CHE’ AHMAD AZHAR is a specialist at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia. A pioneer member of the faculty, he has taught in the field of visual communication, photography and drawing at the faculty for more than twenty years. A passionate photographer, his work has been featured on the Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA), LENS Blog The New York Times and Angkor Photo Festival. He has also held solo exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Australia. He is frequently invited as the jury, guest speaker and facilitator for international and local photography competitions and workshops.
Che’ Ahmad Azhar holds a Master of Fine Arts and Technology from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and a Professional Member of Creative Content Industry Guild Malaysia.
Judge’s Tips:
– Create reflection
Reflections can be used to instill a degree of atmosphere in an image. And the reflections balance the image to give a composition that’s pleasing to the eye.
– Produce Contrast
Contrast is a broad term, and can be interpreted in several ways. You can use any of these interpretations for more creative photography. Let’s look at some of the ways contrast can be applied
Light and shadows – The most obvious when it comes to photography is to use the light in your photo. You can use this to accentuate areas of interest on the subject, by using shadows to show detail points.
Colours – In some cases, you can play colors off against each other. You need to be creative about how you add opposite colors that contrast with it.
Old and new – Old architecture surrounded by new can make an effective photo. Think of a church or temple surrounded by modern skyscrapers.
– Include Foreground Interest
This creates the illusion of three-dimensionality and directs viewer’s eye to the subject. It also conveys a sense of depth on the two-dimensional media of photography.
– Perspective
In short, perspective refers to the relationship of objects in an image — the space between them, their relative size, their placement within the scene. Becoming more familiar with different perspective styles can be invaluable in your pursuit of creating visually arresting imagery.
– Include human element
Human element included in a picture can serve various purposes.
a. Provides comparison of how huge or how small the structure is compared to something familiar to the viewer for its size. e.g. human size compared to the size of a building
b. Conveys a sense of movement in an otherwise motionless still image