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Composition in Landscape Photography - Pleasing the Viewer’s Eye
By | June 29, 2008
Beautiful subjects and technical ability are not enough to make a good picture. Photographers must properly compose the photo, too. Composition should be pleasing and harmonious; it should help driving the viewer’s eye through our picture as we desire. Elements to consider for an attractive composition are dominant feature, balance and rhythm.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A composition looking harmonious to a person might look lackluster to another. So feel free to adapt the suggestions in this article to your needs and attitudes. Besides, try your best not to be stuck into rules and commandments, because they might be the loss of your creativity. Remember: photography is the art of seeing, not the skill of following the rules. Seeing things differently might convey different composing, which is good, because original and personal. Experiment with your creativity and inspiration; try breaking purposely the rules. This means that occasionally you will have to throw away a few shots and this is good, too. Indeed, if you have seldom some shots to dismiss, it means you are not experimenting enough. Having said that, let us list a few concepts we should refine our sensitivity for.
Main Subject
It should be self-evident that before shooting we should know exactly what our main subject is. We must do our best to convey the viewer’s attention to it, without distracting elements. This does not mean that we must exclude everything except the dominant feature in our image. In fact, we have three options:
1) Macro-photography. Show only the main subject and nothing else. This yields the advantage of no distractions to the viewer.
2) Intimate landscape. Show the main subject together with its neighborhoods to give it a spatial placing. This can be useful to make it easier to recognize the subject or to say something more about it.
3) Grand scenic. Show the subject immersed in its entire surrounding. This can be done if the surrounding is meaningful to the feelings you want to convey.
In any case, the viewer’s attention must be attracted to the main subject first, and only then he can wander around the rest of the picture. If the viewer’s eye does not go directly to the main subject as soon as he looks at the picture, the photographer has failed his mission.
Here are a few useful tips in order to emphasize the dominant feature. Put your main subject in the foreground so that it appears bigger. Typically, this requires a large depth of field. Another popular method is using converging lines toward the subject to direct the viewer’s eye where we want to. Putting the dominant feature against a contrasting colored background is effective, too. For instance, the main subject could be a splash of color against a complementary colored backdrop. Finally, a shape with a textureless background will serve the purpose of making the main subject figuring prominently. An example of this might be a flower in the desert sand.
Balance
In a photograph, more than one object or person is usually present. Each item in an image must be properly balanced. A balanced composition is pleasing to the eye because inspiring a sense of stability. Each item has a weight or visual importance that depends on the level of attraction for the viewer’s eye.
Balance can be symmetric or asymmetric. In asymmetric balance, a small object is balanced by another bigger having more or less the same visual importance. For instance, this is the case when a small highly colored or contrasted object is related to a bigger but plain or textureless item.
Rhythm
Rhythm relates to time and it implies adding the time dimension to photographs. As we saw, the viewer should be first attracted to the main subject, but then there are other (well-balanced) items in the picture he should look at. The photographer should be able to take the viewer in a journey, to involve him in the image. The journey begins with the main subject, and then the viewer should be led to the rest of the picture smoothly and with participation, along items of secondary importance. Think about this imaginary journey and try to compose it in your picture so that the viewer will be delighted to follow you and to go all over the path of your vision.
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Andrea Ghilardelli runs a photo retouching and restoration service at ilghila.com. |
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One of the most common searches on my site is for pictures of landscaping. So I know that a lot of folks rely on photos of other peoples designs to get ideas. But at the same time, while I do have a large picture directory of other peoples projects on my site, the most common questions I receive are still related to specific shapes and design ideas.
It would seem that with as many pictures of landscaping there are to look at online, just about everyone could find a close match to their own property that could be copied. It would seem so…..if every yard was square or rectangular. However, the fact is that most yards aren?t square or rectangular. So even with the endless landscaping ideas and examples out there, it?s still highly unlikely that you?ll find an exact match to the shape of your property.
Even as a professional, I still use pictures of other peoples landscaping as an educational tool and to get new ideas. However, I find it almost pointless to search for an exact idea to copy. I look for unique, creative, and new ideas and pieces of the puzzle.
Now here?s a piece of advice and the point to this entire article.
When looking at pictures of landscaping, pay attention to the details, ideas, and principles that are universal to most designs. Look for the things that are common and repeated often by different designers. These are the elements that look good because they are generally based on basic principles of art. These are the things that will probably incorporate well into your own design project regardless of shape.
Look at the way shapes are repeated, plants are placed, and colors are used. Take notice of little details like plants and rocks being grouped in odd numbers. Pay attention to the details of landscaping and not just the shape. You?ll discover more about the mechanics of landscape design and eventually it will materialize into your own ideas.
Other peoples landscaping pictures are a great design tool to help you get your project done. However, instead of hopelessly searching for your exact layout, borrow several ideas from several different designs. You?ll save yourself a lot of frustration and have a much better chance of creating something unique to your own property.
Written by Steve Boulden. Steve is the creator of The Landscape Design Site which offers free landscaping ideas, pictures, and advice to do it yourselfers. Check out his list of landscaping pictures at http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com/gardenstyles.
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Topics: yard-maintenance |
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