Photographic Composition and Design

Design

Composition and

Image Composition

Image composition describes how different subjects and visual elements are arranged inside of the image frame. The purpose of image composition is to create a visually compelling picture, a picture that evokes the interest of the viewer. A successful shot attracts the eye for a while. Visual elements that a photographer sometimes uses in a photograph’s composition are for example lines, shapes/ forms, textures, balance/symmetry, space, colors, and pattern.

lines shapes/forms textures balance/symmetry space colors pattern

The Meaning of Image Composition

Composition and What do you want to tell with your photo?

What is the message?

Meaning

Often one thinks only about the subject of the photo and forgets the meaning of composition altogether when taking a photo. Often a photo is taken from far away and the subject is placed into the middle of the frame without thinking other visual elements the frame might include. This kind of approach only seldom yields to the best possible composition. It is critically important to pay attention to the composition of the image every time taking a photograph.

Composition can have a dramatic effect on the resulting image and is equally important with the subject itself. When composing an image one should always think about what he wants to tell with the photo.

Learning Image Composition

Composition and

Learning

The first step is to be aware of the meaning of the composition one creates. It is very important to understand that if a boring subject is combined with the right composition, the result can be a very compelling image.

There are several rules and established practices about image composition that help to create better results. These rules can be broken and many times they should. However, it is suggested first to know the rules about image composition and only then to break them on purpose if it provides better results.

Some people can naturally create compelling compositions. However, image composition can also be learned for example by exploring photos of professional photography artists and analyzing what makes them good?

Image composition takes time. When the subject matter is chosen, one must still decide how to place it inside the frame and what other elements to include. Usually it takes a lot of time and experimenting to find the best possible composition.

rules can be broken boring subject + right composition = winner!! learning composition takes time and experimenting

Elements of Composition Simplicity Less is often more, select uncomplicated backgrounds Rule of Thirds Use the rule of thirds as a guide to placing your subjects off-centered Lines lines can lead the viewer into the photo, repetivive lines may draw the viewers’ attention to your subject, S-curves are common and beautiful Balance triangles often help add unity to a photograph, good balance is the arrangement of shapes, colors, or even areas of light and shadow that complement one another Framing try to frame the center of interest with objects in the foreground. This can give a feeling of depth to your image.

Get Close don’t be too far away!

What elements do the photos on the right follow or do they break the rules?

Elements

Things to avoid Distractions on the edge, mergers, edges within your photo which are too close

Compositional

Line

Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved. Lines can be short or tall, can be thick or thin. Lines can lead you away, or move you forward in an image. A line’s emotional effect on an image cannot be overlooked. They sometimes feel restful, soothing, rigid, active, guiding, or threatening.

Thin lines can be experienced by some as unstable, and by others as vulnerable. Thick lines can be experienced as rigid and dependant, or can be experienced as dominating or stern. Curved lines are often perceived as soft, soothing, settling, and relaxing. (S-curve) Jagged lines can be perceived as forceful, chaotic, sharp, and threatening.

Vertical lines in a photograph tend to convey different moods, ranging from power and strength, to growth. Vertical lines can include strands of hair, poles, trees, buildings, and a lot of other different objects that expand vertically rather than horizontally.

Horizontal lines in a photo tend to cast a feeling of restfulness, permanency, and stability. If you want to further accentuate the restful, stable feeling of a horizontal line in an image, a good way is to use horizontal framing rather than vertical.

Layers of multiple horizontal lines in an image can create drama and rhythm, and can become the main interest of the image all by themselves. Horizontal lines can include horizons, seas, laying people, street sides, and almost anything that expands horizontally.

Diagonal lines work well to guide the viewers’ attention towards the main subject of your photo.

They can convey a sense of action and render photos as dynamic and interesting. Diagonal lines can be the shape of a path, a line of trees, a fence, river or any other component of an image.

Design

Elements

Out of the 6 elements of design, line is the strongest and most important and influential.

Without line there can be no shape. Without shape there can be no form. Without form there can be no texture and there can be no pattern. Lines are powerful tools that can be used smartly to lead the viewers eyes towards the point of interest in a photograph, and alter the overall feeling and mood of an image.

Shape

Design

Elements

The second most fundamental element of design is shape, because shape is the principal element of identification. The most important thing to keep in mind when shape is the essential element in an image is that it is best defined when the subject is frontlit or backlit. For that shape to be successfully identifiable, it needs to be in strong contrast with its surroundings so that it is detached from the clutter around it.

Shapes in images can also be seen as silhouettes – these are best shot several minutes before sunset up to several minutes following it, as well as several minutes before sunrise up to several minutes following it. It is also worth mentioning that silhouettes are the purist and strongest of all shapes.

Form - Light & Dark

Form is basically a three-dimensional shape, and is best accentuated by side lighting since it casts soft elegant shadows, and the difference between light and shadows gives a better illustration of the depth of an object and amplifies the sensual understanding of its meaning and message.

Form refers to the three-dimensional quality of an object, which is due in part to light, and dark areas. When light from a single direction (e.g. our sun) hits an object, part of the object is in shadow. Light and dark areas within an image provide contrast that can suggest volume. Factors that can affect our feelings towards an image include the direction of the light source, from above or below, and the gentleness or abruptness of the half tones. Light coming from behind a subject can form a silhouette resulting in object that is completely black against a lighter colored background. Silhouettes appear as two-dimensional shapes lacking form. The absence of color often enhances our perception of form for instance in black and white photographs. Light emitted from above and to the side when applied to portraits creates what is often referred

to as “Rembrandt lighting�. This form of lighting emphasizes edges and depth. In landscape photography oblique lighting occurs early and late in the day where it enhances the natural texture of the landscape and is often accompanied by warm or cool color casts.

