Originally Posted by
pdmoylan
This is where I diverge.
Composition is structure, like architecture, it’s your decision in design/framing. It is restricted first by your choice of focal length. There is a vastly different way of visualizing with say a 210mm vs 90mm. The longer the focal length, generally the more restrictive in compositional options (this is where visual creativity comes in).
It is an evaluative thought process brought on by one’s sense of perhaps aesthetics, a concept, precept, set of rules etc as to how one should function in the taking process. It need not be emotional - in fact there is nothing emotional about it. It is simply advantaging visual opportunity based upon some notion of what works, and that is purely personal.
It is akin to decisions one might make to optimize profit in a business given a “new” set of options, criteria and associated restrictions.
I was out two days ago trying to capture the effect of strong sidelighting on an intimate landscape scene. There was little room to maneuver. I worked with 2 lenses of different focal length and what worked best was the first image I took. I experimented for an hour and pursued that special light throughout the open forest. It seemed to me there were an almost infinite number of compositional structures, but generally my initial reaction was my most favored.
It is unclear to me how one translates emotion into the making of a photograph. In fact I eschew emotion in any creative process because it seems to limit possibilities. Keeping open visually, maintaining a calm awareness, once one has skill/craft honed, is the way I work.
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