Did It Do It: Did It Make People Want To Give Your Photograph More Than A Cursory Look?

by Joe on August 7, 2019

Moving the viewer around the frame

Well my fellow photographers, here is another in the series of my “did it do it” list for good composition. If you study all of them that wll be forthcoming, you’re imagery will most definitely go what I refer to as “up a notch”. As I’ve said all along, these are not rules since rules will hinder your creative thinking. They are guidelines to making strong photos; photos that will be remembered.

Will your composition make people want to give your photograph more than a cursory look? Well first things first. First let’s see what the dictionary says about the cursory:

cursory |ˈkərsərē|
adjective
hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed : a cursory glance at the figures.

In other words, will it make the viewer want to stick around and spend more time looking. In order for the viewer to be more thorough or detailed, you have to provide enough elements for him to be thorough with.

In my online classes with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet, I teach my fellow photographers how to use the elements of Visual Design and Composition to create strong photos. A lot of what I teach includes the power of Gestalt. The methods we use to gain attention to our photos will vary, but what’s important is how we manage what the viewer perceives and processes when he/she looks at the visual information we lay out to him in the form of a photograph.

Visual input is a part of our everyday life. As photographer’s it’s up to us to present this information in a way that will control what the viewer sees when looking at our imagery. The more ways we can get the viewer to move around our composition, while at the same time leaving and entering our frame, the longer they will stick around. The more things we can get the viewer to discover ( layers of interest) while moving him around will also keep him around longer. This is how the elements of Visual Design can play an important part in giving our images more than a cursory look.

Isn’t that just what we want?

🙂

Visit my new website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2019 workshop schedule.