Composition Assignment
"A photographer went to dinner at a socialite party in New York. As he entered the front door, the host said 'I love your pictures - they're wonderful; you must have a fantastic camera.' He said nothing until dinner was finished then: 'That was a wonderful dinner; you must have a terrific stove." -Sam Haskins
Composition Article
Read this short article on Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition originally published on a site called photoinf.com. In 2022 this article was apparently changed/bought by a website called Giggster and they did a poor job of organizing/maintaining the integrity of the original article, so as you click and read through each link below, skip down to the bold heading just above where the photos begin on each page and begin reading there, this will avoid redundancy (because Giggster split the article into 7 different pages and they repeat a lot of info at the top of each page that isn't directly relevant to to the individual topic at hand). I still really like the info in this vintage article though which is why I continue to use it for our class!
Intro
Simplicity
Rule of Thirds
Lines
Balance
Framing
Avoiding Mergers
Read this short article on Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition originally published on a site called photoinf.com. In 2022 this article was apparently changed/bought by a website called Giggster and they did a poor job of organizing/maintaining the integrity of the original article, so as you click and read through each link below, skip down to the bold heading just above where the photos begin on each page and begin reading there, this will avoid redundancy (because Giggster split the article into 7 different pages and they repeat a lot of info at the top of each page that isn't directly relevant to to the individual topic at hand). I still really like the info in this vintage article though which is why I continue to use it for our class!
Intro
Simplicity
Rule of Thirds
Lines
Balance
Framing
Avoiding Mergers
Next copy/paste this Composition Questions document into your photo journal and answer the questions in blue so I can easily differentiate your answers from the questions.
Good student examples of the 10 Composition Guidelines (these will help you understand the assignment)
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds suggests that the "best," most balanced place to place your subject is on one of the four intersecting points (sometimes called hot spots, or power points) formed when you divide the frame in to thirds both horizontally and vertically like a tic-tac-toe grid. This places the subject close to the center (but not right in the center) setting up a more asymmetrically balanced, dynamic composition. You can even turn on the grid in the camera app on your phone to make it easy to use the rule of thirds. The green dots in the image at left below represent the hot spots, or intersecting points where you can place your subject according to the rule. In the photo of the bee at right, the bees' eyes is placed directly on the hot spot in the upper right.
Leading Lines
A good leading line, provides a path for your eye to follow into and through the frame (think three-dimensionally) not just vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. ideally the line brings you to the subject of the photo.
Rule of Odds
An odd number of subjects (like 3 or 5) tends to balance the frame more naturally, asymmetrically, or dynamically than an even number (like 2). The rule doesn't really apply to a photo with a single subject, but rather to multiple subjects/objects. More than 5 objects are probably too many to recognize the rule. Also make sure the objects actually read as the "subject" of the photo, otherwise the rule won't work i.e. there may be 3 "things" in a photo: a dog in the foreground, and a broom and garbage can in the background, but those background items probably won't read as "subjects" and consequently won't apply to the rule of odds (in fact they are probably just unwanted distractions in the composition).
Composition Matching Activity
The objective of this activity is to be able to recognize 10 different compositional guidelines used in photography:
Simple Backgrounds
Rule of 3rds
Angles
Framing
Repetition
Asymmetrical Balance
Leading Lines
Diagonals
Fill the Frame
Rule of Odds
1. Read about the 10 composition guidelines on the back side of your composition assignment.
2. Copy/paste the second page of the electronic version of the assignment (with the list of 10 composition guidelines) into the top of your photo journal under today's date.
2. Look at all 10 photos (taken by previous students of mine) in one of the five sets below (just choose 1 set), consider which photo from the set best represents each guideline, and copy/paste that photo under the most relevant guideline on the list 10 composition guidelines you just copied into your photo journal.
3. Hint: A good photograph will most likely utilize multiple composition guidelines, i.e. there may be more than one correct answer for each photo, but choose the one that seems the most obvious and be prepared to justify your decisions!
Simple Backgrounds
Rule of 3rds
Angles
Framing
Repetition
Asymmetrical Balance
Leading Lines
Diagonals
Fill the Frame
Rule of Odds
1. Read about the 10 composition guidelines on the back side of your composition assignment.
2. Copy/paste the second page of the electronic version of the assignment (with the list of 10 composition guidelines) into the top of your photo journal under today's date.
2. Look at all 10 photos (taken by previous students of mine) in one of the five sets below (just choose 1 set), consider which photo from the set best represents each guideline, and copy/paste that photo under the most relevant guideline on the list 10 composition guidelines you just copied into your photo journal.
3. Hint: A good photograph will most likely utilize multiple composition guidelines, i.e. there may be more than one correct answer for each photo, but choose the one that seems the most obvious and be prepared to justify your decisions!