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Composition and framing, The language of seeing.
A still life. Composition according to plan.
Introduction
What is composition?
Dealing with subject vs brightness
Composing:
Centered
To describe a location, action or event
Using the environment and space
Children
Sports
There are essentially two areas within photography that separate the pros and the boys with their toys... They are 1): Understanding how to use a camera manually, and 2) Composing of the image within the frame. Wherein the first point is essentially milking the most from the camera to record a particular moment in time. The other is about creating a picture that expresses the image in a meaningful way to others.
Putting it bluntly, using your camera in manual mode will increase the success rate of your captures, and good composition and framing will help to sell it.
That said, it's possible that even novices can improve their results even if they never switch their cameras from Auto.
So where do we begin? Well, lets explain the technical terms of composition:
The relationship or arrangement of elements within a given space, set forth to create a desired effect upon the human senses.
In a way it's a form of language, and it is the arrangement of elements (how they are framed) that communicate that message to the viewer.
(Warning, we are getting deep here, so stay with me...)
In reading that last statement, we can conclude that there really is no right or wrong way to compose a subject... BINGO! Take a breath. However, there are good and bad ways that can either aide or detract a given message.
Let's work with an example: Imagine that we see a very tall building, and that we want to communicate to the viewer it's impressive height? Would it be better to compose the shot of the building from a distance, or get right up close and shoot up with a wide shot?
Well, the latter of course. Unless we're architects, we don't care about the exact dimensions of the structure, only that it's HUGE. By putting the viewer right up against the structure we create a sense of them feeling small in comparison..
Therefore, to really understand Composition and framing we have to understand how to communicate a concept to your viewer.
This will obviously involve more thought about the subject matter, and might be too much work for just taking a picture... well is it? Think about it. What made you pull out the camera and take the shot to begin with? Was'nt that the message in your head already?
It's the "Oh, look at that sunset over the boat.." out comes the camera, and you point and fire away. Later you look at the image, and in your mind you replay the event, but find that to others, it's just another sunset. Then you realize that what you saw was not what you shot, and had you composed it more carefully, they could have seen it like you did.
The are some mechanics, or rules of thumb that you must also consider when composing a shot...
One is that the eye is always drawn towards the brightest part of the image.
Therefore, if you have something in the frame that's brighter than your main subject, then it will create a sense of unease as the viewers eyes will be drawn away from it towards the brighter object. Now in some cases that works, like a clean sharp knife in a horror scene, or a flashing gun barrel in an action shot.
In such cases, you must recompose your shot to either remove the bright object, or somehow involve your subject matter with it. A face near a window, a glowing candle, something where both subjects are equal.
Backlit shots also work in cases with dominate light sources.
Background too bright or dominating? Do a backlit shot.
"Never center your subject matter.." I don't how many times I've heard or read that and I constantly break this rule. There are things in life where center works out perfectly. There are cases of equal proportions, reflections or things that demand or require it:
.
Window panes and uniform patterns look good centered.
Another good use of center is fountains as they are usually centered into their surroundings. We are comfortable with seeing them in that way. Such as the Pier One fountain in Atlantic City above.
Compose your subjects to fit within their environment, by including the parts of the environment that will help to describe the location, event, or action. A well composed shot will quickly communicate the idea almost in an instant.
Korey and his kite... which one is communicates that message better? "Oh, snap!"
Gabby and her Kite... Notice the use of balance.
Jaeden on a train ride...
Gabby on a swing... which one best describes the action?
One more... you get the point.
Give your subject some space, or breathing room to covey feelings of being alone...
Lone travellor..
...or to exaggerate wide open spaces.
Escalator people...
Including the audience with Alex Skolnick... yeah, it's a live concert and he's the center of attention here.
Two shot's of Jay Pierce. In the right shot he pauses to look up, so I provided some space to help convey that feeling.
Here we have Chris Caffery and Alex Skolnick. Notice that heads were included to help convey the scene.
When convering live concerts, put some heads into the foreground. Describe the scene. A close up say's is Danielle Landherr. This wider shot tells more, like it's a live concert. Duh. Most folks wanna crawl into the pit and fill the frame with what I call the nose hair, double chin, stringy legs shot. My advice. Don't.
Danielle Landherr walks through a packed house, this shot would not have been as dramatic if I did a tight shot, (at least I wasn't in her way that time... :)
Remember that the surroundings are part of the story, be sure to include them to describe the scene.
When photographing children, stoop, kneel, or get down on their level, after all that's where the fun is:
Gabby and her backwoods boogie...
Describe the action by including motion. When shooting my son on his board, I used a slow shutter, and moved with him for a brief moment to capture him, but blurr the background and immerse the viewer. I also provided plenty of space ahead of him to put the viewer at ease (the opposite would have created distress).
Korey, the asphalt surfer...
Help guide the viewer by providing direction using exaggerated offsets.
A long walk back...
When shooting sports, you want a ball, a player and some direction.
Smashing grace... In the shot the original on the left is centered, but I cropped the player to the left to exaggerate the moment and give some space for the ball to go. In many cases you will have to correct or improve the composition in post.
No ball required here... the players expression says something about it.
Well, I hope I have conveyed the subject of composition, and in plain terms as well.
Learn to actually see what your are seeing. It takes time and practice. In the meantime, you can always improve your existing shots by cropping them in software. Once you get the idea, you'll make a majority of those choices before you press the shutter.
