Composition
Composition
Composition is simply how everything
in your piece fits together. It can also be described as the arrangement of the
visual elements in your image. The composition adds interest to an image and
portrays the importance and meaning of a photograph.
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| Figure 1: Rule of Thirds |
Rule of Thirds
One element of composition is the rule of thirds. This focuses on the corners of the photographs as this is where the eye is drawn to first. To find the corners, you need to imagine a three by three grid. Where the lines meet are the focal points:
Eye Lines
Eye lines are relevant to photographs
involving people or animals and it relates to where the subject is looking. The
eyes could be looking directly into the camera to create a connection and
engagement with the viewer; they could be looking at another person or subject
in the frame to convey a story or completely out of the frame. Eyes are
important as they are often where the eye is drawn to first due to human nature
of interaction, and eye lines are the “implied lines produced when we follow a
person’s line of sight”1.
The Horizon Line
The horizon
line placement is often placed in the centre of a frame, however this doesn’t
place emphasis on either the sky or the earth and makes it appear like two
separate photographs. When thinking about the horizon line, look at the sky and
earth and think about which one is more interesting. This will balance out the
photograph a lot better.
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| Figure 2: London, Expert Photography Blog |
Triangles
Triangles can be found in
anything being photographed. They are important as they can present stability
or instability. They relate to many techniques in photography, including the
lines and paths and the leading lines rule. They can point towards an area of
interest and are important for moving your eye around the page. Triangles don’t
have to be physically in the picture, they could be implied, such as the
overall shapes or the line your eye follows and could include the eye line of a
subject. They are also a great way to create depth or perspective.
Visual Weight
By understanding visual
weights, you can control them in an image. For example, eyes provide very
strong visual weight and they are where we place most of our focus and are
drawn to. By reducing the eyes in an image, it relaxes the attention and focus,
allowing more of the scene to be taken in. Size, colour and contrast are also
factors in visual weight. When taking a photograph, look at the frame and see
where your eye is drawn to and if that was the intended focal point. Writing
has huge visual weight as the viewer is immediately drawn to what they are
wanted to see.
Balance
Symmetry can be very
effective to balance a scene perfectly. This could be top and bottom, such as a
reflection, or left to right for photographs of architecture for example. An
unbalanced image would create tension as the viewer would need to search for
the meaning or for understanding. Other factors, like visual weight, rule of
thirds and horizon lines also factor into balance.
Single Point
Single point compositions
are about focusing on one subject and forgetting about and distracting or
complex arrangements. One single point makes a break in a plain scene to add
focus or interest. Due to there being lots of negative space within this style
of photography, you will need to really think about the rule of thirds.
Central Composition
Central composition is simply the subject being placed
directly in the middle of the frame which can be used to create a sense of
isolation. This utilizes negative space and draws the eyes from the edges to
the centre. This also makes the background less impactful and important and
focuses on the subjects and gives the impression of symmetry.
Negative Space
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| Figure 3: James Marber Photography |
Negative spaces are the
areas which surround the subjects in the image. Positive space is the subject.
The negative space should be in the background while the positive space is in
the foreground, however in some cases these can feel like the mix to create a
cinematic photograph. You can do this by having a black background and dark
shadows which blend in with the background across the positive space.
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| Figure 4: Darina Kopcok |
Golden Ratio
The golden ratio (The Fibonacci Spiral, Golden Spiral,
Golden Mean or Phi Grid) is a spiral effect that leads the viewer’s eye around
the whole photograph. “It is based on the spirals seen in nature from DNA to
waves. The ratio is 1.618 to 1. With two pieces, if you make one 1.618 times
the size of the other object, the pair of them will be pleasing to the eye”3. It
suggests that by placing prominent areas of the image on a curve and the
subject on the smallest box in the spiral, the viewer’s eye will travel around
the whole image. This could be an upwards view of spiraling stairs or a still
life that spirals round for example.