Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

neyekon · 08:49 PM

Very often I read about how it is a good idea to break the rules of composition or ignore them all together, sometimes I suspect it is written by people who don't know the rules to begin with or by people who declare that art and creativity have no boundries. The old..."Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" argument is often made and who are you to say that this image is wrong?...you can always find someone who likes it.
Don't get me wrong, I am a deviant by nature...just ask my parents...or the Texas Dept. of Corrections

but I understand the rules... or maybe that is where we go wrong? Maybe we should refer to them as guidelines, "rules" sounds like something you MUST obey. Ok...from this point forward I will refer to them as guidelines.
Guidelines of composition were not developed by the great photographers and professors of this field to restrict our creativity or limit our visualization techniques when making an image. They were developed over time, experience and an educated understanding of what works best in producing a visually pleasing image that will grab, hold and guide a viewers attention. And isn't that what every photographer strives for when snapping the shutter?
Ok so here is my challenge and I will begin with an example of my own. Please post an image you took where you broke a guideline of composition and please explain your thought process in taking that image and purposely breaking that guideline, AND a bonus would be to explain how you expected this deviation from the guidelines to enhance your image. A great professor once taught the idea of breaking the guidelines ONLY to enhance the image.

EXAMPLE:
This image breakes the rule of thirds and the rule of not centering your main subject or the horizon,(two rules broken).
I think that it is ok to center a subject when it is the only subject and it is symmetrical in shape...by this I mean that you have two exact or very simular halves. The viewer has no choice but to focus on this center point. You don't need to guide the viewers attention with lines, DOF or lightness/darkness, etc. although in this image I did lighten the privacy fence in the background with a soft floodlight to contrast the darker spider and help it stand out...plus I set the fence and web out of focus so that nothing competed with the spider for the viewers attention. I setup at f2.8 for shallow DOF with macro from about 2 ft. The idea of getting really close was to show detail and display a spider in a way that most people don't often see. My intention was for the viewer to focus on the spider, the rest is just enough detail to set the scene and fill the frame.
I have seen some really good examples on this forum of images where the horizon is dead center, which is a big "don't do" but the image works really well because of a reflection in the water that gives it symmetry and the viewers attention bounces back and forth between actual and reflection.

OK!....WHOSE NEXT?....I know there are lots of guideline breakers out there!
Let's have a lesson on how to break the guidelines!!!

Disclaimer: By no means do I consider myself a great photographer nor a teacher of photography, I am merely a student and an addict of the art who likes to provoke thought.

prncfarquad · 11-17-2010, 08:31 PM

Great idea Ricardo. not sure that I have ever intentionally broke the rules. I know I broke them to pieces when I first started shooting but it was lack of knowledge not purposeful. I will have to think about it and maybe break a rule or two to see what happens

Ernst-Ulrich Schafer · 11-17-2010, 09:16 PM

Here's a portrait of Studio Bob, Bob's a good friend and one day while standing outside of my studio I asked Bob to sit for me, it started my personal project "Just Yank Them Off the Sidewalk" I pretty much knew
exactly what I wanted and that I was going to crop the image square, of course he's not looking into the frame, a guideline I hear often. His
sunglasses flipped up is pretty much how we see Bob all of the time. He
doesn't stand still and is always moving forward and I admire him alot.

Best to ya, Ernst

neyekon · 11-17-2010, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prncfarquad

Great idea Ricardo. not sure that I have ever intentionally broke the rules. I know I broke them to pieces when I first started shooting but it was lack of knowledge not purposeful. I will have to think about it and maybe break a rule or two to see what happens

Thank you!
I didn't set out to break guidelines when composing this image, it just played out that way. I set up for the shot knowing what my subject was and an idea of how I wanted to project this image. At first I did try to apply guidelines but once I centered the spider and considered the other few elements to work with it all just fell into this order and I was pleased with what I saw in the viewfinder. Visualization was key at this point and technical adjustments helped produce what my mind saw. Thanx again, R

neyekon · 11-17-2010, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernst-Ulrich Schafer

Here's a portrait of Studio Bob, Bob's a good friend and one day while standing outside of my studio I asked Bob to sit for me, it started my personal project "Just Yank Them Off the Sidewalk" I pretty much knew
exactly what I wanted and that I was going to crop the image square, of course he's not looking into the frame, a guideline I hear often. His
sunglasses flipped up is pretty much how we see Bob all of the time. He
doesn't stand still and is always moving forward and I admire him alot.

