Best 2 hours of composition instruction I've seen

[Blueheeler]

Folks,

Found this on the interwebs. Well worth sitting down and viewing


http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/07/...david-brommer/

Ray

[rpcrowe]

B&H sponsors quite a few excellent video tutorials. I am anxious to view this one...

[pvh]

Thanks for the link - this looks very worthwhile!

[DanK]

thanks for posting this

[MFCA]

Ray thank you for the link, I will try to see this later, nice find

[Carl in Louisiana]

Thank You Ray,
Well worth the watch. I like to check out B&H's videos often, but missed this one.

[Graystar]

Bresson never saw the guy jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfwNrPX2pvw

Just goes to show that people tend to make assumptions.

[FrankMi]

Very enlightening! Here are some of the 'take away' points I noted in the presentation. Did anyone notice any others that should be included in a summary?

1. All great photography is about communicating an emotion. If a scene does not stir an emotion in a photographer, an image of that scene will be powerless to do so in a viewer of the image. Perhaps one of the best ways to accomplish this is to make sure that the image is alive and has a voice with which to tell a story. Can the image provide clues as to what happened just before or just after the image was taken?

2. In every image try to convey a Foreground, a Middle ground, and a Background.

3. Never let the horizon split the image in half. Determine which half has the more interesting view and move the horizon up or down to take in more of that view.

4. When possible, incorporate a spiral in the composition.

5. Using the four quadrants created by the ‘Rule of Thirds’ grid, in most cases, placing the subject in one of the two right hand intersections for the right reasons the image will have balance and look proper. This works better than using the left hand intersections.

6. Make use of Negative Space (empty or void space around an object or form) and Positive Space (space that is filled with something, such as lines, subjects, color, or shapes) in your composition to add impact.

7. A good composition has Direction Elements and Anchor Elements. Direction Elements (physical lines, spatial lines created by Positive and Negative “rivers” of space, highlights and shadows, spatial futures created by directional gaze and intended movements) lead our eyes around the image. Anchor Elements (subjects, objects, highlight and shadow masses, color masses and splotches) will stop the eye movement.

What should be in your compositional checklist? Get to the point where these steps are part of your natural shooting workflow so that you don't need to stop to think about them.
a. Choose your Subject, the anchor of your image.
b. Locate the Directional Elements that lead to the subject and away from the subject.
c. Place the Horizon in the top or bottom third and check the corners. Avoid triangles in the corners.
d. Be aware of and try to utilize Positive and Negative Space to form rivers for the eye to follow.
e. Slow down and really contemplate what is included in the composition.
f. Make your exposure. Review the image carefully and you may discover the need to adjust the camera angle. If so, adjust, reshoot and recheck.

[global18]

Thanks for posting this. It was very good.

[global18]

Thanks for your summary.

[Maritimer1]

Great summary and link. Thanks!

[Bobobird]

Thanks Frank. Great summary.

In as many weeks this is the 2nd time I have seen mention of avoiding triangles in the corners. What are the negatives here?

[kdoc856]

Ray,

Thaks so much for the link. Simply superb. I still can't believe Cartier-Bresson didnt see the guy jump! I thought that shot was the essence of the "decisive moment". Bresson says it was luck. But he never wasn't looking for luck

[doomed forever]

Thank you ray for posting the link, it looks interesting, will watch it in a still moment these days.
Are there anymore interesting B&H Video-Tutorials on youtube worth of watching?

regards
marc

[rentreker]

Folks,

Found this on the interwebs. Well worth sitting down and viewing


http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/07/...david-brommer/

Ray

just viewed it and indeed it was very good,thanks for the tip

[FrankMi]

In as many weeks this is the 2nd time I have seen mention of avoiding triangles in the corners. What are the negatives here?

I found this statement which may help explain the corner triangle issue: "The viewer is drawn out of the image when small triangles are placed in corners of the image."

I also located a fairly concise set of composition guidelines here: http://www.atdesignonline.com/educat...n/Composti.pdf

[jcuknz]

I well believe HCB was lucky with the shot because I have used a Leica or two similar to what he used.... if pointing through a small hole as he says there is no way he could see what was happening the way we do today as the viewfinder would have just seen the fence. It was another twenty years or so before 35mm SLRs came into being. There was a MF SLR which I owned post WWII dating from that period ... Reflex Korelle.... as well as quarter plate and larger SLRs as my Grandfather owned and let me use when on holiday from photo school. From what I have heard he was an original P&S merchant with the luck to have a darkroom technician to rescue things in PP. That is not a crit but an admiration for what he saw and captured without becoming mired in technicalities as so many are these days .. sadly of necessity to compete.

[Andrew76]

Thanks very much for the link - I truly enjoyed the video, and learned tons.

I found a few interesting relationships with things I found in the video, and some of the discussions on the forums here. There is an interesting discussion that was started by 'Terri', entitled, "are we training ourselves to be distracted?". I haven't personally commented on this thread yet, because I haven't formed an opinion yet. I have been following it, and there are some ideas that I agree with, and some that I don't agree with. So, how does this relate to the video in question? Well, one of the photos exampled in the video is a famous art piece by Bresson - the young lad with the wine. It is a tribute to his Mastery, and it is one of my favourites. Brommmer goes on to explain all the things that are technically 'correct' with it. There is one small problem - Bresson has cut off the boy's feet.

Now, if I, or another member of CiC had posted that image here for critique, I'm sure it would have got some rave reviews, but I surmise that the fact there is a HUGE technical 'mistake', would have led to the images demise here on the forum.

So, where does this leave us? I don't know. I still haven't formed an opinion, but there's a nagging sensation that keeps haunting me. Is the quality of images we're producing lacking so much 'punctum', or 'studium' that we can't overlook the 'blade of grass? Or, are we really 'Training ourselves to be distracted?"