Tom Clark - Digital Photography Composition For Dummies

24mm, 1/4 sec, (55.6, 50

Figure 12-1:Balance achieved through symmetry.

Even though it's an option, symmetry isn't often used in photographic composition because it can be considered stiff or boring. Instead, usually you compose a scene asymmetrically. This technique, which I describe in the next section, is known as informal balance. Creating balance with asymmetrical elements is slightly more complex.

Informal balance: Producing natural balance without symmetrical elements

To create informal balance, you distribute the weight of a scene's elements without using symmetry. The elements don't mimic each other's shapes, sizes, colors, or placement in the frame. However, they're still placed strategically to keep your viewers' eyes moving from one element to another, covering the entire area of the composition.

Figure 12-2 provides an example of informal balance. Notice how the image has no symmetrical qualities. The green car is close to the camera and has elements of contrast and color, which help to make it stand out as the subject. The neon lights of the buildings draw your attention to the upper-left side of the frame and then lead your eyes into the background where a car's headlights grab your attention. Although the green car is the main focus of this scene, the composition provides interest throughout the scene.

24mm, 2 sec, f/B, 200

Figure 12-2:Informal balance achieved with contrast and color.

Creating a composition in which the subject has the most weight is okay, but if you want to give your viewers something to move on to, share some of the weight with other elements in the scene. Have the weight gradually decrease in the order that you would like your viewers to move through the frame. You could do so by having slightly less contrast from one element to the next or by having the size of each element gradually get smaller.

Controlling balance With color

Color works great for controlling the balance in a composition. Each color has an opposite (refer to the color wheel provided in Chapter 6) and a certain

weight, so be sure to position the elements of your scene with color in mind. Here are some specific suggestions:

Spread the color throughout the scene instead of having all the strong elements of color stuffed together in one area.

Use an element of color to balance out an element of size, shape, or tone.

Balance color with the absence of color. If one small red dot appears in an otherwise neutral frame, the color stands out (has weight). It also will be balanced by the vast amount of the frame that's lacking color.

Refer to Figure 12-2, and note that the blue sky and orange street on the right side of the frame contrast with each other as complimentary colors. Check out Chapter 6 for more information regarding color in your composition.

Trying out negative space

An area in your composition that contains no points of interest — no clearly represented element but space itself — is referred to as negative space. You can use negative space to balance your composition; in fact, it's fun to experiment with. The more negative space you provide, the more the message becomes about the negative space itself. The less you provide, the more the message becomes about the subject.

A strong subject positioned in the bottom left corner of a frame surrounded by nothing but blank space would appear to be unbalanced. However, if you find the right amount of negative space with which to surround that subject, you can achieve compositional balance.

Each situation is different and requires you to judge how much negative space is necessary in a particular scene. You can determine how much negative space you need to balance out your subject by looking at how heavily weighted your subject is and where it's positioned in your frame.

Figure 12-3 shows how the appropriate amount of negative space can provide balance in a photograph. This example shows how much negative space was required in this scenario to make the image equally about the subject and the negative space.

Your literal understanding of certain elements affects the way you perceive balance and weight. When a person looks small in a scene, you can assume he was far away from the camera at the time of the exposure. If one person is small and another is much larger, you know that distance lies between the two of them in relation to the camera.

50mm, 1/60 sec, f/2, 500

Figure 12-3:Too much or too little negative space could ruin the balance in a photograph, but the right amount gets the job done.

You can make these assumptions because you're familiar with the size of people and can use that familiarity to assume things about an image. Objects, on the other hand, are trickier. If I stick a miniature umbrella (like the ones used to garnish drinks) in the sand and photograph the scene from above, you may assume that it was a beach shot taken from high in the air, perhaps in a helicopter. But, if I placed an empty glass with half-melted ice cubes next to the umbrella, you would know that it was a miniature from the cocktail someone just finished.

When it comes to representing an element's size, some situations require further explanation to get the message across. The viewer needs some element in the scene that has a known value of size (like a person) in order to reveal the size of the other elements. Including that element in your scene gives the composition a sense of scale.

Providing a sense of scale usually is relevant when size matters to your message. A sense of scale is a great way to capture a viewer's attention through the lure of amazement. It's also a great way to tell a story about your subject or the environment in your scene.

For example, a small figure amidst a busy city with towering buildings and traffic jams could send a message about being unremarkable or about being a necessary part of the system, depending on the compositional techniques used to create the message. A small climber on a huge rock face surrounded by wilderness is brave and adventuresome. One small figure at the far end of an expansive room highlights the size of the room and could send a message of being alone or of lacking an identity.

The redwoods in Northern California are one of my favorite things to explore and photograph. These trees are amazing and massive. Relating that size to a viewer is difficult unless you include an element that can be compared to the trees. In the left-hand image of Figure 12-4,1 photographed the trees among themselves, so they appear to be fairly normal in size. In the image on the right side, however, I included a person in the scene to show just how massive the trees actually are.

50mm, 1/15 sec, f/2.2, 100

Figure 12-4:Redwood trees photographed with and without a sense of scale.

Elements that are identical or similar in shape, texture, line, color, tone, or size provide an excellent opportunity to create interesting and compelling compositions through rhythm and repetition. The rhythm in a composition is a combination of balance and repetition (see the earlier section "Creating Harmony with Balance and a Sense of Scale" for more on balance). Repetition is the technique of using elements that are the same as or similar to one another. As elements repeat, or mimic one another, they tend to create patterns, which are easily recognized by viewers. The way you use repetition in your composition determines the composition's rhythm.

When you put a mirror image, or two elements of similar look and size, in a composition, the viewer's eyes jump back and forth to compare the two and to look for similarities and differences. When you put elements of similar look but varying sizes in a composition, the viewer's eyes follow one to the other based on their individual weight in the composition.