Tip of the Day – Think Twice About Composition, Part 1
Composition is an essential aspect of artistic expression. Books are devoted to it. Painters have very specific reasons for putting their subjects where they do. Any primer on picture-taking will explain the ‘rule of thirds’ and the importance of leading lines and how the eye goes where it goes when it sees an image.
My color vision is lousy. My technical knowledge of the camera is OK but my understanding of post-production techniques and all that the digital darkroom can do is woefully lacking because computer technology is a consistent weakness. What success I have making pleasing images comes primarily through composition and taking the best shot I can in the moment.
What does that mean? It means trying to take landscape shots that don’t have overhead wires running through them or tree branches intruding from one side. It means placing people so that a sign post isn’t emerging from the top of someone’s head. It means getting closer to the people so you can tell who they are. Yes, it’s great to visit the Grand Canyon and of course you want pictures of who was there but a shot from the waist up will still show that person had the Canyon behind them. A wide angle shot of the grandeur with a few tiny human figures in front of it is not a picture of us and the Canyon. It is a picture of the Canyon with some figures spoiling the view.
Here are a few examples that I hope will encourage you to pause for a moment before taking photos…especially if you’re a hectic, drive-by tourist like I am. Think about what you want and don’t want in the image.
While in Colorado, I came upon this classic western scene. Blue sky, snow-capped peaks and grazing bison in a meadow.
Clearly, a little wider angle shot would not have been as pleasing.
2 Comments:
Film was a great trainer!
I suppose that's true. The expense of wasted shots sharpens one's eye and we didn't have the editing tricks to clone/erase unwanted elements. Good point.
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