Composition for Photography

  • A form of expression
  • ‘The way we see rather than what we see’
  • For ourselves but also consider the impact and influence on others

What makes a great photo?

  1. The subject of impact.
  2. Composition with emphasis on the subject matter. It should look pleasing to the eye. Good visual design and balance.
  3. Effective use of lighting.
  4. Ability to evoke an emotional response

Rule of thirds – The Golden Rule (1:1.618)

How eye works

  • The resolution and sharpness are the highest in the centre and drop off (to 1/5th at 10 deg) with the distance to the centre. So, having important, clear, detailed objects as focus and shapes (rather than textures) towards the ends makes the eye look at the subject.
  • Cropping helps in showing the physical space visually in 2D. Give space when needed and a tighter crop portrays intimacy.
  • High contrast in colour and light bring attention. Useful information like faces and signs also draw attention.
  • Rule of space: Give leading space to the subject.
  • Visual intelligence: Previous experiences which make the viewer understand depth and size measurements and derive meaning from abstract shapes and concepts.
  • Gestalt theory: The brain perceives the image in its entirety and not as a sum of the components.
  • Law of Pragnanz: The brain always makes an attempt to create order, structure and harmony out of any given situation which contains information that seems dissimilar.
  • Visual weight: The importance of an object in an image. It can be affected by size, shape, color, location, etc.

Six principles:

  1. Figure/ground: Understand what the figure and the background constitute. Figure is the subject of the photo and everything else is considered the ground.
  2. Similarity: Find patterns based on size, shape, color, texture, context, etc. Ex: You can combine pictures into a group where there is similarity.
  3. Proximity: The brain perceives objects as a group creating an illusion of a composite shape that doesn’t exist. Hence, different objects within proximity in an image can form a complex relationship.
  4. Closure: The brain tries to fill in the gaps created by the objects. Hence, by providing an image with an opportunity for the viewer to form closure, the viewer is presented by a sense of pleasure.
  5. Continuity: The lines and shapes implying a sense of direction gives the viewer a chance to follow which allows their mind to continue in that direction giving it a sense of coherency.
  6. Symmetry: An image with a sense of symmetry appears stable and hence, the viewer doesn’t get distracted from the story or spend time figuring out the reason for the lack of balance.

Other associated phenomena

  1. Equivocation and Continuance: When an image can be seen in more than one way, it’s equivocation. When the image has a sort of timeline, its continuance.
  2. Consistency and Invariance: Repetition and breakage of patterns.
  3. Law of past experience: Understanding the theme through experience.
  4. Emergence: Suddenly realizing what the image is.
  5. Reification: Creating meaning which doesn’t exist.
  6. Multistability: Moving back and forth between different images that exist in the picture.

Principles, Rules and Guidelines

  1. Rabatment of the Rectangle
  2. Rule of Thirds
  3. Golden Mean
  4. The Golden Spiral
  5. The Diagonal Method
  6. Visual Weight
  7. Centre of Gravity
  8. Right and left
  9. Balance
  10. Off-centre elements
  11. Rule of odds
  12. Pyramid form
  13. Points of attraction
  14. Balance through arranging and positioning – Attraction between elements themselves
  15. Momentum
  16. Aspect ratio and cropping
  17. Framing
    1. Things closer to the edge can be distracting.
    2. If the objects are free-floating, the frame is not obvious, but if it cuts an element, it becomes somewhat visible.
    3. Things lying on the edge feel stuck to it.
    4. Partial framing using elements.
  18. Dynamic tension through disharmony

Elements of design

  1. Lines
    1. Directional lines
    2. Hourglass effect
    3. Orientation of lines
    4. Dividing lines – Horizontal lines leaving the frame are more acceptable than vertical.
    5. Diagonal lines
    6. Dynamic impact of lines
    7. Converging lines
  2. Shapes
    1. Dominant shapes
    2. Remnant shapes
    3. Balancing shapes (Ex: pyramid composition)
    4. Bold shapes
    5. Expression through shape
  3. Making statements through the scale of elements in the image
  4. The form is the 3D version of a shape and can be emphasised through light.
  5. Patterns and negative space
  6. Texture and sensory perception
  7. Perspective
    1. Aerial perspective – distance through atmospheric phenomena
    2. Linear perspective – distance through converging lines
      1. 1D
      2. 2D
      3. 3D
      4. Distorted(Ex: Fisheye)

Tone and Color

  1. Tone
    1. Contrast
  2. Colour
    1. Has hue, saturation and value (HSV)
    2. Emotions
    3. Warm and cool colours
    4. Advancing colours
    5. Weight of colours (yellow-9, orange-8, red-6 green-6, blue-4, violet-3)
  3. Colour contrast
    1. Complementary colours
    2. Harmonious colours
    3. Muted colours
    4. Black and white