Remember To Anchor It!

"Pillars of the Community"

Today's image is courtesy of a little jaunt to the grand and expansive campus that is the University of Toronto. We wandered the grounds for a bit while my oldest child auditioned for their music programme. Since I rarely go anywhere without my camera, I was able to grab a couple images of the wonderful and diverse architecture. And today's image caused me to remember a topic I've been thinking about recently.

How are you choosing to anchor your compositions? ARE you choosing to anchor your compositions?

Looking at the pillars in the photograph it's very obvious what I wanted the focal point to be. Those grand and powerful columns leading up into the sky draw me in, with a slightly skewed perspective so I could include further angles in the peak of the rooftop too. This was a tight little area flanked with and surrounded by new, more modern buildings jutting into my line of sight so I had to be very particular. But the key was to make sure that whatever I did, I had one column within the frame spring right up from the corner. It anchors the frame. Not beside the corner. Not from way outside of the frame. But from the corner, giving it the weight it deserved, and the emphasis it needs to lead your eye into the photo and up and around it before it comes back to where you started. I made a conscious effort to anchor it well into the photograph and the composition. In fact, I know that in a final edit, I will flip this image so that it starts from the left side of the frame instead to give it even better prominance.

Here's what has prompted me to visit this topic. I receive requests a lot to visit new photographers pages or flickr streams or websites. And there's a flawed simularity running through many of them when you have a good look. All too often I see images that seem to have no definite subject, or the subject is lost in the surrounding details. In the end the photographs carry no weight. We have a tendancy to pull back, including everything in the shot whether it's nessassary or not, or will manage to fill the frame with something, but neglect to frame it up so that there is a definite point at which we start viewing the photograph. I see crops that aren't drastic enough, and in the end it just looks like they carelessly cut off part of the scene or object by mistake. I've seen compositions that if they had just cropped a little tighter, the perspective would have stood out wonderfully. Find the most powerful or the strongest element, and anchor that sucker! Make sure your composition is intentional!

Of course this all comes down to using leading lines, dynamic shapes, or interesting contrasts to bring importance to one part of your image over the rest of it. It's not hard. But we have to train ourselves to see those elements first, not the actual subject. That's what can prove difficult for the first while. But the results when we do are far more exciting and much more interesting to the viewer.

So there you have it. If you ever wonder why one image is falling flat over another one that seemed to "work" for some reason, make sure you have found an interesting or strong element to anchor the photograph, giving it weight. As DuChemin would say, "What's your intent?"

There's so much more to cover on this topic so be on the lookout for more posts in the near future.

In the meantime, thanks for the ramble today! Have a good one!

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"Unfinished"

I love lines. This is nothing new, I've mentioned this before. Primary diagonals or curving, repeating or contrasting, vanishing, vertical, horizontal... they excite me. Have you really thought about the way lines can be used to invite a deeper look at your photographs? The way they can control what the viewer looks at first? What they look at last? The kind of order lines can bring to the chaos of a potential scene.

Remember that show in the 90's "Whose Line Is It Anyways?" Where, without any preamble, the actors were given a surprise scene or significant line and they had to run with it, build on it, and find a way to spontaneously make it workable and enjoyable? That's how I often approach my photographic rambles. Especially when I'm scouting a place I've never been to with the camera. I get to a location, and whatever is at my disposal visually is what I have to work with. I make deliberate choices to size up what has the greatest impact, and I run with it. After doing this for the last five years, I've realized I size up locations very quickly, finding what will be of significance visually or what I really relate to, or what dazzles me, and I begin to build on it. I take the light and the weather into consideration, the other subject matter in close proximity, and then I decide where the most powerful lines and shapes are.

I zeroed in on the stark yellow line of unfinished balconies against the glass of blue sky on this unfinished condo the other day, while visiting a new location on one of my architectural rambles. I knew the colors would pop against each other, helping to define the central theme of the photo. I also knew that placing them on the diagonal in the frame (while often overused) would expand how the eye travelled through the photograph. I chose to place the yellow lines tracking across the frame in the primary diagonal, naturally causing the viewer to travel over and down naturally, with the contrasting blue spaces and lines tracking along the secondary diagonal up and out to the edges of the photo. By the time you're done looking at the photograph your eye has covered the entire image, other little details and items are brought to your attention with an element of discovery in place,  and will come back to rest on the balconies again, grounding a simple scene taken out of context and making it into a subject of it's own.

Whew! See what a little forethought concerning simple lines can do?

Thanks for the ramble folks! Now get out there and use lines to build engaging images, no matter what the subject matter!

And if you'd like to view this image slightly bigger, you can click on the image above or see it here.

Have a good one! 

Closing In... Part 2 ~ Wide Angle Wednesday

"From the Earth to Your Table"

Picking up where we left off yesterday... composition matters. Walker Evans was quoted as saying, "Shoot whatever and however you want. Don't listen to anybody else, just go in the direction you've chosen. But you need to look before you see!" How are you choosing to look for subject matter? Are you limiting yourself? Or coming away with images that feel like they contain everything but the kitchen sink?

In the past when I've felt like this, and don't know what to work on fixing first, I've gone back to the Elements and Principles of Design and tried to pick one that seems to be lacking from my images overall. Then I go out on a shoot with that foremost in my mind as I look for a scene or subject that will help me define it. It sounds methodical but it gets the creative juices flowing and helps you target elements so that you naturally start to recognize them over time. And you start to think outside the box.

