Compositional Rules?

The last two attempts I have made in that effort I made the same friggen mistake drawing attention away from the intended focus, the first one was a contrasting black pen on a white surface in the background of a predominately amber setting and the most reasent was a set of white lines leading into a large white space to the right of a black subject.

A few things that spring to my mind include:

– Since different colors have differing wavelengths, cool colors seem to recede, while warm colors project.

– The eye is drawn to the brightest values in an image. When mixing bright and dark values in the same image, it's likely the eye will not find a place to settle. The image is said to be "busy."

– Diagonal and curved lines convey the feeling of motion.

– Converging lines, or the same form repeating in reducing or increasing sizes can help convey depth.

Like I say, these are just a few things that immediately come to mind.

I hope this helps.

-Pete

Afore mentioned last two attempts so you can see what I was referring to..

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/black-white-gallery/158174-home-brew.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/general-gallery/115562-no-exceptions.html - This one has other flaws that I have already learnd about eliminating...For what it's worth.
 
This is what I meant about bright areas in an image. It's especially easy to see it in "Home Brew." Just bring that image up on your screen and cover that container of creamer on the left with your hand. Take your hand away. Put it back.

Can you see how it changes the whole focal point?

-Pete
 
:lol: Didn't like the method photography, eh?

Battou, on the home-brew shot, I think you could benefit from going the other way a bit. If you want to recreate the scene then try adding a little bit of flash to the background that shows in the coffee pot. Just enough to see what's there if you look closely. It will draw your viewer into the scene like a half forgotten song that you can't shake forces you to think about it.

Pete makes a very good point about the creamer container, too. A mask and exposure comp in post would do wonders for that.

BTW, Pete, i'm not Even going to ask how you came across the youtube bit. LOLOLOLOLOLOL
 
This is what I meant about bright areas in an image. It's especially easy to see it in "Home Brew." Just bring that image up on your screen and cover that container of creamer on the left with your hand. Take your hand away. Put it back.

Can you see how it changes the whole focal point?

-Pete

Yes I do, however it also removes an element that I wanted to include in an effort to show the "Your House" environment with a plain bottle of creamer. I think when I retry this shot I might look around for a red or blue bottle of creamer, worse case scenario I might end up using a coffee can either Folgers or Maxwell House as opposed to the creamer to maintain the desired environment

*EDIT*

:lol: Didn't like the method photography, eh?

Battou, on the home-brew shot, I think you could benefit from going the other way a bit. If you want to recreate the scene then try adding a little bit of flash to the background that shows in the coffee pot. Just enough to see what's there if you look closely. It will draw your viewer into the scene like a half forgotten song that you can't shake forces you to think about it.

Pete makes a very good point about the creamer container, too. A mask and exposure comp in post would do wonders for that.

BTW, Pete, i'm not Even going to ask how you came across the youtube bit. LOLOLOLOLOLOL


I made a very consious effort to avoid that, I honestly feel that my kitchen is extremely unattractive, I don't think anyone wants to see that and if they did it would definately become a deturrant.
 
I found [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343"]this[/ame] book to be a very good introduction to composition in photography, covering all the basics. Many people say that there are no rules (and in the sense of "rules = limitations", they are right), but when you see or make a photograph that is good, it amazing how it often turns out to obey certain compositional "guidelines".
 

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