As I'm writing todays post, I am munching down on Bread and Butter pickles. My love for these things goes back to my preteen days when a lady who attended the church where my father was the pastor gave our family a jar or two she had canned herself. The phrase "to die for" doesn't come close to how good they were. I would wait the whole year for this wonderful lady to bring these tasty chips of shear heaven sent goodness to our family. But like most things in life, the deliveries stopped and I have searched in vain to find any that could even approach there flavor. I'm sure you have heard that close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. Well, when it comes to that savory taste of Betty's homemake Bread and Butter pickles I can assure you that they support the fore mentioned phrase.
In the capturing of a photograph, composition in critical. All the elements have to be in concert with each other in order to turn an ordinary photo into a work of art and beauty. Getting close, like Betty's pickles, just doesn't satisfy the eye and brain of the viewer. That doesn't mean that an ordinary picture isn't good or fails to capture the story behind the reasoning for the photo. It's simply the effect that the photo produces or fails to produce that makes the difference. Without proper composition the photograph can leave you confused (in my case more than normal), uncomfortable, or anyone of a number of emotions and feelings. And there doesn't have to be that much of a change to make the difference. Let's see if I can demonstrate this for you. Let's try a couple of exercises to see what happens to your feelings. Fold your arms over your chest without thinking about how to do it. If you're like most folks, you will note that one arm naturally crosses over the other with the fingers of one hand are exposed while the others are tucked under the arm. How do you feel? Are you comfortable? Does this position feel natural to you? Ok, now let's make a little change. Uncross your arms and let them hang by your side. Now recross them over your chest again but this time reverse which arm crosses the other as well as the fingers that are out or tucked under the arm. Did you have to stop and think about it? In some cases people have to really concentrate on the procedure of completing the task. How does this reversal make you fell? Does it feel natural or comfortable to you? Just a simple change of the same thing but with very different feelings. Now for this next one you'll need to have someone assist you. If no one is available than a real good imagination will work just not as well. Start by having the your assistant looking at you at or about eye level. Engage in some conversation and take note of your feelings. Now set down in front of your assistant while they remain standing and have them engage you in conversation will leaning over and looking down on you. Have them get closer and closer to you as they continue you talk with you in normal conversation. Take note of how you feel and then reverse you and your assistants positions and repeat the exercise and again take note of how you feel. When did you feel comfortable or uncomfortable, did you ever feel intimidated or intimidating/aggressive?
Perspective and positioning are very important parts of the compositional process. How you place your subject dictates comfort, tension, mystery, passion, joy, sadness, confidence. And we haven't even talked about the lighting aspects. Hand placement, how the head tilts, direction of the light source all work to compose the symphony you are painting with you view finder. There are several so called rules of composition that you can use to help with the majority of your compositions. The most notable is the rule of thirds. In a nut shell, try to divide your view finder into 9 equal block much like placing a tic tac toe grid to overlay your picture. You will note that the straight lines intersect at four point. It's at these intersection where you should place your subject. By doing so, you are placing your subject at a very artistically comfortable or pleasing position within the photos composition. If your subject is looking toward the right, make sure to place them at one of the crossing point on the left side of the photo so they appear to be looking into the photo instead of looking outside the photo. Facial expressions to include smile especially depending on the event can effect the viewer. I recently saw some photos that were take at a funeral where the subjects were posing while they were smiling. Now normally that is desirable but since I know the photos where taken at a funeral the smiles and group photos made me a little uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning the photos. They were good shots. It just seemed that the smiles were a little out of place and the group photo appeared to be a family reunion instead of a funeral.
Photos have power and that power is derived largely from how it is composed. We will try to explore this world of composition over the next few post. Until then, try to revisit some of the earlier post concerning taking pictures from many different angles and with varying amounts of light on the subject. Review the rule of thirds and practice shooting a few photos using the rule of thirds. Try to read your feelings as you look threw the view finder and make sure there is a true and real reason for the photo being taken in the first place. Look at how the light is falling on your subject and note what feelings it introduces into the photo. Look at the photo and see what attracts your attention first. If it's not the subject of the photo try to determine why and visa versa. Take the photos in landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) style and see which if any seems more natural and comfortable.
We will spend several post dealing with composition and maybe shed some light onto this all important subject so that your future photos will tell the story you want told.
Until next time guys, have a great day!
Richard
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