CR2_ Basics Photography Composition, Basic, Space & Application

Composition has been a important concern for the photographic practitioner since the earliest days of photography in the mid-nineteenth century. One of  the fundamental lessons in photography is to learn to photograph what you see, not what you think you see. 

photography composition is the simply the selection and arrangement of subject within the picture area. 

Rule 1: Simplify, simplify

Simplification is an essential part of composition. It means to strive for design simplicity, and avoid unnecessary complexity. In photography composition, that means don't  include any elements in our picture space that distract from our main message.

It is usually better to have one point of interest because a picture can tell only one story successfully. This image was simplified by taking a swan and use just white colour as background. 

Through some ways to simplify:

1. Zoom in:

You can also zoom in closer to fill the frame with only part of the scene.

The base of the tree and the patchy ground are distracting.

Zoom in to focus attention on the most interesting part: the face.

2. Use shallow depth of field:

Depth of field is great a great tool for simplifying. A shallow depth of field can eliminate background clutter, and draw attention to the in-focus elements.

A large depth of field produces a busy image.

A shallow depth of field focuses attention on the right-hand flower.

Rule 2: The golden selection.

The Golden Ratio has been used as a powerful composition tool for centuries. It is a design principle based on the ratio of 1 to 1.618. Hailed as ‘the perfect number’, the Golden Ratio can assist in creating images that have a strong composition, which will attract viewers to your photograph. The reason for this is simple, the Golden Ratio allows for a composition that is perfectly balanced from a viewer’s perspective, creating a photograph that is most pleasing to the human eye. We naturally prefer to look at an image that is balanced and harmonized, and the Golden Ratio provides this.

Rule 3: The rule of thirds.

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that the image have 9 parts. 

As you’re taking an image you would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display that you use to frame your shot.

With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

Not only this – but it also gives you four ‘lines’ that are also useful positions for elements in your photo.

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

The head of the subject is placed on one of the intersecting points-especially his eyes which are a natural point of focus for a portrait. His tie and flower also take up a secondary point of interests. 

In this shot, the photographer placed the subject along a whole line which means she is considerably off center and therefore creating an additional point of interest. Placing her right in the center of the frame could have resulted in an ‘awkward’ shot.

In learning how to use the rule of thirds (and then to break it) the most important questions to be asking of yourself are:

• What are the points of interest in this shot?
• Where am I intentionally placing them?

Rule 4: Dynamic symmetry.

In order to organising the focus of interest in a composition. Whatever the aspect ratio of the format used, draw a diagonal from one corner of the frame to the other. Then picture a line that runs at right angles to the first.

Rule 5: Fill the frame.
It can make the subject smaller than it needs to be and can also leave viewers confused about what they’re supposed to be looking at. We can zoom in to fill the frame, or get closer to the subject in question. The first approach flattens the perspective of the shot and makes it easier to control or exclude what’s shown in the background, but physically moving closer can give you a more interesting take on things

Viewpoint.
So Many images are taken from eye level with little consideration of the alternatives. In contrast, images taken on cameras with waist-level finders (twin-lens reflex models) have a distinctly different feel because of the lower viewpoint.

Perspective.

Choice of viewpoint and lens focal length are major factors in the representarion of depth or perspective in an image. The closer the viewpoint is to the subject, the larger it will appear in relation to more distant objects. Roads and paths are represented in images as strongly angled converging lines.

Composition application:

Landscape

Landscape photography is done for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most common is to recall a personal observation or experience while in the outdoors, especially when traveling. Others pursue it particularly as an outdoor lifestyle, to be involved with nature and the elements, some as an escape from the artificial world.
Many landscape photographs show little or no human activity and are created in the pursuit of a pure, unsullied depiction of nature, devoid of human influence—instead featuring subjects such as strongly defined landforms, weather, and ambient light.As with most forms of art, the definition of a landscape photograph is broad, and may include rural or urban settings, industrial areas, and nature photography.

Still life:

Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. It is the application of photography to the still life artistic style. An example is food photography.

Portrait:

Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that 

displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Like other types 

of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face.

Documentary:

Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle both significant and relevant to history and historical events and everyday life. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, or real life reportage, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit.

Figure:

Action/sports:

For the sports photographer, composition must be unconscious and immediate. Moreover, Anticipation is everything and these images provides the human element, defining the doubts, despair, triumphs and thrills of the movement.

Fine art:

Fine art photography is similar to still life which provides a documentary visual account of specific subjects and events, literally re-presenting objective reality rather than the subjective intent of the photographer.

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Bibliography:

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/04/12/10-rules-of-photo-composition-and-why-they-work/

http://slideplayer.com/slide/4592948/#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscape_photography