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Photo tip #59 The how and not the what, to photograph.
Composition tips
by Jeff "Foliage" Folger
A simple red leaf resting on the edge of a huge rotted out stump. (Picture cut into thirds)
A red maple that had fallen over onto the surface of the water. It screamed in red brilliance before dying in winters cold chill.
My grandson Cole picking out a pumpkin. Demonstrates the leading line into him.
The sun was out of the sky but I had my tripod and I took some long exposures of this reflection. It's not following the rule of thirds but of the idea that we can disregard the rule when the picture makes you happy.
We're moving into that time of year and you want to travel out to the rural areas of the New England country side (pick your state of choice). All of them have some combination of at least one of each of the following. Trees of various glorious hues and description and OH! And more trees!
Barns
Silos
Bales of hay in the fields
Covered bridges
Interesting small towns with town commons and churches
Corn harvest
Old homes dating back hundreds of years and Towns decorated with pumpkins, corn, gourds, with leaves piled everywhere.
So you are out in such a location and you have a beautiful autumn day with a deep blue sky and a vibrant red-orange maple in front of you. You have the tree from top to bottom in your camera viewfinder (or the LCD screen) and take your picture. You go home at the end of the day and put it on the computer or get the days pics from the local CVS and look at the image and you're not happy? It's what you took, a big colorful tree in the middle of the frame but it just doesn't "feel right". Well the problem might be a little thing called composition.
Research on the net "the rule of thirds" and you will be reading for a while. Basically you should look at your pictures like they have lines drawn across them (like the photos on the right). The pictures have been cut into rough thirds (I drew those by hand). Where the lines cross is where you should try to place your subject.
Now you may say, "I'm shooting a lake with a mountain and it doesn't lend itself to this"! I will say take your shot and look at it. When you look at it does it make you want to keep looking at it? Or do you go, "that's nice" and you quickly move on to the next shot? This is why the rules of thirds is important (If you want the detailed speech on WHY it's important then please Google and read about it).
In placing the main subject at either the junction of a crossing or in the right or left third pane of the "window", your picture has balance and "feels better". I won't say that you can't break this rule and not have a really great picture. But if you do follow the rule of thirds then you will have more consistent pictures.
One other thing is leading lines in the pumpkin shot you will see that I put Cole in the top third (although centered). Let me know if you think it might have been better to the left at the junction?
I also use the bright afternoon sunlight on the pumpkins to draw your attention up into the top "third" of the picture where he is standing.
Your eyes will always follow this pattern.
The brightest object
The most in focus object
They also tend to go left to right.
You will probably say to yourself "I'll never remember all these rules" and the nice thing to know is that if you're shooting digital you can keep practicing for free (almost) and you don't have to print all the near misses and only the ones that make you go wow!
There are many rules and most of them can be ignored because in the end if you enjoy being out in the country side and you snap pictures that make you happy then all the rules don't matter, it's all good. I ignored the rules with the last shot to the right and it's still a favorite even though it doesn't follow any particular rule, except the rule to shoot what makes your heart sing and your soul a bit lighter. Jeff Foliage
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