INTRODUCTION
Photographic Composition Visualized
INTRODUCTION
Digital photography has opened the door for everyone to become a photographer, and to discover, enjoy, and record the beauty that surrounds us. No longer is the pursuit of photography mired in the technical. “Point and shoot” is now the equivalent of Kodak’s early box camera tagline: “Press the button and we do the rest.” The ease, fun, and satisfaction of truly instant digital photography have made us all photographers: Point, shoot, and share.
Although digital technology has simplified the technical aspects of taking photographs, it has done little to help us in the composing of photographs. Our book provides guidelines for improving the arrangement of elements in a photograph so as to create a sense of structure and balance. One might think of it this way: composition is to photography as grammar is to writing. Both need structure.
COMPOSITION
An article in a recent photographic magazine began with a statement that everything photographic begins with an understanding of the technical aspects of the equipment being used, such as the camera, lens, and filters. We agree somewhat, but would add “not everything.” Of equal importance is the capture of the photograph, which suggests some knowledge of composition. In mastering composition, one must develop the ability to attend to and see the shapes and forms of objects, textures, lines, masses, and the like, as well as their relationship to each other. This book emphasizes the importance of composition in both the taking of a photograph (capture) and making any adjustments that can improve the photograph after it has been taken (after capture).
Most photographic books that address the need for composition do so in a limited way. This book, on the other hand, is completely dedicated to a comprehensive approach to this important subject. The term “photographic composition” is most often used to define a small set of strict rules, such as the “Rule of Thirds,” that can strengthen the structure of a photograph. We have extended the range of compositional features to incorporate such things as the need for clarity or ambiguity in a photograph, practical examples of portraiture, the use of light and shadows, morphs (the discovery of different shapes and forms in nature), and Gestalt principles of organization from the field of psychology.
Composition should be a constant preoccupation … an organic coordination of visual elements.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
BALANCE
One of the underlying features of good composition is balance—visual balance. Visual balance is different than physical balance, which is determined by mass—the weight of an object. The things that give an object visual weight are its tone (darkness, lightness), shape, form, size, visual importance, and placement within the frame of the photograph. It is also the reason that professional mat boards are wider on the bottom than on the top, as seen here. Usually the color of the board is neutral (white, gray, or black) but in this case the photographer chose a blue color to complement the blue on the racecar.
Lister Jag by Dave Page.
Photograph 1. Blue Frame Illustration.
Balance is basic to all of our human endeavors, not just the visual. Biologically, we feel our bodies are in balance thanks to what is called homeostasis. It is the ability and tendency of the cells in our body to maintain an internal equilibrium—a balance.
In Native American languages, the word for “balance” and the word for “beauty” are the same.
Leslie Gray
Balancing Rock, Utah by William Scanlon.
Photograph 2. In Arches National Park, one huge rock sits delicately and precariously balanced a top another.
Our visual sense of balance is very much determined by our man-made surroundings. We expect everything to be vertical or horizontal: buildings and homes (inside and outside), road signs, and the like. If things are tilted, we tend to feel an imbalance—some of us more than others. It is not surprising that all of our senses require balance: auditory (music), olfactory (food and fragrances), and kinesthetic (body). Balance is basic to all human experiences.
Human beings are psychologically disturbed and often deeply upset by imbalance, disorder, chaos, tension, and conflict.
Jack F. Myers
Leaning London Building.
Photograph 3. This tilted City Hall building in London contrasts against the two straight uprights of the London Bridge. The tilt causes a visual tension, a disequilibrium, which can make some people uncomfortable and some even nauseated. We depend, in part, on our visual field for balance. (Visual field dependency.)
EMPHASIZING THE VISUAL
You will be pleased to find in this book an emphasis on the visual, of first showing what we are talking about, and then a few words of discussion. Every page in the book has a picture accompanied by a short explanation. In effect, the book is a picture book of compositional features. One can learn from the book without being well versed in English.
As you go through the book, you will recognize that we have built in some meaningful redundancy as a way of clarifying and reinforcing what we are presenting. It is the visual equivalent of the familiar verbal statement we use when we are trying to explain something in another way: “in other words.” “With other pictures,” we hope to do the same.
Another feature of our book is the use of photographs taken by earlier photographers, such as William Henry Jackson, August Sander, Alfred Stieglitz, and Nadar. These photographs provide the serious photographer with a connection to the richness of the past. You will also find photographs by current professional photographers and those from other walks of life who have taken up photography as a hobby and means of personal expression. Some are teenagers and some are senior citizens. Digital photography provides us all with a way of creating pictures with light. We hope our book will provide a way of improving your photographs by attention to composition, which provides the unifying structure in a photograph.
At the end of each chapter, we have included some exercises for those interested and for teachers who may be using this book for instruction. The exercises in each of the sections are in two parts. The first part is called “Looking,” in which the reader is directed to look at and study some photographs in books and on the Internet that relate to the topic presented—“learning by looking.” The second part, “Photographing,” consists of shooting assignments to provide the opportunity for practical hands on experience—“learning by doing.”
TWO QUESTIONS
In the preparation of our book, two general questions were addressed:
1. What compositional guidelines would be most helpful but not overwhelming? In other words, what falls into the military categories of “need to know” and “nice to know”?
2. What is the best way to present these guidelines?
The second question was easier to address than the first. Because photography is a visual medium and the emphasis is on the visual, we must show what is being presented. To accomplish this, a picture appears on each page with a few words: look, learn, and enjoy.
We have included a number of quotations throughout the book that we feel are relevant. Think of them as visual sound bites and as words of wisdom; as Benjamin Disraeli reminds us, “The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated in quotations.”
The book is divided into three sections:
1. Before Capture (The planning stage.)
2. Capture (Taking the photograph.)
3. After Capture (Adding captions, Changing the aspect ratio, and Using image modification tools.)
Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects which for me are not a major concern.
Henri Cartier Bresson