Compositional “Rules”
“There are no rules, that is how art is born. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about” - Helen Frankenthaler
And I kind of agree, there are no rules when you’re trying to convey a message through your work. everything in art is subjective and sometimes it takes venturing away from the rules to make your message clear. However! The word “rule” when talking about compositional “rules” isn’t that kind of rule. It doesn’t mean (Rule that needs to be followed) the word rule only refers to the fact that each composition has a criteria (a rule) it needs to follow to be called that particular compositional style. it’s just a way to define how a particular compositional guide is set out, It’s not a rule that needs to be followed by anyone, or bent, or even broken. it’s not really a rule at all… So I much prefer to think of them as compositional guides. so with that being said lets look at a handful of examples of these guides;
“Rule of Thirds”, “Leading Lines”, “Fill The Frame”, “Focal Mass”, “The Golden Ratio”, “Compound Curves”, “Radial”, “Diagonals”, “Frame Within Frame”, “Repeating Patterns” “Symmetry” and “Balance”
Some compositional guides in art predate photography by centuries, maybe even millennia, so It's pretty much been this way since the earliest days of photography. The first mention of “rule of thirds” itself relating to art was by the Engraver and draughtsman John Thomas Smith in 1797, (however! it’s possible this particular rule was been used in reference to other art genres prior to this date) but for the purpose of photography, Rule of Thirds is a “Rule” that predates photography and has never changed since this time. But why?
It's probably related to psychology more than it is related to anything else but I’m not a psychologist so can’t say for sure. But to me the human brain likes order, it likes balance, and it likes to be shown non-difficult visual stimulus that it can easily navigate through. So, when met with an image that the eye is effortlessly guided through… The brain likes it. The brain doesn’t need to constantly scan the image for a subject matter; it’s not bored because the elements within the scene are too confusing, cluttered or distracting causing the brain to eventually get bored and want to move onto something else. To me composition is all about balance and flow, the ability for the photographer to use the elements within the scene to be used as a guide that leads the viewer through the photo. That to me is what good composition means. The names we give to all these “Rules” are not there to dictate or rule how we take photos, but are there to be used as guides to try and find that balance when telling our story though a photo.
Anyway! So it might not have come as a surprise, but I intentionally mentioned “Balance” at the end of that list above, because for me all compositional guides are tools to be used to steer you towards creating an image that feels visually balanced.
Balance
This is a shot of the sun setting behind a lighthouse on the west coast of Scotland. Each shot wasn’t taken from the same spot, I had to first take one shot, but then run about 100 yards up a road for the second and then back down a bit to get the third shot. The reason for that was to try and maximise the number of shots I could get of the scene while trying to retain some balance within each frame where the visual weight of the sun and the lighthouse were equally balanced
As you can imagine, (in the northern hemisphere) the sun is constantly moving down and to the right as it sets. So, to keep both the lighthouse and sun aligned I would have to keep moving up and to the left to do that. But that would just create a bunch of shots that where all the same right!?
And I didn’t want that, I wanted a series of different shots from the scene to give me options to choose from when I got home
So after I took the first shot I ran further up the hill towards the lighthouse till the two elements were spaced as equally from the centre as possible.
Then I ran back down the road a little and took another shot with the same idea to keep both elements (lighthouse and sun) at equal distances from the centre of frame to try and create a visual balance to each shot.
I didn’t set out with composition in mind when shooting those shots or most of my shots I take to be fair, but I suppose somewhere in my subconscious the need for balance my subconscious must have been telling me what I need to do to make the shot feel right to me.
So, the above photos for all are not the greatest of photos and not even the greatest representations of what you might think of as “great composition” it didn’t stop me from putting a lot of extra effort in to try and capture them. I ran like crazy up and down and back and forth across that road that evening trying to line up both elements just trying to find what I seen was balance within the scene, but for the most part I don’t consciously think about composition when I’m out taking photos. Again! I don’t think composition is a “rule” that should be adhered to, but for me, I think it’s just beneficial to learn each compositional guide just so you know when to ignore it. Sometimes a shot just can’t be defined by a singular compositional rule so in that instance it’s all about just making a shot that feels right to you! And (If) it doesn’t feel right to you, then by knowing these compositional rules you at least have an idea of why it doesn’t feel right to you, and you’ll instantly know how you can go about fixing the balance in your scene. But most times this’ll just simply mean a tiny step to the left or right to give a slight adjustment on the angle of view.
