Composition Research

There are many rules of composition generally used in photography. These are mostly used as guidelines to help to create balanced and unique images. I think it's important that the creative rules are challenged otherwise there would be no new and unique pieces created, everyone would be following a guide as to how their image should look. I will be attempting to explain these rules and give examples of images that I've either found on the internet or using my own original images. I will also try to challenge the guidelines and see how my attempt pans out.

In this section I will be looking at;

• Rule of Thirds
• Leading Lines
• Negative Space
• Depth of Field
• Cropping

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Visual Elements

Shape - Shape is also very important when taking pictures. It helps whoever is looking at the images to identify the subject and see what it is. The shape is often best identified when the object is backlit or front-lit.
Form- Form adds more of a dimension to the images. Where the majority of pictures are two dimensional, 'form' brings a third dimensional feel to it.
Tone- Tone is often the black and white shades of a picture. It's not very noticeable once the whole picture has been edited and there are other elements added in, but it also makes the picture appear more three dimensional.
Colour- Colour in photographs helps the photographer to make the image have more emotion in it, eg; Blue suggests sadness, Yellow suggests happiness etc..
Space- Space can be good or bad depending on the picture and what it's subject is doing. For example, if you have one person in a picture and she is looking off into the distance, if you crop the picture too much and leave no space for her to be looking into, it is going to make the picture seem too constricting. However, if the subject is making direct address with the camera, it won't matter if the picture is tightly cropped, as the focus is not on the space in the picture.
Line- Lines are like the foundation for a good photo. Without lines, there would be no shape. The lines in an image can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal or curved. They help to move your focus towards a certain part of the image. Lines lead you to the focal point of the picture.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule of Thirds

A big technique in photography is the 'Rule of Thirds' technique. This is when you have a grid over your photo, which helps to make the image look more balanced and focused. It also helps to make the image look more symmetrical and lined up. 

I took some photos, some using the Rule of Thirds grid, and some not.

 This is the rule of thirds grid. 

When I took this I didn't use the rule of thirds grid. I don't really like it as the background isn't very focused and it's not really staged that well. 

 I took this photo using the rule of thirds grid. I think it looks a lot better as the background is also in focus. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leading Lines

Leading lines are used in photography to direct the viewers eye to wherever it is that the photographer wants them to be looking at. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Negative Space

Negative space is the area around the subject in the photograph. It is mostly empty so it draws attention to the main focus of the picture, as well as making the image appear less cluttered and busy. It is called Negative Space because the area isn't really being used for much, but areas where an object or subject is being photographed is called positive space. It is called this because the space is being used to create a main focal point.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Depth of Field

Depth of Field is the distance in front and behind the focus point of a photograph, which appears quite sharp. For example, if you were to photograph a tree and just have the tree in focus, there would still be a small area in front and behind the tree that would appear in focus. If you blur the rest of the background so as just one object is in focus, this is called a shallow depth of field. Shallow depths of field are used to direct the viewers eye toward that one object, and making it the focal point and making sure their attention is mostly on what it is you want them to see. Pictures with a shallow depth of field sometimes look better that ones where the whole image is in focus, because it means that the subject appears very detailed and contrasted. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cropping Images

Cropping images can be very useful in Photography. It gives the photographer the chance to look back at their images and notice things in the background that they may not have noticed whilst actually shooting it or when looking at it on a smaller screen. Cropping is one of the easiest parts of editing a photo, because it gives the photo a makeover instantly. If you had a car or something that took away from the picture, you can just crop it out and the image has changed already. Although you can crop using Photoshop on a computer or laptop, more and more cameras have already got a crop setting that you can use.