P3D What did I learn last night...

[George Themelis <gthemelis@xxxxxxxxx>]

OK, it was the night before...

Jim Kunkel’s “photographic composition” was an eye-opener for
me.  I am familiar with the rule-of-thirds, odd number of
objects and a few other rules... but I was not familiar with the
reading left to right and getting out of the picture notions
(more in the next posting).

Parenthesis:  Many people cringe in the idea of “composition
rules”... They don’t like to be told what looks good and what
does not.  They don’t believe in rules.  OK, suit yourself!  But
if you take the time to experiment and study the works of art,
you will see that there are rules, things that work and things
that don’t work well in most situations.  

Example:  The centered sunset.  Horizon splitting the picture in
two halves and the sun at dead center.  This is awful!  Try
moving the horizon up or down and the sun off center and you’ve
got a much better picture.

I learned this lesson when I was a graduate student... I was
working in the darkroom, printing a picture of my wife and her
sister in down-town Chicago.  I had them centered in the frame. 
The lab photographic technician walked in and said “Oh, no!  You
are doing this all wrong!”  He then shifted the printing paper
so that my wife and sister were off the center, the buildings
and pedestrians on the other side, creating a more balanced and
pleasing composition.

I have the tendency to center my subject.  When using print film
and doing your own darkroom (or digital) work, this is not much
of a problem.  But, when shooting slide film, you must have
composition in mind before you press the shutter!

So, rules exist and you cannot ignore them.  Breaking the rules
is OK, if you understand what the rules are and why you are
breaking them.

George Themelis


=====
George Themelis, DrT-3d@xxxxxxx
http://home.att.net/~drt-3d/
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