Color

Vibrant colors are energetic, interesting, and active. So are reds and yellows. Blues and greens are comforting and soothing. The path towards creating creative photos benefits from a high understanding of colors and their impact on an image, as well as a high awareness of colors surrounding you.

There are colors everywhere. Macro insect photography is filled with interesting colors. Nature, cities, people and their clothing, houses, streets, skies, beaches – everything around you is filled with color. You just need to be aware of it, and train your eyes to see it. Paying attention to color and it’s emotional messages and meanings is an important step towards photographic maturity.

It is worth mentioning that there are two types of colors; subtractive and additive. Each type has two sets of its own; primary colors, and secondary colors. Painting, photography, and printing use subtractive colors, and this is our concern in this post. photograph design theory Red, blue, and yellow are called primary subtractive color, from these colors the secondary subtractive colors violet, orange, and green emerge. Mixing red and blue creates violet. Mixing blue and yellow creates green, mixing yellow and red creates orange. Mixing equal amounts of blue, red, and yellow produces black.

Pairs of colors that fall opposite to each other on the above color wheel are

Design

Elements

Color is characterized by attributes such as value, hue, and saturation. Colors, and how they’re arranged, can either make or break a shot. Different colors can send out different messages, and they indeed have an important visual weight and impact on a photo.

called complementary colors. These pairs complement and intensify one another when put together. Studying the color wheel can give you a better understanding as to how colors affect or complement each other, so that you can use this knowledge to better prevail the correct meanings and messages in your photography.

Note that yellow, red, and orange are considered to be warm colors. These are associated with sun and fire. Blue, violet, and green are considered cool colors. These are associated with snow, water, and shadows.

Texture

No design element is more capable of moving

With the sun high in the sky, the roughness of the walls of buildings, or the wood textures of tree trunks, or any kind of texture along vertical surfaces is emphasized as the overhead light casts small shadows along those surfaces. While the impact is subtle, it adds more depth, interest, and reality to the shots.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that texture as a background can create an exciting and emotion-filled composition. And with the correct use of texture, pictures can become more alive and almost three dimensional.

no design element is more capable of moving your emotions than texture..

Design

Elements

your deep emotions than texture. The challenge of seeing and capturing texture is mostly based on one element – light. Texture can be accentuated by the side light of early sunny mornings or early evenings, or by overhead light when the sun is vertical and high in the sky. photograph design theory

Patterns

Life is full of patterns. It is all part of our cosmic existence, for without patterns our lives would

Two techniques come into practice while working with patterns; you can emphasise the pattern, or you can break it: Emphasizing a pattern can accentuate a sense of size and expansion. The idea is to zoom in onto the pattern and fill the frame with it. Emphasized pattern can include faces amongst a crowd, a line of homogenous plants, bricks of a wall, etc photograph design theory Breaking a pattern is all about finding an object that disrupts the continuous flow of a pattern. It can be an object that is in clear contrast with the rest of the objects; be it in shape, color, or even texture. You might need to handle your composition with extra care while trying to render a broken pattern, and the rule of thirds can come in handy in such situations.

For example, you can place your “odd” object along one of the thirds or on one of their intersecting points. You can also play with your depth of field. Have the contrasting item in sharp focus and the items around it fading slowly into the out-of-focus. Broken patterns can be found naturally, or some situations can be manipulated to disrupt readily existing patterns.

Design

Elements

be utter chaos. Most patterns we don’t recognize or we overlook because of our busy, routinedriven, daily lives.

Balance

Design

Elements

Balance implies that the visual elements within the frame have a sense of weight. Large objects generally weigh more than small objects and dark objects weigh more than light colored objects. The position of the elements is also critical. We unconsciously assume the center of a picture corresponds to a fulcrum. A heavy weight on one side can be balanced by a lighter weight on the other side if the lighter weight is located at a greater distance from the fulcrum.

Another way to achieve balance is through symmetry. Reflections of the landscape in still water are an example of almost perfect symmetry. Reflections can take on an abstract quality that resembles a Rorschach inkblot used in a psychological testing.

Positive and Negative Space

Positive space is where shapes and forms exist; negative space is the empty space around shapes and forms. Areas of a picture that contain “nothing� are important visual elements that provide balance in an image.

A painter can position the elements where they want, you as a photographer must search, find and organize visual elements within the camera viewfinder.

Conclusion Organizing the various elements within the frame of

taking a photograph starts first with being able to

your viewfinder in order to create an effective design

see possibilities. What we see depends on what we

is challenging. A painter can position the elements

are interested in, what we are looking for and what

where they want, you as a photographer must

our minds are prepared to show us. If you simply go

search, find and organize visual elements within the

out and try to shoot for your assignments in the 20

camera viewfinder. Although you can sometimes

minutes before class...your mind might not be ready!

“arrange� objects in a natural environment such as

Improving your visual sensitivity requires quieting

leaves, this often results in a contrived fake-looking

our minds, relaxing, and preparing by learning as

picture. Nature is not perfect and variation within

much as we can about our cameras, light, and then

organization leads to greater interest. Effective

finding the time. Once we see things that are of

composition of natural images is always a balance

interest, then we need to isolate parts of the scene,

between arranging elements within the view finder

and organize the important visual elements within

and allowing a certain amount of disorder.

our viewfinder to effectively convey how we feel

The decision-making processes we make when

about them.

Resources: http://www.photoinf.com (numerous articles) http://photo.tutsplus.com Photographs are by Kim Nelson

Design

Composition and