Best to ya, Ernst

Ernst, I really dig this image! I notice the guidelines that you did not adhere to, he is not at least looking toward the lens and he is leading to the left of center in the frame which implies he is moving(leaving the frame). That is a guideline that many people don't know. Leaving the frame as opposed to coming into the frame. Great example. I think it works well in that it expresses part of his personality(Bob is here...then gone).
BTW the detail in this image is incredible.
Thanx for participating! R

texxter · 11-17-2010, 09:47 PM

Some rules of portraiture I didn't pay attention to here, but I think the image still works...

Use a long focal length for portraits. I used 29mm here.
Don't center the subject in the frame
Keep an uncluttered background
Dont shoot in direct sunlight - this was done in early afternoon summer, but I underexposed ambient with a big strobe
Pose and engage your subject. I didn't, let the man be himself.

neyekon · 11-17-2010, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texxter

Some rules of portraiture I didn't pay attention to here, but I think the image still works...

Use a long focal length for portraits. I used 29mm here.
Don't center the subject in the frame
Keep an uncluttered background
Dont shoot in direct sunlight - this was done in early afternoon summer, but I underexposed ambient with a big strobe
Pose and engage your subject. I didn't, let the man be himself.

Another great example, I think this image falls under the catagory of "Environmental Portriature", maybe he is in the metal salvage business. The use of wide angle lens helps him not compress with the background. His shadow is present and tells that key light was natural and strobe was fill. The main problem with shooting at noon in direct sunlight is the "Racoon Eyes" that a harsh shadow produces but the fact that he is not looking into the camera negates that. The subject seems oblivious to his photo being taken, works well in my opioion.

texxter · 11-17-2010, 10:18 PM

Thanks, Richardo. This gentleman is Berny Becker, the founder of Garland Steel, a metal recycling company. It was 98 degrees out when we did this shoot in front of a pile of metal bales in his huge yard. I took five frames of him. Ten minutes to set the strobe, frame him and get the shot. After the shoot I was soaking with sweat and afraid he was going to have a stroke under the the strong afternoon sun. The image is pretty much straight out of the camera, resized and sharpened for the web browser.

This thread is a neat idea.

texkam · 11-17-2010, 10:41 PM

Here you go. Yep, the WM manager is smack dab in the center; center of attention and the busyness just adds to the noisy fun atmosphere. You can almost hear this picture.

SCone · 11-17-2010, 11:14 PM

The deep blue of the pond reflecting the trees & sky keeps me from cropping this one, even with the water's edge centered in the image

neyekon · 11-18-2010, 06:01 AM

Great examples and they show that symmetry allows you to break this..."don't center" guideline, it directs the viewers attention to the main subject.You can take these images and fold them in half and you almost have two equal parts. So maybe symmetry is a guideline that helps you break another guideline? Just a thought.
Thanks for participation.

neyekon · 11-18-2010, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texkam

Here you go. Yep, the WM manager is smack dab in the center; center of attention and the busyness just adds to the noisy fun atmosphere. You can almost hear this picture.

This image is very busy but the fact that the foreground subjects, although in focus, are not showing their faces and facing to the center, this along with size relation directs the viewers attention to where the photog intended. Works great in my opinion.

texkam · 11-18-2010, 12:54 PM

Quote:

This image is very busy but the fact that the foreground subjects, although in focus, are not showing their faces and facing to the center, this along with size relation directs the viewers attention to where the photog intended. Works great in my opinion.

Leading lines help as well. Thanks