Eleanor sent me this photo after reading my post on “101 things to know about photography“. She’s referring to number 42 that says, “The Rule of Thirds is boring”. Since I meant every letter of every wordt, we’ll move on to her photo and question which is:
“Hey Joe, I’ve been working on using all the techniques I learned in your class. I have a photo that I would love your input on. I thought to submit it after reading your “101 Thing You Need to Know Post”, where you said that the “Rule of Thirds is Boring”.
I took the attached photo of my girls climbing on a fence in a neighborhood school yard. I wanted to give equal attention to both of the girls split by the fence post. I instinctively chose to put the girls and the fence in the middle of the frame but I’m questioning whether it works? Perhaps it is not the positioning but the background activity that bothers me. Do you have any suggestions for a different approach?
I did brighten it up a touch before I deciding to submit it.
I hope all is well, Eleanor.”
Eleanor,
Your instinct was right on in my opinion. I really like how you used the fence to divide the page right down the middle. It makes a statement to be sure, and it’s where I would have placed the fence and kids as well. It feels balanced and I also like how each girl is doing her own thing. I especially like it that you have just one of the kids looking in the camera with that great facial gesturing in the form of a big smile. They are the center of interest, so it’s feels right that they’re in the center of the composition.
By the way, stay tuned to my upcoming post on the use of Gesture; both human and non-human.
As I told you in my online class with the PPSOP, and as I tell my students that take my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, Line is the most important element of visual design (everything that exists has an outLine), and the implied line between the subject’s eyes and the lens can be very powerful…as it is in your photo.
It feels fresh and real. The viewer would never know if you had the girl look at you or she looked on her own. it’s your secret, and whether it was staged or not doesn’t matter; you were making pictures, not taking them!!! As you know from my class, there’s only one thing that can overcome an overcast, gray day and that’s Humor. It’s a funny photo while being one of those sweet moments in time.
You’re right about the background activity or lack of. In an upcoming article I wrote for The learning Center at Adorama on the six principles of Gestalt, one of the concepts is called Figure-Ground, and it refers to the relationship between an object (the figure) and the surroundings (the ground).
In this photo, to make the Figure stand out from the Ground, I would have used a longer lens and knocked the background out of focus. Or shot with the lens you had on but shot it at it’s widest aperture. That would have put the focus where it needed to be…on the girls. Besides, no one but you knows that it’s a school yard since it’s not what I call a “quick read”.
Thanks for the submission, and I hope to shoot with you some day.
JoeB
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com and check out my 2012 workshop schedule. Come shoot with me sometime.
Keep those questions and photos coming to: AskJoeB@gmail.com
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I just love how you teach us to step outside the zone of comfort to find those really top drawer compositions Joe. This is a great and well written piece we enjoyed very much, and as a result we’ve come away with a refined insight.
Thanks!!!
Thanks for the review!!!
JoeB
I always see better ways to compose a picture after I have downloaded it on my computer. So I shoot a lot to make up for it.
I think Eleanor’s picture would have been stunning if she had used a wide angle lens almost at ground level so that the horizon was 1/3 from the bottom and the clouds formed the background for the girls climbing
Goeff,
Here’s the problem I see with that: If you put the camera that low to the ground you’ll lose the top of the fence, and you need it to show where it ends. It’s also creating visual tension by placing the top of the fence close to the edge of the frame. If you tilt your camera up to include it you’ll get everything bending in and the distortion will be distracting. If you put the horizon that close to the bottom, you get a lot of cloudy unattractive sky.
To me, she framed it exactly where I would have.
Thanks for your comment. It’s always good to share different ideas.
JoeB
Nice photo Elanor and cudos for having the moxy to break the “Rules” so to speak. Joe B. has said it fairly well and a longer lens as he suggested would be a good idea but, should you not have the fortune of owning one you could also crop the left and right sides of the photo out and still have your subject in the middle. That’s what I would have done in this case. There’s always more than one way to achieve a goal.
Keith,
Why not crop in the camera? It will make you a better photographer…why? by not cropping in the camera you’ll never know where the edges of your frame are. I use the edges of my frame as a compositional tool, as you should. If you have to back to your computer and then crop it…it wasn’t good enough right before you clicked the shutter.
If you crop it the way you suggest, you’re basically turning a rectangle (which is the way we perceive) into a square. You can’t create visual tension in a square. There’s only been a handful of photographers (ever) that have been able to…Diane Arbus for one. There may be one way to achieve a goal, but in my opinion cropping after the fact is not one of them.
If you don’t have a long lens, then you use a wide angle lens and shoot with the widest aperture which will also knock the background out of focus.
Thanks for your comment. I always like to hear different points of view.
JoeB
Thanks!!!
JoeB
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