Composition Rules...really?

Vaughn · Jan 25, 2016

Running away from fear is only one of many normal reactions to fear. I do not see artists as running from perceived Chaos. Just the opposite!!! To run is to take a non-creative, non-artistic approach to the problem. Running to the comfort of such things as rules, tradition, religion, and denial. It is the act of creation that allows us to see into Chaos.

But this is just as I see it now. Your 'Running away from Chaos into the arms of Art' might just be as good of a fit.

removed account4 · May 1, 2021

Sirius Glass said:
Oh, another Fauto$hopper showing off what a great computer he has

I'd rather read posts made by this person who shows their work than someone who goes on about gear they own and doesn't show any photos, it gives me the added extra of seeing them walk the walk and talk the talk

awty · May 2, 2021

blansky said:
Humans do not function well within chaos.

You should see my darkroom, guess thats what I'm doing wrong.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 2, 2021

Other areas that involve the senses that have rules. Art, music, cooking, cinema and writing have rules and theories on what is pleasing. Only advanced practitioners could break them successfully and push the boundaries of the discipline. Most relevant artists aren’t bourgeois if they create art in their own voice. To me, good art allows me to escape daily routine and come back changed with a fresh perspective.

foc · May 3, 2021

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Other areas that involve the senses that have rules. Art, music, cooking, cinema and writing have rules and theories on what is pleasing. Only advanced practitioners could break them successfully and push the boundaries of the discipline.

+1

Craig75 · May 3, 2021

bumping 5 year old threads to go fishing is lame as f

Down Under · May 3, 2021

awty said:
You should see my darkroom, guess thats what I'm doing wrong.

My (temporarily set up) darkroom is in the same space as our wine cabinet - I most definitely know what I am doing wrong!

As for five year old threads, well, so what? They can be fun to revisit. After all one should reasonably expect to have learned a few new tricks in that time.

As for my compositions, the less said the better. As an architect (now mercifully retired), I think in grids. I also learned what I know about photography from two old guide books - 'How To Take Good Pictures' and ''This Is Photography'. Both will be familiar to almost every photographer aged fifty or older.

I found much useful information in those two now prehistoric books, even if it has taken me almost half a century to resist the impulse to put tree branches and leaves in strategic corners and edges of all my compositions.

Alan Edward Klein · May 3, 2021

ozmoose said:
My (temporarily set up) darkroom is in the same space as our wine cabinet - I most definitely know what I am doing wrong!
...
I found much useful information in those two now prehistoric books, even if it has taken me almost half a century to resist the impulse to put tree branches and leaves in strategic corners and edges of all my compositions.

What's wrong with leaves and tree branches?

Bow Bridge by Alan Klein, on Flickr

grain elevator · May 3, 2021

Vaughn said:
This caught my eye, also. It might be one of the main drivers of art...to bring some form to the chaos and to somehow stand above the chaos for awhile, rather than trying to hide or isolate oneself from chaos.

Excellent thought.
Thanks for bringing this thread back from the dead, I'll read it through!

Sirius Glass · May 3, 2021

ozmoose said:
I found much useful information in those two now prehistoric books, even if it has taken me almost half a century to resist the impulse to put tree branches and leaves in strategic corners and edges of all my compositions.

The tree branch is still a way to frame the composition. You may choose to avoid it; sometimes I found it useful.

removed account4 · May 3, 2021

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Other areas that involve the senses that have rules. Art, music, cooking, cinema and writing have rules and theories on what is pleasing. Only advanced practitioners could break them successfully and push the boundaries of the discipline. Most relevant artists aren’t bourgeois if they create art in their own voice. To me, good art allows me to escape daily routine and come back changed with a fresh perspective.

+2

Alan Edward Klein said:
What's wrong with leaves and tree branches?

Bow Bridge by Alan Klein, on Flickr

absolutely nothing! beautiful photograph. its like one of those French impressionistic scenes from the 1880s
thanks for posting !

Alan Edward Klein · May 3, 2021

jnantz said:
+2

absolutely nothing! beautiful photograph. its like one of those French impressionistic scenes from the 1880s
thanks for posting !

Does that make me a French impressionist artist? Wow. I'm impressed. You made my day.

removed account4 · May 3, 2021

Alan Edward Klein said:
Does that make me a French impressionist artist? Wow. I'm impressed. You made my day.

not sure, unless you are a time traveller!
you made my day too
thanks!
John

Andrew O'Neill · May 3, 2021

You have to have some sort of rules for most teens, otherwise you end up with shite. I also stress image management.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 3, 2021

I remember when I was an undergrad taking a class on composition. We used stacks of art books put tracing paper over works of art then pick apart how it was composed by drawing lines, shading in and drawing shapes on the paper. It's like learning how an automobile engine worked by taking it apart. This was after a few weeks on lectures on the rules of composition and how it comes together. These same rules apply to all 2 dimensional art including cinema. Anything that fit within a square or rectangular frame. Once applied in a viewfinder thousands of times, it becomes second nature like a chef tasting a dish as it's cooked. It takes lots practice.

lxdude · May 27, 2022

ozmoose said:
it has taken me almost half a century to resist the impulse to put tree branches and leaves in strategic corners and edges of all my compositions.

That must have made for some interesting indoor shots.

Minolta93 · May 27, 2022

ozmoose said:
I also learned what I know about photography from two old guide books - 'How To Take Good Pictures' and ''This Is Photography'.

I ought to check the library for these. I'm sure they don't have them, but they do have The Camera and The Negative, both of which I have checked out.

Brendan Quirk · May 27, 2022

bvy said:
One word informs just about all of my compositions: Balance.

Looking at your media, you do indeed show great spatial balance.

gone · May 27, 2022

I NEVER

thOUgHt

CompoSiTION
mATTeReDALL
....................................ThaT mUcH

Alex Benjamin · May 28, 2022

"A good image is created by a state of grace. Grace expresses itself when it has been freed from conventions, free like a child in his early discovery of the reality. The game is then to organize the rectangle." — Sergio Larrain

bjorke · Dec 3, 2023

Craig75 said:
bumping 5 year old threads to go fishing is lame as f

It WAS a reply to Blansky*, whose professed goal for his photography is "timelessness."

* Creator of the "McBlane School of Advanced Troublemaking." Do a search if you don't believe me.

Philippe-Georges · Dec 3, 2023

bvy said:
The best rules for composition are not the ones you study and memorize and try to apply forcibly, but the ones that come intuitively, naturally. One word informs just about all of my compositions: Balance.

Exactly!
And add to that some Fingerspitzengefühl, and there you are...

Vaughn · Dec 3, 2023

My word of the day!

Be here now, Mr. Fingerspitzengefühl!

GregY · Dec 3, 2023

Vaughn said:
My word of the day!

Be here now, Mr. Fingerspitzengefühl!

Indeed..... f8 & be here now w/ it

foc · Dec 3, 2023

Composition Rules...really?

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"A good image is created by a state of grace. Grace expresses itself when it has been freed from conventions, free like a child in his early discovery of the reality. The game is then to organize the rectangle." — Sergio Larrain