Today's image isn't a phenomenal work of art by any one's standards, but it helps me close in on the other elements and principles I couldn't cover yesterday without my brain exploding! That, and I like purple. But I digress. Now, there are elements from yesterday's chat in this image to be sure. Can you see them? I hope so. But along with those, I tried to get a shot today that helps give a visual clue as to the other elements to be discussed. They are form, value, and size. This image had some really definitive light considering I took it very late morning. Because the light was slightly to the side, it created shadow and highlight... and they help define a subject as being dimensional as opposed to flat. This is the importance of form, you realize there is depth to the basket and it contains a pile of turnips, nice and round, instead of looking rather 2D and uninteresting as a result. The light this morning also adds the element of value... a range of lights and darks, helping to define your composition further so colors and shapes are left looking stale. And let's not forget the use of size. When looked at closely, there's a variety of sizes that causes you to look around the rest of the image, taking in the few that are different or uneven in appearance.

Isn't it amazing that the brain registers all of this without you asking it to. And you may wonder if we really need to know any of this in the long run, but how else will we be able to recognize when a photograph lacks impact of any kind, or that we've been stuck in a rut? As for the principles shown here, besides a couple from yesterday, there is a very obvious center of interest here. A very tight shot of the turnips, a lot of turnips, leaves no doubt of what the center of interest is. (I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with lurnip...) And color aids in this as well, as they are all uniform in color which draws the eye. Also, there is the way I've used the principle of balance. I've composed do that you know the basket and pile of turnips are round, yet you needn't see all of it in order to come to that conclusion and my asymmetrical composition adds interest instead of centering the entire thing in my lens. Whew... dissecting a shot is harder than it looks! My head hurts.

So there we are. The building blocks that naturally occur within great compositions, and now that we know what to be on the lookout for, great compositions will be a little easier to produce. Thanks so much to all the folks who already know this stuff and are just tuning in to see the shot for the day. And thanks to the few of you i heard from that have enjoyed learning more about how design influences composition. At least how it does subconsciously somewhere in my own noggin as I frame up a shot. Scary huh.

Thanks for the lengthy ramble gang! Have a good one!

Closing In On Design ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"The Single Rental"

(1/320 sec.@ F/13, ISO 400, 200mm fl, Exp.Compensation -0.7, late day sun)

Whew. Where to start today? 'Cause I've been challenged to take on a big topic! Composition. Now, I wasn't exactly double-dog dared or anything quite that serious, but when I say I'll do something, I like to follow through on it. So here we are, on my 100th post no less attempting to share my thought process when I'm considering composition. This might be one wild ride. Here we go.

Because of my art background, Elements and Principles of good design have been lodged in my brain from an early age. And you should become familiar with them at some point, you'll see your images improve. I tend to lean towards looking for good line, shape, texture, and color automatically as I look around me for subject matter or interesting scenes. These are the elements that people are most familiar with whether they know it or not. The other elements (to be broached tomorrow) are size, value, and form. The image today has the first four elements prominently used here. Repetitive shape immediately gets your attention, then you'll notice lots of lines taking your eyes up, down, and across respectively. Those lines on the roof allude to smooth cool textural details, and we also see texture in the wire over each dove cote, not to mention the single cote with the texture of the only nest inside in the bottom right corner. Wow, those elements are really hard at work already... and this is why. Combined, they contribute to principles of design needed to make your composition work on a new level.

You mean to say there's Principles of Design too? I warned you this could get wild, *wink*. Look again at today's image. When you really look hard do you also see balance, contrast, harmony, and rhythm? If so, that means that the combination of lines, shapes, colors and textures have worked together to utilize principles of design. Didn't see that one coming did you? You did? I knew you would.

The pattern created by the rows of dove cotes, each one the same color yellow against the slate blue/grey, gives the composition a sense of harmony and rhythm. Not to mention balance since I chose to emphasize the symmetry of the roof top, every dove cote evenly spaced. The image pops with contrast because of the shapes dotted out across the composition, and the black of the mesh fronts against the yellow. The yellow also contrasts enough against the blue roof. And the textures also contrast nicely, the roof looking smooth and cool, and the cotes textures looking more rough and warmer in hue. Tomorrow we'll try to include the other two primary principles - center of interest, and movement.

Still with me? Gosh I hope so. All of that was to say this; most of these things your eye can pick out every time you assess a scene in front of you. Why, because these are things the human brain desires and uses so it can make sense of whatever you look at. When I looked up at the roof of Dundurn Castle's tower, my brain registered that this was the prominent feature for very practical reasons... and the artistic side of my brain took over, assessing if it was aesthetically pleasing to look at over and over. Certain things began to assert themselves and I was careful to compose around them in the best way I could. Of course, you don't have to concretely think these things every time you raise your camera... after a while, from shooting and composing long enough, this all becomes second nature. The more you look around you, the better you'll see engaging compositions no matter what the subject matter or where you are.

I recommend always taking time to look through your picture files. Single out the images that stand out as being stellar compositions or just seem to have a wow factor. Compare what elements worked together well. Decide which principles had to be used to make the composition come together too or best portrayed your personal vision for that photograph. It's your personal vision that brings it all together and makes it meaningful by the way. In the end, perfect composition can only do so much. There needs to be some soul poured into each image too... perhaps more important than all the rest.

Hey, we did it! Day one on composition is done, with day two to come! Thanks for the very specific ramble gang! Hope I didn't let ya down! Have an awesome day folks... now get out there and think about seeing great compositions wherever you are.