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ACTIVE FRAMES PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION + ELEMENT OF DESIGN
THE EYE SHOULD LEARN TO LISTEN BEFORE IT LOOKS. - ROBERT FRANK
CONSULTING THE RULES OF COMPOSITION BEFORE TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH IS LIKE CONSULTING THE LAWS OF GRAVITY BEFORE GOING FOR A WALK.
- EDWARD WESTON
I JUST WALK AROUND, OBSERVING THE SUBJECT FROM VARIOUS ANGLES UNTIL THE PICTURE ELEMENTS ARRANGE THEMSELVES INTO A COMPOSITION
THAT PLEASES MY EYE. - ANDRE KERTESZ
ACTIVE FRAMES PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION + ELEMENT OF DESIGN
THE EYE SHOULD LEARN TO LISTEN BEFORE IT LOOKS. - ROBERT FRANK
CONSULTING THE RULES OF COMPOSITION BEFORE TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH IS LIKE CONSULTING THE LAWS OF GRAVITY BEFORE GOING FOR A WALK.
- EDWARD WESTON
I JUST WALK AROUND, OBSERVING THE SUBJECT FROM VARIOUS ANGLES UNTIL THE PICTURE ELEMENTS ARRANGE THEMSELVES INTO A COMPOSITION
THAT PLEASES MY EYE. - ANDRE KERTESZ
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you
create more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
Center or Point of Interest
Center or Point of Interest
“Putting four edges around a collection of information or facts transforms it. A photograph is not what was photographed, it’s something else…a new world is created”
Gary Winogrand
ELLIOT ERWITT
LEE FRIEDLANDER
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
AVOID MERGERS
• Photographs collapse 3d space into 2d space • Photographs create compositional
relationships we might not recognize while in the act of photographing
• Mergers-awkward combinations of lines/shapes/subjects as a result of collapsing 3d space to a 2d image
• Strategies to avoid mergers: – Photographer moves – Subject moves – Background moves
Examples of Mergers
MERGERS
Playing with Mergers
Elliot Erwitt
Playing with Mergers
Playing with Mergers
"Probably one of the worst things that happened to photography is that cameras have viewfinders." - John Baldessari
Mergers: things to watch for• Background objects can merge with the
primary foreground subject. (For example, a power pole can "grow" out of your uncle's head.)
• Strong colors or similar colors of objects behind or near the main subject can merge with the subject. A white hat might merge with a light background and all but disappear.
• Remember, mergers are often removed by simply moving the camera or subject
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
BALANCE
• Symmetrical balance – Two matching subjects in size or shape – Symmetrical balance distributes visual
elements evenly in an image.
• Asymmetrical balance – A heavier presence balanced against a
lighter presence
SYMMETRICAL BALANCE
DIANE ARBUS
Roy DeCarava
Asymmetrical Balance
ANDRE KERTESZ
Asymmetrical Balance
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
Keep it simple: an empty frame
Keep it simple: an empty frame (in this case ‘empty’ is complicated)
Keep it simple: an empty frame
Keep it simple: an empty frame
Keep it simple: shallow depth of field
Keep it Simple - Shallow Depth of Field
Keep it simple: shallow depth of field
Keep it simple: shallow depth of field
Elliot Erwitt, NYC 1950
Elliot Erwitt, Ernst Hass 1955
Matthew Tischler
DEEP DEPTH OF FIELD - Walker Evans
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
Frame within a frame
Frame within a frame
Robert Frank, Butte, Montana
Robert Frank, New Orleans, 1955
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
SUBJECT PLACEMENT
Rule of Thirds
Use the rule of thirds to help with
Horizon line placement
Strong lines placement
Single subject placement
Main subject/secondary subject placement
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds
The Golden Ratio / Fibonocci Spiral
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
Use Strong Lines
“This recognition, in real life, of a rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values is for me the essence of photography; composition should be a constant of preoccupation, being a simultaneous coalition — an organic coordination of visual elements. “ - Henri Cartier-Bresson
use strong lines
use strong lines
use strong lines
use strong lines
Always be conscious of where lines are entering your frame: from which side? From which corner? Which of these images is most successful?
Strong Lines / Patterns (repeated)
Strong Lines / Patterns (repeated)
Patterns and Repetition
Use strong lines
Use strong lines
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
LIGHT AND SHADOW
LIGHT AND SHADOW - Imogen Cunningham
LIGHT AND SHADOW - Sebastian Salgado
LIGHT AND SHADOW - Imogen Cunningham
LIGHT AND SHADOW
SHAPES
Texture -- Aaron Siskind
Texture -- Aaron Siskind
TEXTURE
TEXTURE
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
Use the edge of the frame
Use the edge of the frame
COMPOSITIONAL GUIDLINES• These are guidelines, not rules. Understanding them will help you create
more purposeful compositions. – Center or Point of Interest / Subject Placement – Framing 3-D world into a 2D Photograph – Avoid mergers – Balance
• Symmetrical-even • Assymetrical-a heavier presence vs a lighter/foreground vs background
– Keep it simple • Empty frame • Shallow depth of field
– Use a frame within a frame – Rule of thirds – Use strong lines – Shapes / Light & Shadows / Texture – Frame tension – Vantage point
• Birds eye • Worms eye
Vantage Point: your angle of view
Vantage Point: your angle of view
Vantage Point: Birds Eye
Vantage point: birds eye
“In order to accustom people to seeing from new viewpoints it is essential to take photographs of everyday, familiar subjects from completely unexpected vantage points and in completely unexpected positions….one should shoot the subject from several positions, as if encompassing it--not peer through one keyhole” - Rodchenko
Vantage point: close up/abstraction
CLOSE UP
DAIDO MORIYAMA from TIGHTS AND LIPS
Vantage point: close up/abstraction
Vantage point: close up/abstraction
Vantage point: worms eye
Vantage point: worms eye
And one last thing…Consider placing a moving subject so they
move into the image
Strategies: Composition and ShootingHow do I balance these ideas?
• Shooting with a preplanned idea when photographing Things you may be able to plan ahead: — location — Props — time of day — vantage point — artificial lighting — Make a list of things to shoot
• Improvising in a rapid situation — Keeping subject at center of frame — Moving frame around with subject somewhere in picture
• Editing a group of images down to ones that have compositional strength — Shoot in quantity, edit for quality — Constant experimentation to ensure a variety of images, more
chances for success
Make a list….
What composition elements are these photographers using?
Elliot Erwitt
Elliot Erwitt
Robert Frank
William Eggleston
Candida Höfer
Roy DeCarava
Elliot Erwitt
Andreas
Gursky
Elliot Erwitt
Lee Friedlander
Elliot Erwitt