Learning Photographic Composition

[JoeW]

First, for the most part, it's not rules about composition for photography, it's about composition for ART. So you can study visual art and learn a lot about composition. We're talking visual art here.

Second, to quote that famous artist and pirate Captain Barbosa..."They're not rules really, they're more like guidelines." You see, people like to say "break all the rules" and I think that's misinformed advice. It's not that you should follow all the rules either. It's that there are about a thousand "rules" when it comes to composition. And many of them contradict each other. It's not about "breaking" any rules or following the rules. It's about understanding how particular visual elements are perceived by people and shape the experience viewing the art (or photo). And selecting which "rules" (or guidelines) you choose to emphasize. And the difference between you taking a snapshot vs. creating a photo is NOT that you used photoshop or some other program. It's that you looked at a situation and decided which rules or guidelines you were going to follow. Did you want a strong diagonal line that made the photo dynamic? Then you shot with a Dutch tilt. Did you want a strong leading line? Then you popped on a wide angle lens, got down low and got a lot of distortion that had a big line getting narrower and narrower leading up to the subject. Did you want to emphasize form? Then you over-exposed and went B&W. Were you looking for a complimentary color palate? Then you used gels, selectively saturated some colors in post and cropped to minimize some photos. You wanted a hurried feel? Then you show with a show exposure and panned with the camera. An intimate portrait? You zoomed in with a narrow DoF to create a lot of bokeh. Those were all "rules" (or guidelines) of photography. You couldn't do them all in one photograph. You had to choose.

So...you want advice on learning about composition.
1. Read about Henri Cartier-Bresson. While he's known for the "decisive moment" (which makes him sound like a photojournalist) he's really much more about composition in my book. Powerful photos of often simply mundane things (like someone jumping over a puddle) that work...not b/c they're uncommon but b/c of the composition of the photo.

2. Look for books or exhibits about photos that explain why the photo is so successful (rather than "this was an important subject--and it's the last photo taken of him before he became king"...not twaddle of that kind, but instead text that explains why the photo works. Or what the photographer chose to emphasize, why it's so impactful as a photo). The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski is a classic in the field. I like some of Joe McNally's work...where he shows a photo, explains how he set it up, why he set it up that way, and most importantly (from a composition stand point), why it works. Michael Freeman's book "The Photographer's Eye" is also good as I remember (it's been a while since I read it). Bryan Peterson has a "Field Guide to Understanding Composition" and I find him very accessible, especially if you're just starting out on a subject.

3. There are tons of things on-line about composition and photos. But in my experience, none of them are comprehensive and in-depth. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff about the rule of thirds. But many don't go beyond that. Or will choose only one element and talk about that. Often times, composition gets discussed specific to a genre of photography (so look at landscapes and you'll get info on composition regarding the horizon for instance, look at fashion and you'll learning about posing instructions and how that affects composition, food photography and how styling and setup drives composition). My point is: you're not likely to find a one-stop shop on composition that is comprehensive and in-depth. Remember, thousands of guidelines.

Here is a slide show that looks at composition tips just for street photography based on the work of Cartier-Bresson that I think is kind of nice: The Theory of Composition in Street Photography: 7 Lessons from Henri Cartier-Bresson

 

[marcookie]

Thank you all for the advice... I think too that it's impossible to find one complete source, but I'm ready to check many. For example I found this talk less interesting and deep than the one by Adam Marelli (a few posts up). But it still made several good points, especially about colors. Similar color relationship were used (succesfully) by Kandinsky.



I'll check the various proposed sources and maybe then we can compile a sort of small database about the subject.

 

[The_Traveler]

There is no end to learning because it isn't like learning the alphabet with a defined set of information.
One learns concepts and then attempts to apply those when taking pictures.


I hope to always get better but never expect to get perfect.

 

[randymckown]

Try giving these a read to get you started ...