force myself to 6x6

Better yet, go out looking for subject matter without a frame.
Let the subject dictate in what kind of frame it sits best.

Then, when you pull out a camera (any camera), capture it on film the way the subject suits best. If that means you need to crop later, so be it.

I've been shooting 6x6 for a few months now, like you, I liked the idea of a challenge of composing in the square. Without cropping.
I'm far from an expert on squares (or any format for that matter, have only been into photography for about 2 years) but the compositional rules seem to be quite a bit different, than 35mm, rule of thirds doesn't seem to work as well. It seems to me triangles in the composition have a much bigger impact and are more pleasing to look at.

Maybe you are thinking about it all too much now...


Sinead

jessthespringer said:

I
I'm far from an expert on squares (or any format for that matter, have only been into photography for about 2 years) but the compositional rules seem to be quite a bit different, than 35mm, rule of thirds doesn't seem to work as well.

Click to expand...

Try keeping the central object off-center a bit.

Steve

dpurdy said:

I get annoyed sometimes with the powerful center pull of a square. It is much easier for a composition to have side to side motion with a rectangle. But I still love the square of the Rollei most of the time and to me it isn't just square, it is a circle with corners.

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Hmm, this is interesting. I really like composing for the square, but I don't get the "powerful center pull" or "circle with corners" viewpoint at all---maybe they're related to each other?

To my mind, the square really invites balanced compositions *without* a strong drive to the centre, and I think I see it as four corners that all run into each other rather than a "circle with corners". I guess it does tend to invite static compositions, though, about line rather than motion. I tend to like that, personally.

-NT

nyoung said:

Sounds to me as though you are a "trained" artist - ie one who has had some art school training in the formal traditions.

The square doesn't easliy fit into the "rule-of-thirds" traditional composition paradigm. The other rules fit better in the square - repetition, symmetery, balance etc.

Try visualizing your square frame with corner to corner diagonal lines crossing in the middle. Then compose on the notion of using three of the four resulting triangles instead of the traditional thirds of the rectangular frame.

Click to expand...

...or he could just move the camera around until it looks good to him. Seems to work for me more than composing by formula.

No kidding! Frame a scene, and shoot when it gives you maximum aesthetic satisfaction.

Why the hostility towards knowing some principles of composition? Not everybody finds it helpful to think in those terms, but a lot of people do, and those who don't are probably doing many of the same things by instinct that we less gifted folks have to think our way into.

Knowing about composition and taking that knowledge into account doesn't constitute "composing by formula", any more than knowing scales constitutes "playing music by formula".

-NT

Not quite the same. It is more like painting by numbers.

The most important bit to remember about compositional rules is that they are there to help, not to dictate.
They are not perfect. One big problem with them is that they are 'frame driven', not 'subject driven'. So they tell you how to put something inside a given frame, but never tell you that the subject might be better put inside another frame.
They also do not take the nature of the subject into account. They cannot, because they cannot know what it is that you are taking pictures of. And that can make a huge difference to how you want to place different parts of the subject in relation to each other.

So i do believe that the best thing to do is to study your subject, decide how it should be captured on film, without having a specific frame in mind.
Then see how it will fit inside the frame you happen to be using. And if necessary, be prepared to crop, rather than to force it inside that arbitrary frame.

But yes, i do see the fun in trying to make best use of a given frame too.
Depends on what you want to do. Take 'portraits', of things, situations, people. Or create pleasant pictures.

Have you seen this site?
http://www.fotografiewimvanvelzen.nl/publication02.htm

I often shoot square on a Bronica SQa then play with different rectangular crops.

ntenny said:

Why the hostility towards knowing some principles of composition? Not everybody finds it helpful to think in those terms, but a lot of people do, and those who don't are probably doing many of the same things by instinct that we less gifted folks have to think our way into.

Knowing about composition and taking that knowledge into account doesn't constitute "composing by formula", any more than knowing scales constitutes "playing music by formula".

-NT

Click to expand...

I agree. I suspect that everyone can benefit by composing within a few different aspect ratios.