{"id":1535,"date":"2010-12-06T16:38:11","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T00:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/articles\/how-to-articles\/photography-tutorialcomposition\/"},"modified":"2018-09-09T20:06:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T04:06:17","slug":"photography-tutorialcomposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/2010\/12\/06\/photography-tutorialcomposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Photography Tutorial–Composition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why study composition?\u00a0 Edward Weston said, and I paraphrase, that studying the laws of composition before taking a photograph is like studying the laws of gravity before going for a walk.<\/p>\n

Well, sometimes I feel like a toddler when it comes to composition.\u00a0 And if you\u2019ve been around a toddler as they\u2019re learning to walk you know how diligently they study the laws of gravity and why they have such thick padding on their rumps.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason they\u2019re called \u2018toddlers.\u2019<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always searching for new ways to present the principles of composition in my photography workshops.\u00a0 And I think I\u2019ve come up with an approach that will get some of the people seeing the world differently, at least that\u2019s the goal.\u00a0 I like to challenge my workshop attendees to stretch themselves and expand the way they see.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So my idea is this.\u00a0 Don\u2019t teach the traditional topics of leading lines, rule of thirds and such.\u00a0 We\u2019ve heard the rule of thirds so much so that camera manufacturers are adding tick-tack-toe lines to the LCS displays so we can have that reference in front of us when we shoot.\u00a0 There\u2019s got to be a way to get the workshop attendees out of their usual way of seeing and challenge the way they look at a scene.<\/p>\n

And I think I have it.\u00a0 In the photography workshops for 2011 I plan to begin by introducing the attendees to the elements of design.\u00a0 And for the first several shoots I\u2019ll further challenge them to capture these elements in their photographs.<\/p>\n

What are the design elements?\u00a0 Well there are several.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you a quick introduction.<\/p>\n

Line<\/h3>\n

The first element is line with is basically one dimensional.\u00a0 We can have all sorts of lines in our photographs \u2013 horizontal, vertical, diagonal and curved.\u00a0 The orientation of the lines has a lot to do with setting the mood of the image.\u00a0 Here are a few examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

\"decayed_log_1_2010_h\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"decayed_log_2_2010_v\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"elisabethen_kirche_basel_2010_d\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"Autumn<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Some of my favorite images with a strong emphasis on lines are where the lines are, well, chaotic.<\/p>\n

\"Partridge<\/a><\/p>\n

Shape<\/h3>\n

The second design element is shape which is two dimensions.\u00a0 Shapes are basically flat.\u00a0 Silhouettes come to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"mono_lake_morning_song_2009\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"split_rock_lighthouse_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Form<\/h3>\n

If line is one dimension and shape is two then form must be three.\u00a0 Yep, that\u2019s exactly right. With form we see volume and mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"zabriskie_point_6_2009\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"paria_view_2009\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Texture<\/h3>\n

The next element commonly discussed in design texts is texture, the illusion that we can feel the surface.\u00a0 Usually but not always the illusion of texture is created when the light source grazes the surface of the object, accentuating its irregularities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"horseshoe_bend_2008\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"autumn_hanging_garden_2009\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Pattern<\/h3>\n

Patterns are the repetition of elements.\u00a0 Perfectly uniform patterns are unusual in nature (but they can be found).\u00a0 More often we see patterns in man made objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"latourell_bridge_2008\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"Death<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Color<\/h3>\n

The final design element that is frequently discussed is color.\u00a0 This also carries a strong emotional message.\u00a0 Colors can be bold or subtle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"Autumn<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"artists_point_2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Unity and Balance<\/h3>\n

I think there\u2019s one more design element that is essential to a good design (and photograph).\u00a0 The elements of the composition must be unified and balanced.\u00a0 They must all work together in a way that complements and strengthens the message of the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"bristlecone_moon_2008\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"Mc<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

So I\u2019m hoping that introducing composition in this way will get the workshop attendees toddling on ice and that in so doing they will look at the world through different eyes.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry; we\u2019ll cover composition from a more traditional perspective as well.\u00a0 But I\u2019m thinking this is going to be a very interesting and effective approach.<\/p>\n

Join me on an upcoming workshop.\u00a0 Click here for more details.<\/a><\/p>\n

To see more of my photographs click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

(1262)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Using design elements in landscape photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[293,4],"tags":[126,294,199],"class_list":["post-1535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-composition-how-to-articles","category-how-to-articles","tag-composition","tag-landscape-photography","tag-photography-workshops"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Nl7-oL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4017,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/4017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}