Weekly challenge 3/16 - 3/22 A delicate balance...

[gk fotografie]

How much balance do you want?

 

[gk fotografie]

Old houses and walls.

 

[gk fotografie]

Musicians at the Marollen market, Brussels, Belgium.
View attachment 170300

 

[gk fotografie]

Villo is a combination of the French words village (=town) and vélo (=bicycle)

 

[bulldurham]

A web page shot for a roofing company and not at all staged.

Men at Work

 

[johngpt]

When I think of balance in composition, I don't tend to think of symmetry. Not that there is anything wrong with symmetry when one intends to imply weight or solidity or gravitas. I tend to think of balance more like a Calder mobile. Calder would place a large element close to the cable which suspends the mobile and a small element at a distance. The lever arm allows the smaller element to balance the large element.
I try to place the primary visual element or main subject in frame often around that 1/3 line and then try to compose so that there is something else in frame that acts like Calder's small element at a distance. I'm editing right now a floral image shot this weekend which might illustrate this. The small elements might be luminosity related or color related; something which would tend to draw the eye toward that other side of frame momentarily.
I'm writing this now so that this becomes a "watched" thread and I can find it again after I finish editing and post to Flickr.

gk fotografie's geometric wall image in post #32 is a good example. His hello/you in post #30 is another.
His top photo in post #29 is subtle, with that large expanse of negative space pulling the eye toward the right from the highlighted mannequin.

jc's vertical balance in post #28 is a great example using the diagonal between the mother and child with eye contact and the child's reaching hands providing connection.

Well, anyway, back to the editing.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Went for a very long weekend to Brussels Belgium, lots of rain, not much shooting, but...(as always) perfect food & drinks!
View attachment 170293
View attachment 170294

I absolutely love the shadows in the mannequin shot!

 

[jcdeboever]

When I think of balance in composition, I don't tend to think of symmetry. Not that there is anything wrong with symmetry when one intends to imply weight or solidity or gravitas. I tend to think of balance more like a Calder mobile. Calder would place a large element close to the cable which suspends the mobile and a small element at a distance. The lever arm allows the smaller element to balance the large element.
I try to place the primary visual element or main subject in frame often around that 1/3 line and then try to compose so that there is something else in frame that acts like Calder's small element at a distance. I'm editing right now a floral image shot this weekend which might illustrate this. The small elements might be luminosity related or color related; something which would tend to draw the eye toward that other side of frame momentarily.
I'm writing this now so that this becomes a "watched" thread and I can find it again after I finish editing and post to Flickr.

gk fotografie's geometric wall image in post #32 is a good example. His hello/you in post #30 is another.
His top photo in post #29 is subtle, with that large expanse of negative space pulling the eye toward the right from the highlighted mannequin.

jc's vertical balance in post #28 is a great example using the diagonal between the mother and child with eye contact and the child's reaching hands providing connection.

Well, anyway, back to the editing.

Thank you for mentioning me John. I agree, the subject confirms everything, good, poor, or bad. I look at balance in 3D terms.

 

[smoke665]

@jcdeboever you've really been nailing the B&W of late. They have a crispness about them, that's really nice.

 

[jcdeboever]

The balance is in the subject. It is the color.

 

[jcdeboever]

@jcdeboever you've really been nailing the B&W of late. They have a crispness about them, that's really nice.

Thank you sir. My files may have been from a GFX50R.

 

[vintagesnaps]

GK those are great examples and wonderful photos as always.

Someone mentioned consistency early in the thread which I think is necessary to keep in mind with information online. Many sites are self done by someone who may not have adequate knowledge or experience or who may not understand a concept or not know how to explain it well. There are sites that will use an article submitted whether the person who wrote it has much expertise or whether it's well written or accurate or not.

If you search 'elements' and/or 'principles' of composition in 'art' instead of photography it should bring up some reliable resources. These art resources on composition seem consistent with what's generally known and used across the board.

Principles of Design

Composition and Design Principles

Balance - Revision 1 - GCSE Art and Design - BBC Bitesize

The Artist's Toolkit: Encyclopedia: Balance | ArtsConnectEd

http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis2

 

[vintagesnaps]

JC you really are getting some nice B&W. This is the devil in the details, but I saw some where there's an object in the background that to me makes for a bit of a visual distraction.

In the one of the boy and the man, there's a light triangle between them that isn't really part of the picture of their interaction. I tend to see shapes. There's also one above the head of the woman with the boy; scrunching down and changing the vantage point may have gotten that person behind the woman and out of view.

The one of the boy with the computer is so nice, I find the computer being out of focus makes for half a box/geometric shape that draws the eyes. I think it would be great without that, I think the balance is in him is in the dark hair and dark collar, and the nice angle getting the eyes and mouth in balance. I think you do well with lines drawing the viewer's eyes (and I think you may have the golden ratio in that one).

You may have it in the one of the three boys too. I like the balance in that one, I'd just rather be able to see all of them and not have so much of the overall photo out of focus so I'm not trying to figure out what's on his shirt - but then you've got to consider the background and if you could've kept that sign out of the frame.

I learned to go for a 'clean' composition which avoids distractions in the backgrounds and often means changing the angle and/or vantage point.

 

[jcdeboever]

JC you really are getting some nice B&W. This is the devil in the details, but I saw some where there's an object in the background that to me makes for a bit of a visual distraction.

In the one of the boy and the man, there's a light triangle between them that isn't really part of the picture of their interaction. I tend to see shapes. There's also one above the head of the woman with the boy; scrunching down and changing the vantage point may have gotten that person behind the woman and out of view.

The one of the boy with the computer is so nice, I find the computer being out of focus makes for half a box/geometric shape that draws the eyes. I think it would be great without that, I think the balance is in him is in the dark hair and dark collar, and the nice angle getting the eyes and mouth in balance. I think you do well with lines drawing the viewer's eyes (and I think you may have the golden ratio in that one).

You may have it in the one of the three boys too. I like the balance in that one, I'd just rather be able to see all of them and not have so much of the overall photo out of focus so I'm not trying to figure out what's on his shirt - but then you've got to consider the background and if you could've kept that sign out of the frame.

I learned to go for a 'clean' composition which avoids distractions in the backgrounds and often means changing the angle and/or vantage point.

Thank you for the feed back. Unfortunately, all those images are on the fly. Backgrounds can not be avoided as the customer wants images of their boys. I see them too, and I agree. However, I leave them in there as they are there. Every image, they are in the background. I try to bump the flash to darken the background, then a highlight rears it's distracting head. I wish I was better at editing but I am learning. The neat thing is that I took square pegs challenge and implemented it into my shoot and it made it more interesting for me. I used two different shoots to implement square pegs challenge, I actually revisited a place just to be consistent. Her challenge wasn't my focus but a bonus to my objective.

 

[jcdeboever]

@jcdeboever you've really been nailing the B&W of late. They have a crispness about them, that's really nice.

Thank you sir. I have been focused just on her challenges as it relates to this site. I really enjoy her challenges. It makes me dive into my assignments on a deeper level. Most assignments are not something I would procure but more of being helpful or generous. I really live to serve and enjoy making others happy. I think it makes me a better photographer, so there is that.