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Text and photos by Jon
Hill, May 2004 You've probably heard that people use one side of their brain more than the other and that one side is more artistic while the other is more analytical or technical. Photography can be challenging for either type of person, because it requires both types of thinking. I am more technically-minded, but as a grow older I find myself appreciating the artistic more and more, perhaps because it is a challenge for me personally to express ideas artistically. Fortunately, great minds in the past have thought analytically about art and have summarized some ideas that can help the techies move toward making art that others will appreciate. This article will draw on those ideas, add some of my own thoughts, and give examples of photos that illustrate some of these so-called "rules of composition". If you practice these, they will become second-nature and you will have acquired an "eye" for good composition.
2) Simplify. Often the most effective images have only a few elements. Put too much in your photo and viewers aren't sure what you are try to convey or even what your picture's main subject is.
4) Try to show depth. Photographs are 2-dimensional representations of 3-dimensional objects. Many of my favorite photos convey a sense of depth well. There are a few ways to try to acheive this illusion in a 2-D piece of art.
5) Look for repeating patterns. Even in nature, you can find these. Drawing attention to patterns makes people see things they might not have noticed before. Even better, if you can show a pattern and an interruption of it, then you can draw special attention to the interruption.
6) Try to include curves, diagonals, and triangles. These contrast against the overall shape of the photograph (typically rectangular or square and level to the world) and can get someone to look at your photograph twice.
8) Frame your subject. Put your subject in its surroundings. Choose other objects that lead the eye to the main subject.
9) Try to
show motion. Of course this is easier with a video-camera, but that's
the point. If you can show motion in a motionless form, then people
are fascinated by it. It's like you have frozen time. Sometimes this
is best shown by showing something the viewer knows is moving in sharp
focus, with time seemingly suspended. The new
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Ideas
for Composition in
1)
Look for new points of view. Many eye-catching photos are made when
someone sees something in a way most people do not. Most people do
not look up at flowers. Most people do not look down
on clouds. Most people do not look at an elephant face from 3 feet
away. Wide-angle and telephoto lenses can help photographers alter
perspective and apparent points of view. That shot of the elephant
can be made much more safely from 30 feet using a good telephoto,
and still alter the point of view enough to be eye-catching. The other
way to alter point of view is to move the camera. Lie down on the
ground. Climb a mountain, or even just climb your car. Look at things
in new ways.
3)
Don't center your subject. There is an idea called the "Rule
of Thirds". It says that important parts of a painting or photograph
should fall along imaginary lines that divide the image into thirds
both horizontally and vertically. Placing important objects at the
intersections of these lines is good too. Horizons, natural
lines, important points (like eyes), and main subjects all will benefit
from being put in these locations. If you have a hard time remembering
to do this when taking the photograph, you can still practice doing
it afterward. Crop your photos (either using a computer, by trimming
your prints with scissors, or masking parts of your slides) and see
the improvement. Below is a photo that I took , trying to put the
cacti on rules of thirds, but the main subject is the mockingbird,
so I think the cropped version that enlarges the bird and puts it
off-center is better.
-
Converging lines. Try to show lines that converge and join in the
distance, like two banks of a river. People know that river banks
are more or less parallel to each other so if they see them converging,
their brains automatically assume great distance. This affect can
be acheived with tree trunks, beaches, the glint of sunlight on
water, and many other linear features.
-
Boldly include foreground and distant objects. I like this technique
in landscapes. This technique is sometimes easier to accomplish
with the camera held vertically. To acheive this with both close
and distant subjects in sharp focus, you need a small aperture setting
(high f-number) and often the aid of a tripod.
cinematic
techniques shown in the Matrix movies are so successful because they
freeze motion in a way people have never seen. Sometimes the best
way to show motion is with "motion blur", either of the
main subject (by holding the camera still and slowing the shutter
speed) or of the background (by panning with the subject and using
a slow shutter speed.) The first way is easier. Panning takes practice
and even the best practitioners throw out most of their panning shots.
