Sorry, I don't understand mood and

railman44 · Mar 19, 2005

composition. Can someone explain? I've seen great photos that have none.

willg133 · Mar 20, 2005

where did this come from? (I don't get it either

)

doxx · Mar 20, 2005

what we see is based on perception, any good photograph
will work according to the aesthetic rules of nature...
look up Leonardo Da Vinci's work and what he found out
about proportions (and composition for that matter)

Hertz van Rental · Mar 20, 2005

railman44 said:
composition. Can someone explain? I've seen great photos that have none.

Mood is the overall 'feel' of the picture.
Composition is the 'structure' - that is the placement of various elements within the frame.
Mood is often generated by the lighting but composition can play a big part.
There are various compositional tools. The one that everyone talks about is 'the rule of thirds' - mainly because this is the only one that most people have heard about. Unfortunately it's use and application is usually misunderstood - and it is very much overated. There are lots more that are far more effective.
If composition is used properly you shouldn't be aware of it unless you sit and analyse it.
Hunt around your library or bookstore to find a book on basic composition for artist. The guidlines for composition in painting apply to photographs.

ksmattfish · Mar 20, 2005

railman44 said:
I've seen great photos that have none.

Composition: The combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. The manner in which such parts are combined or related.

I don't think it's possible for a photo to have no composition. Possibly a photo of a blank piece of paper? The image may break traditional rules of composition, or even be made at random, but if there is anything there, then it has composition.

Hertz van Rental · Mar 20, 2005

ksmattfish said:
I don't think it's possible for a photo to have no composition. Possibly a photo of a blank piece of paper?

Creative use of negative space.

ksmattfish · Mar 20, 2005

Hertz van Rental said:
Creative use of negative space.

Negative space is just a term to describe an element of an image. In a photograph it is neither negative nor space, just another 2 dimensional shape to be arranged. The negative space assignment is one of the first given on composition in basic design classes.

thebeginning · Mar 21, 2005

i think what he means is traditional composition. i see alot of pictures that dont quite fit with what many photography books teach you (the rule of threes and such), and are still terrific. even the completely strange ones.

Hertz van Rental · Mar 21, 2005

ksmattfish said:
Negative space is just a term to describe an element of an image. In a photograph it is neither negative nor space, just another 2 dimensional shape to be arranged. The negative space assignment is one of the first given on composition in basic design classes.

:er:

humour n ability to say or perceive things that are amusing; amusing quality in a situation.
humorist n writer or entertainer who uses humour in his or her work.

Christie Photo · Mar 21, 2005

Hertz van Rental said:
Mood is the overall 'feel' of the picture.
Composition is the 'structure' - that is the placement of various elements within the frame.
Mood is often generated by the lighting but composition can play a big part.
There are various compositional tools. The one that everyone talks about is 'the rule of thirds' - mainly because this is the only one that most people have heard about. Unfortunately it's use and application is usually misunderstood - and it is very much overated. There are lots more that are far more effective.
If composition is used properly you shouldn't be aware of it unless you sit and analyse it.
Hunt around your library or bookstore to find a book on basic composition for artist. The guidlines for composition in painting apply to photographs.

This is so well stated, I felt we all should read it again.

KevinR · Mar 21, 2005

If I remember some of my classes in college, I think the Gestalt Principles deal with asthetic qualities and how we view things.

Hertz van Rental · Mar 21, 2005

Gestalt principles of perceptual organisation describe how we organise the world into shapes and patterns. These principles are generally consistent with the Ecological and Computational views but since these theories have been proposed further research into neuro-physiology has shown that a lot of the detection of edge, line and texture is carried out in an automatic way within the optic nerve.
You also have to take into account things like perceptual constancy, which Gestalt theory does not really address.
The bottom line is that perception is a complicated mix of psychology and physiology that no one theory can yet fully explain.