Composition is the art
of arranging the visual elements of a frame in order to make it
aesthetically pleasing for the viewer's eyes.
The elements of the frame must make the image a 'complete whole'.
This is basically obtained by positioning of line, mass, color and
light in the most pleasing arrangement.
Visual communication
Man has specific ways of visually understanding the world. If a
composition is arranged to work in accord with those underlying
visual principles, then there is more chance of the visual
information being understood and enjoyed. If the composition
conflicts with the pattern of visual expectation, then the message
may not register.
Seeing an image as the camera sees it requires train¬ing of the eye
and brain. Understanding how we see is the first step in
controlling visual communication.
The seven primary decisions have to be made when setting up a shot
and this is related to:
- Camera angle
- Lens angle
- Camera distance
- Camera height
- Frame
- Subject in focus
- Depth of field
Rules of Framing:
There are a number of basic rules about the framing of a picture. They are:
- Rule of Thirds
- Golden Section Rule
- Golden Spiral Rule or Golden Rectangle Rule
- Golden Triangle Rule
- Diagonal Rule
- Leading Lines Rule
Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is based on the fact that the human eye is naturally drawn to a point about two-thirds up a page.
This rule can be put into practice by artificially cropping the picture either through picture editing tools such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Photopaint, or even Microsoft Paint.
You can crop the image so that the main subjects are located around one of the intersection points rather than in the center of the image. Look at the example below to understand what I mean by intersection points:-
Your landscapes will be
optimally pleasing to the eye if you apply the Rule of Thirds when
you place your horizon line.
If the area of interest is land or water, the horizon line will
usually be two-thirds up from the bottom. Alternately, if the sky
is the area of emphasis, the horizon line may be one-third up from
the bottom, leaving the sky to take up the top two-thirds of the
picture:
Example:
Sky as Emphasis |
Land or Water as Interest |
Golden Section Rule
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There are no
formulae for beauty. But centuries ago, artists discovered a widely
accepted principle guiding harmonic proportions - the Golden
Section or Golden Mean. Great painters, sculptors, architects, have
used these ratios in many ways (often unwittingly, perhaps) when
expressing their concepts of beauty. Leonardo da Vinci investigated
the principle that underlies our notions of beauty and harmony and
called it the Golden Section. Long before Leonardo, however,
Babylonian, Egyptian, and ancient Greek masters also applied the
Golden Section proportion in architecture and art. If you cut a straight line into sections that provide the most pleasing relationship, you will find with incredible regularity that the line lengths are divided according to the Golden Section, in a constant rati |
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Golden Spiral or Golden Rectangle
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And one more
rule is a "Golden Spiral" or "Golden Rectangle". There should be something, leading the eye to the center of the composition. It could be a line or several subjects. This "something" could just be there without leading the eyes, but it would make its job. |
Golden Triangle Rule
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Another rule
is the "Golden Triangles". It's more convenient for photos with diagonal lines. There are three triangles with corresponding shapes. Just roughly place three subjects with approximate equal sizes in these triangles and this rule would be kept. |
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Diagonal Line Rule
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Diagonal is
a line having a slanted direction, running either from the upper
left to lower right corner of picture or running from the upper
right to lower left corner. Compositions with domination of
horizontal and vertical lines are architectonical and static. In
comparison with them compositions comprised of diagonal lines are
dynamic. Let us review cases with emphasized one diagonal. Linear elements, such as roads, waterways, and fences placed diagonally, are generally perceived as more dynamic than horizontally placed ones |
Leading lines
| When you look at a photograph for the first time, your eye will naturally be drawn to certain areas. It is possible to subtly lead the viewers eye around the image to areas of interest using the visual cues of line and perspective.For some reason our visual cortex finds broad "S" shapes very appealing, so any feature in a photograph that resembles this shape will naturally tend to attract the viewer's attention. The eye naturally tends to follow the S-shape into the picture, usually starting at the closest and/or lowest point and moving upward. Many features can be used to create leading lines, but favourites include rivers, streams, footpaths, roads, hedgerows, or the line Leading lines don't have to be S-shaped curves, straight lines can work as well. |
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