question/musings on composition

[Kirk Gittings]

No problem I am fighting my third cold/flu since Dec 18th and not in a good humor.

[h2oman]

Yikes - I haven't been here for a few days, and look what happened!

I appreciate all the contributions, as they are all interesting to me. Yes, I was more after objects of interest partially cut off by the frame, but placement very near edges but not out of the frame are cool to see as well.

Merg's shot is interesting to me for both the window looker-outer down in the corner, but also the half-ladder on the left, which is definitely the kind of thing I was talking about.

Thanks again for everyone's interest. When looking at a scene I personally have a tendency to center objects of interest, and I am trying to open my mind to seeing things other ways, without resorting to common and more obvious arrangements like near-far, leading lines, S-curves, etc. Not to demean any of those, because I've seen them all used beautifully, but I'm just looking for something more unusual and striking.

Again, I may just be easily fooled, but I'm impressed by how balanced Still's paintings feel to me. He seems to do a lot of it by balancing small things of interest near edges with large, more uniform and less detailed swaths on the other side. Kind of like the effect of the piano lid with Stravinsky in that "landscape" portrait.

[r.e.]

Hi H2oman,

At this point, not sure what you are looking for. A search for the phrase "negative space" may be helpful.

I'm getting the sense that you may find it useful to look at portraits of part of a person's head, which have been fashionable for several years now. There are some on ths site, which I was looking at yesterday: http://www.brigittelacombe.com/index.php

[h2oman]

I tried that some time ago with fairly negative results ( ), but I'll try again.

[Greg Miller]

Yikes - I haven't been here for a few days, and look what happened!

I appreciate all the contributions, as they are all interesting to me. Yes, I was more after objects of interest partially cut off by the frame, but placement very near edges but not out of the frame are cool to see as well.

Merg's shot is interesting to me for both the window looker-outer down in the corner, but also the half-ladder on the left, which is definitely the kind of thing I was talking about.

Thanks again for everyone's interest. When looking at a scene I personally have a tendency to center objects of interest, and I am trying to open my mind to seeing things other ways, without resorting to common and more obvious arrangements like near-far, leading lines, S-curves, etc. Not to demean any of those, because I've seen them all used beautifully, but I'm just looking for something more unusual and striking.

Again, I may just be easily fooled, but I'm impressed by how balanced Still's paintings feel to me. He seems to do a lot of it by balancing small things of interest near edges with large, more uniform and less detailed swaths on the other side. Kind of like the effect of the piano lid with Stravinsky in that "landscape" portrait.

A balanced composition tends to feel more calm, serene or tranquil. One thing that pushing key objects towards the edge can do is make for more tension - not necessarily a bad thing.

[Merg Ross]

Merg's shot is interesting to me for both the window looker-outer down in the corner, but also the half-ladder on the left, which is definitely the kind of thing I was talking about.

Thank you, I thought that was the kind of image you were seeking.

[Wayne Lambert]

As Greg noted, placing a prominent object, preferably small, at the edge of the frame can create tension and make the image more interesting. At one of his workshops Ansel Adams spent several minutes praising and demonstrating this compositional technique.
Wayne

[austin granger]

Here are two pictures that came to mind as I read the thread. The first one is a photo that I seem to like better than anyone else, but there's no accounting for taste, right? Anyway though, what I was trying to do here was give a sense of foreboding and claustrophobia, and draw attention to those two opposite corners, so that the "DO NOT ENTER" becomes not about the shrouded building but about that little escape hatch of sky at upper right. That weird little white patch up there is everything in this picture. Also, I like the way it looks like the photo itself is torn in the corner, or as if you could just peel everything else away.

Shrouded, Portland


This next one is more of a hidden object of interest type photo. Though it'll be difficult to see on your computer, I think the large man hanging off the roof in the background really makes this.

Frankies Franks, 82nd Avenue, Portland



http://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/

[cowanw]

Your first example was what came to my mind, when I read this thread.
Often times, Hurrell and other Hollywood/fashion photographers would balance strong contrasts with a small break in tone outside the main part of the image, without which the image has much less impact.

[Merg Ross]

I appreciate all the contributions, as they are all interesting to me. Yes, I was more after objects of interest partially cut off by the frame, but placement very near edges but not out of the frame are cool to see as well.

Merg's shot is interesting to me for both the window looker-outer down in the corner, but also the half-ladder on the left, which is definitely the kind of thing I was talking about.

My friend Scott Nichols just sent me notice of his upcoming gallery exhibition featuring the work of Ralph Steiner. I think you will discover much of what you seek in Ralph's work.

Best,
Merg

http://www.scottnicholsgallery.com/e...point-of-view/