Photo Assignment #1 - Composition Strategies

MTVision · Sep 20, 2011

A while back a few people expressed interest in an assignment thread for beginners. I'm currently taking a Digital Photography class and have decided to post the assignments that I get in class. I hope people participate!

Viewpoint - look up at subject to imply respect, look down to diminish subject: "worms eye view", "birds eye view", skewed angle

Rule of Thirds - keep subject out of the center of the picture, strongest point of interest is 1/3 of the way into the pictures, don't divide the picture in half with the horizon line

Rule of Odds - frame subject with even number of elements on each side

Simplification - eliminate distracting information, keep focus on subject, have a clear center of interest, use narrow depth of field isolates subject, get close to subjext

Symmetry - balance arrangement, equal visual weight on each side of image

Repetition - use an element over and over again within the picture to create movement, pattern or texture

Color - create an emotional impact, warm colors suggest aggressive and advance, cool colors suggest calm and recede, monochromatic

Framing - look for the picture within the picture

Leading Lines - create a visual path into the picture with lines, mover the viewers eye around the photograph, imply action with direction of line, imply emotion with type of line

Lighting - use light to your advantage, time of day produces different color of light, use flat light, dynamic light, high key light, low key light

ASSIGNMENT
Create 1 image that illustrates each of the principles (there are 10)
Pick a minimum of 5 strategies to explore in-depth and take an additional 5 pictures using that principle

This assignment will result in at least 35 images. Out of the 10 pictures, that illustrate each of the principles, post your 3 best/favorite.

MTVision · Sep 21, 2011

lieforalie · Sep 27, 2011

Hey, I'll totally do this when my stuff arrives tomorrow. This will be a good warmup with the new camera!

LizardKing · Sep 27, 2011

Hey! Great idea!

I don't think I can participate uploading pictures, since I still don't have my camera and lately don't have that much time... But I'll be definitely following these assignments and hopefully do them in the future.
Thanks for sharing! :thumbup:

D-B-J · Sep 27, 2011

This doesn't have to be a beginners only thread. I think this would be good practice for anyone.

JWellman · Sep 27, 2011

Thank you for sharing! I'll most assuredly work on this in the weeks to come!

Derrel · Sep 27, 2011

Here is an article written by master photographer John Paul Caponigro for The Luminous Landscape. This article is UNLIKE ANY OTHER YOU HAVE EVER READ. I can guarantee that!!! It shows how one can use Photoshop filters to "modify" images, and to break them down into component parts, so that the underlying ideas beneath composition become more-apparent, by removing some of the "eye candy" or "chrome trim and shiny paint" that blinds the eye to the underlying components of photographs. Please, please,please, please at least take a LOOK at this article, so that you can see, literally "see", exactly how design elements and principles of design come together in a composition.

Photographic Composition - Introduction

LizardKing · Sep 28, 2011

Derrel said:
Here is an article written by master photographer John Paul Caponigro for The Luminous Landscape. This article is UNLIKE ANY OTHER YOU HAVE EVER READ. I can guarantee that!!! It shows how one can use Photoshop filters to "modify" images, and to break them down into component parts, so that the underlying ideas beneath composition become more-apparent, by removing some of the "eye candy" or "chrome trim and shiny paint" that blinds the eye to the underlying components of photographs. Please, please,please, please at least take a LOOK at this article, so that you can see, literally "see", exactly how design elements and principles of design come together in a composition.

Photographic Composition - Introduction

Thank you for sharing this... I'll read it tomorrow.

Erinw417 · Oct 5, 2011

This looks really interesting and helpful for a beginner like myself, I will def be participating in the next couple days

SituationNormal · Oct 8, 2011

I'll play.

This first pic is of Woodard Bay. I tried to incorporate a few of the ten composition strategies. Rule of odds, Symmetry and Color.

Woodard Bay by Situation Normal, on Flickr

This second pic is the second time that I have posted it. This edit however, is in color as opposed to black and white. I had been trying for a decent edit for black and white, but I am just having a hard time bringing it all together. Here's a color edit. I'm using the Rule of thirds, Leading Lines and Framing.

Rings by Situation Normal, on Flickr

Pic number three is a composition using Lighting, Viewpoint, Color and Simplification.

Look Ma... No Hands by Situation Normal, on Flickr

What do y'all think? C+C welcome.

Compaq · Oct 9, 2011

I'll comment on #2:

You have definitely used lines, but I wouldn't call them leading. The term "leading lines" sort of implies that they lead to something interesting. In your case, however, they lead out of the frame. That tree doesn't do anything for the picture. Remember, try to exclude anything you don't really need in the picture. It seems, as well, it has exposure issues. The lady is very dark compared to the rest, and my eyes go to upper right corner (the brightest area). Leading lines work well if every line is converging somewhere. In this case it's just chaos. Plus, all the lines are vertical, whereas you shot horizontally. It feels wrong. This applies to the last pic as well. Here is one line, just one, it's close to vertical and leads to the subject (which is conveniently placed in the brightest part of the image). Cropping it to vertical might work, but I'm not sure.

Great article, by the way!

SituationNormal · Oct 10, 2011

Thanks for the comments Compaq. I was thinking that the straps on the ring would have been taken as leading lines. I see how they get lost in the jumble of everything else and take from them. I think that I understand what you are meaning though. Would five streets leading to an intersection be considered leading if the point of interest in the picture was the intersection?

Compaq · Oct 10, 2011

Yes, those could be acting as leading lines. Converging lines can be powerful. I did a quick google search, take a look at this. I don't know who has taken it, but I hope it's okay for me to post it. In this photo the rule of thirds is very clear as well.

Leading lines doe not need to be converging. Notice how this line is all over the place, and finally leading into the horizon. Photo (from google) of "Trollstigen" (translation: the troll ladder"). It's the road going up a mountain in one of the mountain passes in Norway.

I have a wish of taking a picture like this one day when I'm crossing!

rambler · Oct 14, 2011

Helpful comments, Compaq and you found some wow photos. SitNorm, thanks for sharing your photos. You are off to a fast start! I hope you had at least a month to complete that assignment. Don't think I will worry much about the "rule of odds".

MTVision · Oct 14, 2011

rambler said:
Helpful comments, Compaq and you found some wow photos. SitNorm, thanks for sharing your photos. You are off to a fast start! I hope you had at least a month to complete that assignment. Don't think I will worry much about the "rule of odds".

Nope - it was a week to do this assignment!

If I may - why don't you think you will worry about the rule of odds much? It pretty much means that images with an odd number of elements is more pleasing to the eyes.