Okay,
last time I posted I shared about the
photography class and showed my old photos for assignment one, which are all from back in 2008. I had planned on taking new photos yesterday and today, but I just haven't had the time or opportunity. So I decided I would repost these old photos, but this time explain what compositional rules I was trying to show with each photo, but I'll start with an older photo that I haven't posted yet, just to keep something "new" on top, I also put an old one I haven't posted before down at the end of this post.
Now, while its obvious that you are looking at something wooden, with peeling paint, you can't really tell what it is, so I guess its abstract enough. With this photograph I was mostly utilizing the rule of thirds. The big crack in the wood is approximately 1/3 from the left side, and the nail is located at the intersection of the imaginary lines one third down from the top, and one third in from the left. I think I maybe could have made this even better by putting it at an angle, so that I was also using the wood grain to create diagonals and triangles. I may try the same idea at an an angle and see if I like it.
Now, you have seen these photos already, but I posted them without explanation.
This one is not very abstract, but I still used several compositional rules. You can see that the cheese placed on top of the tomatoes is approximately 1/3 from the left, and the top of the closest tomato piece is about 1/3 from the top. In addition, the edges of the tomato create lines that are almost triangular.
This next photo utilizes the rule of thirds, and is pretty good at keeping it abstract. You can see that there are two objects with a space in between, and that space is placed 1/3 from the left, in between that space you can see another thing, which is not in focus, but is still visible, it is passing horizontally through the space between the objects, and it is placed 1/3 from the top. The patterning on the objects create some triangular lines, and some hints as spirals, but that was not intentional, nor is it boldly evident.
On this photo you can see what is obviously a stuffed animals ear placed at the intersection of 1/3 from the bottom and 1/3 from the right, the pattern in the cloth behind in forms obvious triangles. It is not the prettiest photo I've ever taken, but it does demonstrate the rules that I wanted to demonstrate. If I could change one thing though, I would slant the lines in the cloth a little more, creating stronger diagonals, and I would put some other element coming into the frame from the top left corner to create a diagonal the other way.
Here I was using the rule of thirds and rhythm. However, I distinctly remember taking this photo, the light was poor, and I had no more candles, I couldn't fill the frame with candles and the poor lighting affected the focus. I actually like the idea behind this photo though, and may recreate it the way I wanted it to be.
This next photo is one of my absolute favorites. I really want to get the non-watermarked version framed and hang it on my living room wall. I know its not that hard to figure out what it is if you've ever seen one before, but it just looks pretty. The hole is placed at the intersection of 1/3 from the top and 1/3 from the right, and the "veins" radiating out from that hole create some very interesting looking diagonals and triangles, it is also a good example of the rule "fill the frame". There is nothing I would change about this shot.
So sorry to bore you with old photos, but I wanted to reevaluate them myself before beginning to so this assignment again.
Now here is another photo I took a long time ago, it is not at all abstract, but shows the "frame within a frame" idea, and the tree trunk and branches create a definite triangle, also, the edge of the water is about 1/3 up from the bottom of the photo, and its just pretty!
I notice that I did not do anything to emphasize negative space, so I will have to try to take a shot using that compositional rule, as well as try to improve on some of the rules I already used.
