We’ve been talking a lot about composition in photography class, and the “rules”. In any artistic endeavor, there are rules that are essentially derived from studying “the masters,” which is pretty close to saying the rules arise from studying what works. Yet you’re not required to follow the rules, and in fact some great images can come from breaking the rules.
This is something I’ve been thinking about the past week, as well as the difference between what we might like to have hanging on our walls, versus what we like on initial view. For me, to want something on my wall, I want something that keeps me going back over and over. This often means there is tension, or a story, or many stories, in the image. An absolutely perfectly composed picture might be beautiful, yet fail to capture the imagination.
So all that to explain why I chose this first image to bring to class tonight:
I was on the ladder to the hayloft in the main chicken barn when I glanced up and saw some of the other volunteers heading up the hill. I didn’t think about composition, I just snapped the shot. The first comment from everyone was “why didn’t you crop out all extra on the bottom and the right? And that had been my initial inclination as well. We ended up talking a lot about this picture. There is a lot going on, and the more I looked at this picture, the more that narrow band on the right intrigued me. Click on the picture for a bigger version – there’s a person in that narrow band as well.
So, it is an odd picture, breaking many rules, technically imperfect, composed oddly, yet I find it compelling, and one I end up liking, though I continue to wonder why!
This next one is Amanda, just a sort of nice and pleasant portrait:
Nothing much to really say about this one, other than that light area in the upper left really needs to go! It draws the eye away from what I want the eye to focus on, but the instructor seemed to think it would be easy to clone it out. I’ll try it.
And then some pictures from a very short hike I did at Roosevelt Island. It was cold, I didn’t last long, but I did get some interesting pictures.
I took this one and at this particular angle as part of the ongoing project to capture the alphabet in the world around us. I had a lower-case “d” in mind, but it could also be a lower-case “b”. After I got it home and took a look on my computer, I realized that I really liked the repeated loop shapes, as well as the interesting sort of upside-down “y” shadow on the tree trunk. The instructor pointed out a couple other places the angle was repeated. He liked the picture, even the quirky angle (check out the horizon to see how out of wack I had the camera tilted), and the graphic artist who was sitting behind me liked the image as well. I always find it interesting who likes what and why!
This next one got immediate positive comments on the richness of the sky.
I happen to know that this is a sycamore tree, because other people mentioned that! After the initial reaction, he liked that it was a different take on a sycamore (I hadn’t realized I was doing a different take because I didn’t know it was a sycamore tree so that part was unintentional!), and he thought that the vines were what really made the image. Gratifying, because that is what made me take the image! He wasn’t sure he liked the tree on the left, and I admit it hadn’t occurred to me to crop it out until he said something. He also said he’d try cropping that tree on the left out, and then flipping the image, so that the leading line of the trunk of the sycamore came from the left to the right. This is a western thing, because we read left to right, we tend to see lines that bring us left to right as more dynamic. Interesting, no? So I’ll try his suggestions and post it soon.
Finally a dog portrait without the dog:
The instructor said he might crop off the stuff on the left, which I’d thought about doing but had mixed feelings about. Part of me likes the bits of floatsam there, but I can see his point as well. Another student said he would crop out the depression on the bottom, that he found it distracting. I thought that was interesting, because the entire reason I left it in there was that I liked the color in that part of the frame. It was late afternoon, so the color temperature is “warmer” (though technically it is cooler if you’re talking about Kelvin degrees!) and I think part of what I liked was the changing color temps through the image. He did have a good point, I will have to try their cropping suggestions to see if I like them or not. Cropping can completely change an image, as I think I’ve shown before!
January 31, 2008 at 12:52 pm
All of those images are lovely! You have some really beautiful work here!
January 31, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Thanks fox!
January 31, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I do like that the first image “breaks the rules” but still works. The concept of “rules” in art always bothered me. The great masters are the ones who broke the rules and what they did became the rules later. I do understand that rules are what we use to learn by but consciously breaking them is the way to go.
Yes it would be easy to clean out that bright spot from the pic of Amanda and I do agree that it is distracting.
I really like the two tree pics both are unique and very sharp.
Thinking about the temperature is what separates you from mere mortals like me. I never would have seen that until you said it, that said I do think the picture would look better without the depression. Not sure what is more important the depression being removed or the color of that area. I wouldn’t remove the extras on the left side.
I am laughing as I am critiquing your work and thinking about how your throw-aways would be my masterpieces.
January 31, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I really like the loops! And I agree with you about the paw prints in the sand: that bit of sunlight with all the colors at the bottom should not be cropped. I totally see what you mean about the temperature change.
February 1, 2008 at 4:04 pm
@ Rich – the thing to remember when people are talking about “rules” with regards to art, the rules are derived from the masters, not the other way around. It isn’t something you have to follow to be good at whatever it is, but since these are derived from what worked for the great artists of the ages, it is helpful to understand them when taking our own pics or creating art in whatever medium. Breaking the rules isn’t against the rules, but doing it consciously, or at least understanding where and why the breaking works is part of the development of our understanding, imo. The great masters did not always break the rules; breaking the rules is not required for a powerful work. For instance, the “power points” from the rule of thirds was used often and consistently by pretty much all of the masters. Of course, noticing that there was such a power in those power points came from studying those masters…
And critiquing everyone’s work is how we all learn! You have to look at art and figure out what you like and why to understand how to create something of your own that is powerful. (some of this is unconscious, of course!)
@ FW – that’s cool that you like the color change in the paw prints as well! I think this is definitely one of those cases where it would be split pretty evenly between people who like it with the depression in there, versus those who prefer it without.
The really nice thing about this class and the instructor is that his attitude is that there is no right.
In other words, what we prefer, as individuals, is what is “right”, and furthermore our preferences could change over time!
I really enjoy everyone’s input on the pictures, your reactions and preferences. It is fun to look at what could be done differently, how it would change things, etc.
February 2, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Great looking images. Really do like the window shot. Regarding the narrow band, is it a door ajar or space between the sideboards on the chicken barn?
Really like the tree shots particularly the alphabet. The vines really do add a lot of dimension to the image. I see your “d” but I also see the image of light bulb, one of those rounded type paper clips, a wishbone, a hangman’s noose, and a pretzel. I’ll stop here or you will definitely think something is wrong with me.
The Sycamore is cool too, but I won’t tell you what I see in this one.
Thanks for sharing your work shutterbug. Click, click!
February 2, 2008 at 9:49 pm
The narrow band is space between the sideboards of the chicken barn. You can click the image to get a large version of it – might be easier to see in the larger version. And you can see also that there is another person in the narrow band! (pure luck that everyone was lined up so well!)
Glad you liked the alphabet vine shot! I can find at least a couple greek letters in there too. It is fun to look for these things in the world around us, and it has been interesting to see the pictures some of my classmates have brought in that have the letters they’ve seen. Definitely makes you look at the world a bit differently!
Glad you enjoyed the pics.
February 2, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Deb, finding the images within the alphabet tree shot reminds me of the Highlight Magazine my kids get with the section “Find The Hidden Pictures.” Goofus & Galant is my favorite. Poor Goofus, he never gets a break, LOL!