​Photographic composition skills

The camera itself does not have the ability of thinking. Photography requires people with imaginary thinking to complete their own ideas through other technical means. Composition is the core problem that photographers think about the most, canvas prints but the most difficult to resolve. Today, most photographers tend to follow a number of different accepted rules of composition. However, photography needs to be expressed with rich perceptual colors, and make corresponding changes according to singular scene factors. The "idealized model" can easily lead to mental restraint. Sometimes you can get better results by breaking the rules, but understand the inner workings. This article will take this as the core, together with you to break through the shackles of thinking, to create your own work.

"eye skill" of composition is the foundation of good photographs!

Composition plays a major role in any form of art. It is not only accurately conveys the idea of the work. But also highlights important story lines and emotional images. In short, discount canvas prints composition combines the elements of a scene into a consistent whole, so composition is the job itself. As an art form, there really are no hard and fast rules for composition. What we call the rules of composition are more of an "idealized model" that summarizes and reorders previous experience. In order to organize visual elements into a coherent whole through composition, the rules must be in harmony with the elements of the scene, so the photographer's "eye skills" also face great challenges.

The rules of composition can be used as a guiding and learning tool, big canvas prints but instead we should concentrate on what the rules are for. There are four principles to any composition rule: thematic emphasis, weight balance, eye flow, and visual depth. Use line, shape/form, space, value, color, texture and other art and design elements to build a composition as a whole.

Thematic emphasis: To establish a dominant or visual center in the composition

When there is no major theme to focus on in a particular area or object in a photograph, the eye wanders over the whole scene. It is emphasized that every photo should have a dominant idea or visual center that can attract the attention of the audience. Even if the photo contains a subordinate relationship (subject and accompanist), visual dominance must be given to the subject.

The body can be a single element or multiple elements, so the optical center can focus or highlight objects as well as specific areas. There are many factors that a photographer can use to direct the viewer's attention to the important subjects of a scene, such as space, volume, tone, texture, etc.

Characters: In any subject matter, the presence of personalities is more compelling than any other set element. Therefore, special attention is given to coordination. In addition, the line of sight of the characters in the scene also has a significant influence. The audience tends to have graphic interaction with the characters in the scene. Therefore, when the characters in the scene look at the camera shooting, they have a stronger visual attention than other directions, which require coordination according to the expected effect.

Space: We call the main subject of the photograph positive space, and the space around the subject negative space. The proper use of positive and negative space gives great visual charm to the individual elements of the scene, enabling the audience to concentrate more on the theme. For example, white subjects are immediately noticeable against a dark background, and a large amount of negative space provides a more open feeling.

In everyday shooting, the negative space is not necessarily completely blank, and the relationship between the focus objects can be weakened by object consistency in the background area. Elements in negative space can move the visual center of gravity to areas in a positive space, and on multi-element images, associations can be selected to achieve the same effect.

Volume: The size of the object also determines the viewer's understanding of the photograph. In accordance with the principle of perspective, large subjective elements imply closer proximity to the audience and are therefore more compelling than the smaller elements in the background. In a sense, the filling composition we use makes use of this principle.

Color: The light and color of the scene is also core tools. The tonal contrast generated by the bright themes in the dismal scenes draws the viewer's attention while instilling vitality and a sense of life into the images. In addition, the subject in the scene has a higher color purity than other elements, generates saturation contrast, and provides a strong graphical pull. On the other hand, the contrast relationship between contrasting colors can also be used to generate unique visual concerns.

Weight balance: to achieve the required screen "harmony"

When "reading" an image, the viewer's brain has the unconscious action of dividing space, expecting the graphical object to balance the visual weight at the end in a similar way. In composition, balance is a common way to make the elements equal and complement each other, forming a sense of ocular tension or harmony, and creating a pleasant image.

The most common form involves placing objects of the same mass or weight on either side of the midpoint of equilibrium, which is called a "formal" or "symmetrical" balance. Each element in the picture has a certain pictorial weight compared to all other elements. Different volumes, shapes, densities, colors, locations, and even perceived weight can generate a certain amount of visual weight that must be properly placed in the composition to achieve balance, also known as informal balance. This informal balance can also produce a strong sense of visual tension and coordination. For instance, the left-hand side of the informal equilibrium graph in the figure above has more mass and is closer to the midpoint, but the off-center feature is much smaller, but appears well balanced. This is analogous to the adult sitting near the center of a seesaw, balancing with the child at the end.

In short, no element in a two-dimensional image has an actual weight. Visual weight is a measure of how attractive a scene element is the eye. With this in minding, the following factors make more sense.

Volume and location: Large elements are visually heavier than smaller ones. The visual weight of an object is proportional to the distance between the object and the center (or core area) of the composition, and large objects near the center can be offset by smaller objects near the edges.

Density: Objects with compact shapes are heavier than visually non-compact ones, concentration of elements brings more weight to a given space, and multiple small objects can balance one larger object.

Form and space: positive space is heavier than negative space. Substantial negative space balances small positive space. However, spatially isolated objects appear to be heavier than other elemental objects.

Colour: Usually warm tone has a higher visual weight than cool tone. Highly saturated colors look heavier than less saturated ones, and bright tone in small areas can counteract dull tone in large areas. Sinister elements have more visual weight than bright elements, and the higher the contrast (between the object and the background), the greater the weight of the object.

Eye Flow: Improving the way the viewer "reads" the image

We usually use the term "eye-catching" to describe a photograph, and naturally bringing the eye into the scene is part of the goals of composition. That is, to have more control over the scene, you need to create a visual "path" that convinces the viewer to browse the images in a unique order. The narrative is not submitted directly to the audience, but rather connects with the overall composition and keeps the audience interested, as if the story lines are interlocking.

Explicit guidance:

Lines is the most obvious form of guidance. Essentially, the brain thinks lines are directional and encourages the eye to follow them. From a certain point of view, a road or a row of trees, or even light and shadow in the mind can become a line guiding vision, which is the "continuity" of Gestalt psychology. The brain also tries to shape visible "connection" into smooth contours (such as straight lines or curves).

Implicit guidance:

We should not only concentrate on the "true" lines, but also find some hidden lines. These lines are suggestive of the viewer's eyes rather than projected onto the photograph. We are hard-wired to perfect things, and using this cue alone. The brain can create non-existent cue lines that give us the desired effect.

When an object is thrown or pushed, the brain and eyes empirically analyze the path of motion and project hidden lines. In addition, our brains are also attracted by suggestive cues, resulting in a flow of direction. The line of sight itself is also a useful guide to invisibility, and the direction of the line of sight of the person or animal will also indicate the direction of the scene.

Visual behavioral psychology of guiding direction:

When photographing a moving subject, consider the direction of travelling. For example, if the subject moves out to the left of the composition, rather than into the center, the eye will eventually move away from the subject and out of the scene (leaving the scene). Instead, floating canvas frame as the object progresses toward the middle of the image, the right is transferred and brought in.

Visual Depth: Making Perspective the "Illusion of Depth"

Opinion is the spatial relationship between image elements in a photograph, including relative position and size. Perspective, when understood, is able to describe the "depth illusion" of an actual three-dimensional object in a photograph of a two-dimensional plane.