January our talk was from Caroline Preece entitled “Tools not Rules”. This is a talk which intends to change the way photographers think about photography and composition.

The main theme behind the talk was about photography as a means of communication. Caroline explained that she viewed photography as a visual language. Her methods were intended to highlight the story behind an image, rather than just an image being a capture of a moment in time. In other words, it’s not what the image is OF, it’s what it is ABOUT.

Caroline presented a number of ways in which the impact of an image can be changed, such as tight cropping, presentation via portrait or landscape framing, or even the relative location of objects in the image. She demonstrated how lighting of the main subject is important and stressed that it can be achieved in post-production edits.

The Gestalt theories came up a number of times during the talk. Caroline explained that these explain how someone’s brain attempts to find patterns and connects subjects together. The image can take on a new message when presented in a certain way.

It was certainly a thought provoking presentation and presents club members with a set of considerations to make when both capturing and processing an image.

More info at Caroline Preece Photography