composition?

[Fred Berg]

The conventions of composition such as the golden ratio, the use of leading lines, the rule of thirds and so on help to organise the visual information in an image so that it can be viewed with a degree of comprehension. Bending the rules can be good for creative freedom and insight, ignoring them can cause confusion and rejection.

 

[Bend The Light]

The "rule of thirds" is a simplification of the "Golden Ratio" which goes back a long way. The Parthenon, and the Pyramids are constructed using the principals of this.
Does it make things look more "pleasing"? Yes, often. Does everything have to be constructed based on it? No.

Interesting (to me) experiment...I drew several rectangles on the whiteboard at school, one of which was in the golden ratio. They don't know what ratios I have used. I asked the kids which was more pleasing. In times past, this exercise resulted in the majority of the class choosing the one in the golden ratio. Nowadays, it is less so.

Guess which rectangle ratio they choose now?

16:9 - widescreen TV.

 

[Forkie]

Guess which rectangle ratio they choose now?

16:9 - widescreen TV.

Funnily enough, I've been going through a bit of a 16:9 phase myself recently. But the images themselves still generally follow the rule of the thirds. The 9-square grid just changes dimensions.

 

[Bend The Light]

I think the trick is, if the rule of thirds is to be used, is to somehow make it less obvious that that is what you did. If it looks like you deliberately, definitely cropped or composed an image with no regard to anything other than the rule of thirds, the image will look les inspiring. If however, the rule of thirds is there, but subtly, than you may well have a winner...

 

[Fred Berg]

I also like 16:9 but try to include something of the "golden thirds" when composing shots in this format or cropping to it later.