SOME THOUGHTS ON FILM,
CAMERA, AND COMPOSITION

FRED J. MAROON

As a professional photographer, my primary purpose is to fill the rectangle in my viewfinder from corner to corner in a way that the resulting photograph is balanced, well-proportioned, and compelling. As I approach a situation, my first decision is where to place myself relative to the elements I wish to include in the photograph. The center of interest will, of course, be the primary element in the photograph. It does not have to be at the very center, though all the elements must direct the viewer’s eye to this center of interest and, at the same time, contribute to the overall balance of the photograph.

Once I have decided upon my location, I choose the lens that will serve my purpose. If it is an architectural setting (e.g., inside the White House Oval Office), I might use a 21 mm wide-angle lens to include as much of the room as possible in the photograph. If my subject is a still-life (e.g., flowers), my choice would probably be a 100 mm macro lens, which would not have great depth of field, but would allow me to get extremely close to the primary element in my composition.

Next, I must decide what kind of film will best be suited for my subject. Again, for example, if I am in the Oval Office I would more than likely be shooting black and white film, as this will give me the speed I need to photograph in existing light, hand-holding my camera, while the key elements of my photograph (i.e., people) are in motion. For flowers, however, I might use Ektachrome EPR color film. This is a slow film, but that would not be a problem since I would almost certainly be using a tripod in this situation.

The center of interest should be in sharp focus and lit in a way to direct the viewer’s eye to it. Sometimes I want to have everything in the photograph in focus, which will require depth of field achieved by stopping the lens down. Alternatively, I may prefer to have only the center of interest sharp, which will necessitate stopping the lens down one or two stops only. Bear in mind, also, that a lens stopped down two stops generally gives the photograph the best definition and color purity. If the center of interest is a group of people, I must wait for that precise instant when they all take on a comfortable stance or pose in relationship to each other. One or all of them should be in action, speaking, or both.

Every element in the picture should be distinct and lit in such a way that the viewer is able to see its shape, texture, and color. If it is a still life of a flower, I may backlight it so the edges of all the flower’s elements are highlighted, separating one from the other. This not only outlines the various parts of the flower and makes the flower translucent, it also gives me light that I can bounce back in with a reflector, accentuating the textures. The greatest concern when backlighting a subject is light shining directly into the lens, which will create flair. To avoid this, I use a black cardboard lens shield clamped to a light-stand as a block.

The entire process, on average, takes about 30 to 40 minutes, though I have taken as long as two days to get a subject properly lit before exposing any film. Conversely, I have taken pictures where, from my seeing the subject to capturing it on film, the time elapsed is less than one minute. But this is the exception rather than the rule.

Then, I bracket my photographs in half f-stop increments, to boost my odds. I’ll go as much as one f-stop over and one stop under what the light meter calls for. With luck, one of the exposures will be just right.

And finally, just before I click the shutter, I pray.

Fred J. Maroon (CC ’94) has been a frequent contributor to major magazines in the United States and abroad for almost 50 years. His work can be seen in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center for Photography, and the Library of Congress. He is the author of 12 books, including The Nixon Years, 1969-1974: White House to Watergate.

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