15 Composition Tips

A short post today with a link to some inspirational thoughts about composition.

Here are 15 great tips for photographic composition by photographer Alain Briot that are definitely worth reading.

A Different Way Of Seeing

The other day I was out photographing some widflowers, specifically Columbine and Buttercups, in a local park. As I was composing my images, I couldn't help but get the feel that I had done this before. I don't mean taking these particular photographs of these particular flowers. In fact, I had never previously photographed either Columbine or Buttercups. But I had photographed using that particular style many times.....maximizing depth of field, looking for a nice close up composition, even a spritz of water for 'drama'......and I really felt that I wanted to try something different. I thought about the shoot wide open with selective focus technique, and, likewise, I have recently been doing more and more of that. Done well, both techniques can produce stunning images.

However, neither style satisfied my desire of the moment, which was to do something totally different; something that I hadn't done before. So I thought about what it was that really drew me to the flowers and made me want to stop and spend time with them. It wasn't so much their form (which was beuatiful) as it was their color. That was what I thought the essence of the scene was, at least for that moment. How could I isolate just that one attribute of the flower?

I decided to try something that was totally new or, more properly, something that was totally new for me. Why not 'defocus' the lens until the flower's color was broken down to its most basic level. Eschew form and convey color.

"Buttercups"
Copyright Howard Grill

"Columbine"
Copyright Howard Grill

Does it work? Honestly, I am not really sure it matters. I think it is a good exercise to 'break loose' every so often and break convention, or at least the conventions that one has adapted for his or her self. In this case, I feel the process was more important than the actual results.

That said, I am intrigued with the images. My first reaction was that it was too simple and that anyone could simply defocus and fire away willy nilly. But then I realized that, like most things that sound simple, getting really good results takes a lot more effort than is apparent on the surface. This idea is something that I plan to at least 'play around' with some more. I think with more experimentation and effort some pleasing compositions can be had. It is too bad the wildflower season here is rapidly fading away.

G-L-O-R-I-A

G-L-O-R-I-A, Glooooooriah…can’t you just hear Van Morrison belting out that song? Well, since I would like to intermittently post about other blogs and websites that I have enjoyed, I am going to talk about another Gloria. I just couldn’t help myself with that opening, as every time I think of her name I just can’t get that song out of my head!

Well, if you don’t already know of her, let me introduce you to a different Gloria, and quite a unique one at that. Gloria Hopkins is that rare breed of person who excels in more than one artistic endeavor. She is a painter, a photographer, and a writer.

I have never met Gloria in person, but you really feel as if you know her from her blog entries, which run the gamut from the artistic to the personal, and from her images.

Copyright Gloria Hopkins

This is one of my favorite photographs of hers, and one which won an award from Nature’s Best magazine. She has kindly given me permission to use it in this post. For me, it works not only as an image of reality, that is to say of a gorgeous valley, but even moreso as an abstract composition of lines and color.

Check out her paintings as well, which she is currently devoting a major portion of her time to.

Finally, she has written a superb series on photographic composition that is well worth a careful read.

Enjoy!

The Trouble With Tribbles.....I Mean Trillium, Part 1

I think you probably have to be at least 40 years old to get the weak joke reference in the title. Well, either a ‘regular person’ over 40 or a rabid Star Trek fan. (Kirk: “Scottie, let’s get this post back on course.” Scottie: "But, Cap’n, I’m given her all she’s got.”) All right, I'm sorry, but I just couldn’t help myself.

Six weeks or so left to winter.....please let it be over. Some folks just thrive out in the cold. Me, I despise it. I try to force myself to get out and photograph, but I find it exceedingly difficult to do so. Every winter I say that this is going to be the year I get out into the cold and get some really great winter images. I do go, but it ends up being only two or three times. I enjoy myself when I go, but it is exceedingly hard to motivate myself to get out there.

But it is almost over, no matter what the groundhog said, and that makes my thoughts turn to the multitude of gorgeous spring wildflowers that we are blessed with here in Western Pennsylvania. And the first ones to emerge are generally Trillium. For those who are unfamiliar with them, take a look here. (As an aside, finding that page is truly fate. I couldn’t believe the page started with a Star Trek reference. It just happened to be the first Trillium website that came up when I Googled 'Trillium'!)

The purpose of this post is to ask for some advice regarding a problem I have with photographing the flower. I ask for advice now, before they emerge, so that I might have some assistance in solving the problem.

However, before I explain the problem, let me first state that I am about to break a taboo; one that I actually think should be broken much more often. I am about to show you some bad photos. These are some of my duds that I would never plan to show an audience. But reviewing failure is, I think, an important step in self-improvement.

Trillium grows in large patches. When you look at them, your mind sees a field of unbroken flowers. But the camera sees differently. I think I see a 'sea of unbroken white flowers' with trees ‘poking up’ between them. The camera’s reality is that the flowers are spaced far enough apart in the field so that there is ‘too much’ space between them to give an image the feel of ‘a sea of unbroken white’. In addition, since they are among the first flowers to emerge, there is always a lot of ground clutter (dead leaves etc) that can be seen between them. What I seem to end up with are images that look like this:

Mediocre Trillium Images

Not at all compelling, not particularly good, and, additionally, they don't convey the feel I am looking for at all. I have made successful close ups of the flowers, but I would like to portray the larger scene as it feels to me.

I have tried using a wide angle lens, but then there seems to be too much empty space filled with clutter, even if I move up very close to a foreground flower. I have tried a long lens to compress the space between flowers, but then I get too few in the frame to give the ‘large never ending sea’ feel.

Perhaps there is no good solution and this is just the way that nature has given us these beauties, to be enjoyed as they grow. But if anyone has any ideas that I might be able to use to help convey what I am after, I would certainly appreciate it.

Oh, and will someone please add to the comment section what a ‘tribble’ is for those under 40 or I’ll be forced to do it myself!

Curves

The last few days worth of blog posts have been about pretty ‘heavy’ ideas. I’m worn out from it! I need a few days of simpler stuff.

Compositional elements. OK, that can get pretty involved as well, but at least one doesn't have to get overly philosophical. And to get deeper into the elements of composition I can strongly recommend a look at some of Gloria Hopkins’ excellent articles here, here, here, and here. By the way, more about Gloria next week.

But for now, the word of the day is ‘curves’. I think the curved line is one of the most elegant of compositional elements and there are many ways of having it presented within an image.

Nature's Curves
Copyright Howard Grill

As opposed to the more linear aspects of composition, I find that the presence of smooth and gentle curves can add or accentuate the feeling of peace in an image, as opposed to harsh lines and diagonals that can sometimes be used to add tension. I find it very intriguing that certain graphic elements can really effect the underlying ‘feel’ of an image.