So yes! Knowing compositional rules is important to understand, to help understand why a photo feels pleasing to the eye when learning photography, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be used on every photo, as breaking away from any of these rules is what can lead a creative person to being able to show the world something it’s never seen before, so my advice is that if you are a creative person!... learn every rule/guide there is. That way you’ll know exactly how to break away from them and in doing so maybe even find your own style.
But let’s take a quick look at a couple of shots I’ve taken and why I think they fall in line with some of these “compositional rules”. (For all this is just an interpretation), because as stated earlier, I don’t set out taking photos with composition in mind for the most part so this is just why I think some of these photos fall in line with some compositional guides.
Rule of Thirds and Negative Space
Rule of Thirds is probably the most commonly used composition techniques used simply because in most cases it’s the first compositional rule people learn or hear of. It’s simply placing the subject of the image in one of the four intersections of where the full frame is slpit into nine equal segments. (“The Thirds”). The first example I’ve chosen to place the subject directly on the lower thirds line and left the rest of the space above as “Negative Space”. Which is just space that has little to no visual elements within it, negative space it commonly used in minimalist photography and as long as the single subject is within a balanced position within the otherwise empty frame it can work as a good balanced composition. On the second rule of thirds example I’ve sort of combined two compositional rules, “rule of thirds” by placing the tree in the centre of the top third of the frame and using the cracks in the mud that take up the lower two thirds as “Leading lines” leading up to the subject of the image which was the tree.
Leading Lines and S-Curves
Following on with ”Leading Lines”. Leading lines is simply having something within the frame that leads the viewer to the subject of the image, and I guess in both these exaples it also highlights another compositional tool that uses the way the brain works to lead a viewer to a particular area of an image and that’s dark to light. Our brain seems to be programmed to always want to seek out the light. We’re naturally attracted to lighter areas of an image, so when you have a dark image with a light area the eye is always attracted to seek out and explore that area. The term used in this compositional balance between shadow and light was called “Chiaroscuro”. But that was a huge artistic movement in itself and is a big enough subject to warrant it's own blog post.
But to return to the subject at hand, you can see that the wall on the first image is creating something of a leading line drawing the eye up towards the castle which is obviously the subject of the image. And in the second image we have light blue flashes of light from bioluminescent krill as they dart between the rocks, leading up to the pier at the end of the rocks and then up to the milky way in the background. Also creating (in my mind at least! Lol) a balance of light between the luminescence of the sea creatures and the luminescence of the stars in the night sky.
The Golden Spiral or Golden Ratio
I don’t think I consciously set out to try and create a compositional photo using the Fibonacci Spiral, (“Golden Spiral”, “Golden Ratio”) so I’ve kinda just looked out two photos that I think I could sort of Shoe-horn in to show what the compositional rule is meant to achieve. The first shot sweeps down the ridge on the right hand side of the frame leading the viewer down through the mist and then back up the left of the frame, sweeping your gaze round in a clockwise spiral direction that lands the viewers gaze on the “Old Man of Storr” which is the subject of the shot. The second example is similar to the first but has three main subject elements within the frame. So the intention here would be to start the views gaze at the Old Man of Storr, sweeping down to the person walking into the scene and then back up to the sunburst breaking through the hole in the rock formation. That would be the intention anyway. So if you don’t mind letting me know in the comments box below… Is this how you interperet that scene?
Pyramid or Triangle
I had planned this shot for several years, well!… I had the idea for this shot and it took several years to finally get the chance to actually capture it. my plan was to use myself as one of three subjects to create a triangle or pyramid composition to try and bring all three elements into one scene and tie them al together visually and with luck create balance.
I’m by no means an expert in art or even photography for that matter so can only offer an opinion as to what composition means to me. and that is that composition is absolutely something that should be studied, but only so you know why, where and when you might (or might not) need it. so if you’re someone just starting out in photography and only recently discovering composition and why it might be important moving forward in your journey as a photographer, I hope any of this information is in any way of benefit or helpful to you.
If you have any questions or would just like to add anything to the conversation then please by all means leave a comment in the comment box below… I’m still learning here too so even if you have any input that would be helpful then please get in touch and let me know where I could progress.
Thank you all so much for your time and patience!
Best Regards.
Sylvan