Photography Composition Project 52

Learning the basic guidelines of composition is rather like learning to walk. With a little practice you stop thinking about taking steps and just walk. Then you learn to run, hop, skip, jump, and dance. (Some with more grace than others.) 

“Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.” , Edward Weston

"Photographic composition is the pleasing arrangement of subject matter elements within thepicture area. Creative photography depends foremost on the photographer's ability to see as the camera sees because a photograph does not reproduce a scene quite the way we see it. The camera sees and records only a small isolated part of the larger scene, reduces it to only two dimensions, frames it, and freezes it. It does not discriminate as we do. When we look at a scene we selectively see only the important elements and more or less ignore the rest. A camera, on the other hand, sees all the details within the field of view. This is the reason some of our pictures are often disappointing. Backgrounds may be cluttered with objects we do not remember, our subjects are smaller in the frame or less striking than we recall, or the entire scene may lack significance and life.

Good pictures are seldom created by chance. To make the most of any subject, you must understand the basic principles of composition. The way you arrange the elements of a scene within a picture, catch the viewer’s attention, please the eye, or make a clear statement are all qualities of good composition. By developing photographic composition skills, you can produce photographs that suggest movement, life, depth, shape, and form, recreating the impact of the original scene.

How are photographic composition skills developed? You look, you study, you practice. Every time you take a picture, look all around within the viewfinder. Consider the way each element will be recorded and how it relates to the overall composition. You must become thoroughly familiar with the camera and learn how the operation of each control alters the image. Experiment with the camera and look at the results carefully to see if they meet your expectations. With experience and knowledge of your equipment, you begin to "think through your camera" so you are free to concentrate on composition. Devote serious study to the principles of good composition. Study books and magazine articles on composition. You should analyze various media: motion pictures, TV, magazines, books and newspapers, and evaluate what you see. What is good about this picture or that TV image? What is bad about it? What principles of good composition could you apply in a different way to make the picture better.

Good or correct composition is impossible to define precisely. There are no hard-and-fast rules to follow that ensure good composition in every photograph. There are only the principles and elements that provide a means of achieving pleasing composition when applied properly." Basic Photographic Composition, NAVY Training Manual

Once you master the basic composition guidelines, you're free to compose photographs in any way that's pleasing to you.  Remember that photographic composition is subjective.  What one person finds attractive, another may find displeasing. 

"... so called “composition” becomes a personal thing, to be developed along with technique, as a personal way of seeing", Edward Weston

 "The so-called rules of photographic composition are,

in my opinion, invalid, irrelevant and immaterial", Ansel Adams

 

Also see:

My Project 52 for 2012

Project 52