composition

WHAT IS COMPOSITION?

• A pleasing arrangement of visual elements in an image

• A way to draw the viewer’s eye to the elements of an image that are of most importance.

Composition

• The key is to remember that in the same way as a chef rarely uses all of the ingredients at their disposal in any dish – that a photographer rarely uses all of the ingredients if composition in the making of an image.’

• They are not rules…just things to consider when setting up a shot.

Composition

• What do you choose to include in an image, and what do you leave out?

• What you choose to include should in some way add meaning to the image.

• If an element does not add any meaning to an image, or is distracting, then you should find a way to compose the image so as to eliminate in from the image.

Simplicity

• Keeping photos simple is a great way of making sure that the viewer will know what your photo is about.

cosmic rough riders:to be someone by Lali Masriera

Untitled by sympathy

Simplicity• Look for uncomplicated backgrounds and try to focus on keeping objects out of the

picture that may draw attention away from your subject.

Tres son multitud... by Miguel Angel

Avoid Busy Backgrounds

Using the natural frame – Simplifying in Camera

Fill the Frame

• Filling the frame makes it a lot more appealing and clearly shows what you are trying to display.

Depth of Field is a Part of Composition

Depth of Field

• Depth of Field can be as a tool in your composition. It can be used to eliminate a busy background and draw attention to the subject.

LINES

• Lines help lead the viewer to the subject of your photo by drawing the eye through the picture.

LineAnsel Adams, Road, Nevada Desert

LineTom Grill

LineLines can be a subject all by themselves

LineIncluding pathways, roads, bends, and doors

• The viewer will have a natural curiosity for their eye to travel through the photograph.

Where are the lines?

SHAPE

• City Shapes, Heather McFarland

Shape

• Edward Weston…what do you see?

Shape

Shape

Shape

TEXTURE

Texture

• Comes mostly with close-up photography, organic or urban.

Texture

Texture

Texture

• Add interest by mixing textures

Texture

Texture

Nick Brandt

• Textural Photographer, involved in MJ videos, takes photographs of wildlife in Africa.

• Photos are taken in the wild but look like they were shot in a studio.

• Observe the textures.

REPETITION

Repetition: Chris Jordan

• Photographs capture American Mass Consumerism?

• (Everything we throw away!)• Repetition enforces this concept

Phones

Circuit boards

Bullet casings

Oil drums

cars

CONTRAST – the arrangement of opposite elements to grab the viewers attention.

using color and value

contrast

contrast

contrast

contrast

contrast

Contrastin visual relationship

Rosamond PurcellElephant bird and broad-tailedhumming bird eggs

contrast

Contrast in subject matter

Simon NorfolkFormer Teahouse at theAfghan Exhibition ofEconomic and SocialAchievements, 2001

Balloons were banned during the Taliban reign

FRAMING AND SUBJECT PLACEMENT

• How you choose to divide your frame and where you choose to place your subject can have and impact on not only the strength of your composition, but also on the meaning of your photograph.

• Equal distribution of visual weight creates balance symmetrically or asymmetrically.

Symmetry

• Depending upon the scene, symmetry can lead to a striking image with a good point of interest…without it, it can be a bit predictable.

Asymmetry

Rule of thirds

• We tend to put our subject in the center of the frame, but it is not always the most interesting composition.

• If we put our subject off center, we can include other elements in our photo, and made the image more interesting.

• Where should I put my subject?• Imagine that there is a tic tac toe board on your image.• The most interesting places to put your subject are on

the places where the lines intersect.

Rule of thirds

Rule of thirds

Subject at edge of frame

• As opposed to filling the frame…

Photos by Arnold Newman

Subject at edge of frame

Achieving balance with Geometry

Achieving balance with geometry

• By positioning key aspects of your image on points of a geometric shape you can help create a balanced composition.

• Perhaps the most common and easiest way to do this is to use a triangle shape…

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

• Do NOT take this so literally!

Informative Internal Framing

• Choosing what you frame your subject• with can impart meaning into your• photograph.

Informative internal framingIn this image, thefamily is internallyframed by the doorof the car. Thisserves not only asa visualcompositionalelement, but alsoserves to provideemotional impact.

What do we know about this person?

Lewis Hine, building skyscrapers in NYC

REFLECTIONS

CAMERA ANGLE

• Make people look at things in a way they are not used to…

Look up instead of down

Looking down allows you to learn more about the subject in this photo…

Forced perspective

• Playing with scale to create an optical illusion

What elements of composition are used in this photograph?

HOW DO I ACHIEVE GOOD COMPOSITION?

• Work the same object multiple differentways.

• Look for line, shape, texture, angle,framing, etc in the same object.

• If 50 people photographed the sameobject, you would have 50 differentphotos, because everyone sees the worlddifferently.