Composition
Most of the pictures that communicate to
a broader audience
are not a result of a fortunate accident,
but the photographers'
effort, that is achieved by careful planning,
and often,
patience, sometimes requiring waiting during
long periods of
time, in order for either certain lighting
or subject conditions
to become appropriate for the compositional
harmony. Here, the
details of the steps and other elements
of the caboose are parts
of the carefully planned composition that
required a hazy day for
photographing. When the overcast sky served
as a huge softbox,
evenly lighting the objects below down on
the ground, the
lighting contrast is eliminated making the
elements to be evenly
lit, and reserving only for the color-contrast.
On contrary, a
good reaction, capable of a quick sensing
of the best moment for
the picture taking, was necessary for this
photo of the great-
grandmother and her grandson's greeting.
Most of the time, a
~good' photo-composition is a product of
the selection and
arrangement of the photo-subject(s) within
the frame of the
picture area seen through the camera`s viewfinder.
If you look at
the picture area's frame as though it is
a piece of canvas,
dividing it into thirds vertically and horizontally,
positioning
your subject on the intersections of (the
upper left, or the
upper right for example), or along the imaginary
lines, you can
strengthen your composition, by having your
main element being
positioned at the visually strongest areas
of it. Here, the main
subject occupys one of the visually strongest
compositional
positions in each of two pictures. Sometimes,
a part of the
picture's appeal is its main subject being
off-centered as in
this photo of the pup. On the other hand,
positioned
symmetrically in the center of the frame,
the pup offers a direct
visual contact, thus establishing communication
with the picture
viewer. Often positioning your subject there
also suggests a
direct confrontation, as on this photo.
Arranging and selecting
your picture elements so that all of them
together have a unified
effect, while rejecting or cropping off
those objects that tend
to destroy the harmony, often stands behind
an appealing to the
eye and visually strong composition. Whether
to select or reject,
suppress or emphasize, crop or expand, to
use a vertical or a
horizontal framing format, to place your
objects in certain
positions or choose a different point of
view, as well as having
many other compositional choices that you
will have to make each
and every time before making your exposure,
will be your task at
hand, if you want your photo to be interesting,
revealing and
special in appearance. It is important to
understand that when
looking at your subject with your eyes,
the scene you see is
appearing limited only by your attention
and visibility of the
subject itself. On contrary, and when looked
at through the
camera`s viewfinder, the scene or subject
appears limited to the
edges of the frame of the picture area.
While there are many ways
in which an object or a scene could be looked
at and
photographed, searching
for and finding new ways and angles to
see in, photographing, and later showing
your picture-subject to
the other people, while communicating the
idea behind it, could
make the difference between a common, often
used and boring view,
and an off-beat, never used, and interesting
approach to look at
it. Thus, your point of view at the subject
before and during
your photographing of it, becomes not only
the single strongest
composition-building device that you can
use each time you are
composing your shot, but also your viewpoint
in the final product
-- the picture. As in this photo of the
arcade's wall, strong
compositional knowledge of how to, altered
the appearance of the
otherwise boring sight of the arcade's wall.
