Composition…
Sometimes, it helps to take a step back from broader discussions on creativity to look at ht e truly fundamental elements of composition. Although there are countless elements of composition in art as a whole, these are the most important that are specific to photography - critical parts of nearly every photo you take. They’re divided into two main categories; objects, and their relationships. These are nothing less than the building blocks of creativity.
Objects - The first six elements of composition ae simply different types of objects you may find in a photo, ranging from simple to complex. These elements do not depend on anything else in a photo, or upon the borders of your composition itself. Every object in your photography exhibits these characteristics to a degree, sometimes obviously and sometimes hidden.
Points - The simplest element of composition is a point. Points are a bit deceptive; mathematically, they have zero dimensions. Photographically, we’re a bit more lenient. A point is just a small area of interest in a photo, or the intersection between areas of interest. Points matter in photography because they are one of the most fundamental ways to draw our attention- to add interest to a particular area.
Lines - In contrast to points, which draw a viewer’s attention, lines are most like a path for a viewer to follow. Or, they are a boundary: the division between sky and ground, for example. Like points, lines in photography ae not defined as rigidly as lines in geometry. Photographically, anything that connects two parts of a photo or stretches across your composition is a line. Lines also serve an important function of connecting two different elements of your photo. sometimes, lines in a photo are imaginary, but they’re still there! Lines don’t have the same weight as points. Instead, they connect points, or divide them, or guide a viewer’s eye toward the one you want. This makes them some of the most important elements of composition.
Shapes - Now, we move from the simple elements of composition to the complex. Shapes can be anything, from the crescent moon to the shape of smiling face. Each variey of shape has its own emotional impact on a photo, and it’s impossible to generalize. In photography, keep an eye out for shapes in you photo, either obvious or abstract. Remember that they are very powerful in drawing our eye - particularly siimple shapes, as well as those of humans and animals.
Texture - The texture of an abject plays an important role in determining its emotional impact, as well as the amount of attention it draws. Sometimes, textures themselves may be the subject of your photo, like patterns in the sand or waves of water. More often, though, textures are individual elements of a larger photo= either giving your subject some dimension or filling in the spaces between subjects
Color - Other than black and white photography - a creative choice of its own - color makes a big difference to the composition of a photo, as well as the mood. Each color brings its own emotion to photography. The most important distinction you need to know at the moment is that of warm versus cool colors.
Warm colors are red, orange, and yellow. They are active, jumping to the front of an image and conveying more movement and excitement.
Cool colors, then are opposite: green, blue and violet. Therse are calmer colors, with a bit more gentleness to their nature. Blue and green in particular are the most common colors found in nature.
Tone - Another important element of composition is tone, both for individual objects and for the photography as a whole. although tone can refer to hues and intensity of color, it also relates to the brightness and darkness of an image, as well as its contrast.
Relationships The other elements of composition fall under a different category: relationships. Rather than applying to individual objects in a photo, the four elemnets below are all about the different parts of photo interact.
Distance -The simplest relationship between elements of composition is the distance between them. Distance matters for a few different reasons. To start, if some of your subjects are too close together - or if one subject crosses another - the results can be distracting. An important part of a photo has its own “breathing space”.
Balance - The next element of composition is balance, related closely to the concept of visual weight. Visual weight isn’t complicated; It’s just the amount of attention each object in your photo attracts. Every part your photo has has some amount of visual weight to it. Balance is about the arrangement of visual weight in a photo. A balanced photo has similare levels of visual weight between the left and right halves; an imbalanced photo has more weight on one side of the other.
It’s worth noting that you don’t always want your photo to be perfectly balanced between the left and right sides. Although balanced photos often feel more natural and harmonious, imbalance is more dynamic, with a sense of tension that works for certain photos.
Space - (Positive and Negative) Islands and water; cloud and sky; ink and paper. Positive and negative space.
Positive space is any part of the photo stat attracts attention. Negative space is the “filler” between regions or positive space. It doesn’t necessarily fade into the background like cool colors tend to do, but it isn’t the portion of the photo that attracts the most attention. Photos with high amounts of positive space feel crowded, while photos with high amounts of negative space feel empty. Niether of these sounds like a particularly good emotion, but both canbe very powerful in a photo!
Patterns - In photography, patterns are everywhere. This isn’t just something small like a texture that repeats itself thughtout the photo, but really in any repeating element at all. That’s what patterns do, really. They tie photos together. They give photos a reason to exist - a strong statement for whey the photographer took this photo and some other.
Conclusion - Most other techniques in composition - from simplicity to emotion - start with the elements of composition listed above. Although there are more than just ten elements of composition, these are the most important for photographers to know.
