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Thread: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

  1. #1
    Elephant
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    Default The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    The DoMeBo Photography Class
    Lesson #4 – “Picture Framing”

    This lesson is about composing your photographs. Good composition is the most important you can learn to take better photographs. If you’re not participating in the rest of the class lessons, I strongly encourage you to at least do this one lesson.

    It is a difficult thing to codify the ways to take a good picture. As Ansel Adams said, “There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” I will do my best to lay out the normal guidelines as I understand and interpret them.

    Artistic Lessons:
    - Thinking two-dimensionally
    - Finding the picture
    - Rule of thirds
    - Filling the frame
    - Framing
    - Shooting angles
    - Perspective

    Technical Lesson:
    - Cropping

    To be continued...
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  2. #2
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Thinking Two-Dimensionally
    Before we get to anything else, you need to always remember that a photograph is a two-dimensional piece of art. It may represent a 3D world, but the photo itself is flatter than Kansas. As such, all the rules of visual design apply. The only trick to adhering to them is that you have to mentally flatten the universe before you push the shutter button.

    Some people can do this naturally; others can learn how to do it. Some use help, like little card with a rectangular hole in it that you can hold up to a view to see how it looks. You can use your fingers for the same effect.

    Finding the Picture
    Good photography is about creating a visually-pleasing image. If you see a scene or an object that interests you, more effort is needed to turn that into a good photo than simply pointing and shooting. Move the camera around to make it both a photo of something beautiful and a beautiful photo in and of itself.

    . . . . .
    More in a moment...
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  3. #3
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    The Rule of Thirds
    You may have heard of this one. It is a simple, but effective, rule of the visual arts that can create an interesting and dynamic picture.

    Divide the field of view into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Imagine lines at these divisions.


    The four places where these lines meet are points of interest. They are the best locations in the field of view to place the subject of your photograph, but anywhere along the lines is good. The placement does not have to be exactly in these locations, just getting close is good enough.

    . . . . . . . . .
    In a landscape photograph, line the horizon up with one of the two horizontal lines. Vertical object such as trees should line up with one of the vertical lines.


    In portraits, the eyes are usually focal points, so try to get one of the subject’s eyes at one of the points of interest.


    Filling the Frame
    You want to avoid unnecessary space filled with nothing around the edges of your frame. The easiest way to do this is to get closer to your subject. It will be larger and take up more of the frame. You want things spilling off the edges, even if it’s parts of a person’s head.

    . . . . . . . .


    After these messages we’ll be right back...
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  4. #4
    Oliphaunt featherlou's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Lesson 4? I was waiting for lesson #3! What happened, man?

  5. #5
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Framing
    This is related to filling the frame. In this sense, “framing” means incorporating visual elements at the edges of the frame to frame the subject. This usually involves objects in the foreground, such as plants and such. Taking a landscape from just behind a tree, for example, lets you use the branches above at a framing element to the hills beyond.


    In this photo, dark and out-of-focus items on the store shelves bracket the sleeping cashier.


    Shooting Angles
    I’ve mentioned this before. In addition to getting closer, getting the camera up high or down low, or in some extreme location can go a long way towards a good photograph. Placing the camera on or very near the ground can do wonders. Just take a look at some of the photographers in this collection of pictures and what they do for a good shot.

    Some of Ansel Adams’s most famous shots of Yosemite were taken from just off the same roads we can drive now, only he was close to twenty feet off the ground with his tripod standing on a custom-made platform on the roof of his car.

    This isn’t the typical shot of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. I squatted on the ground and shot up. I could have gotten further down.
    This was taken with a really shitty camera intended for shooting video. It has no zoom and no aperture control. Just by changing up the angles I was able to take a decent picture.


    Perspective
    When shooting things with straight lines like buildings, you can use the lines of perspective to direct the eye of the viewer. Converging lines are more visually interesting than parallel lines.


    If you have an object or a person located in front of the vanishing point, the lines will point at it in the two-dimensional image.

    But wait! There’s more! ...
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  6. #6
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Post Production Technical Lesson:
    Cropping
    You can take an ordinary, boring photograph and use readily-available tool to crop it into a better photograph. This allows you to eliminate unnecessary space at the edges, move the subject nearer to the points of interest and lines of the Rule of Thirds, and make the subject larger in the frame.

    Remember when you draw the box that will create the new frame that you don’t have to have things exactly in the interest points or lines, just close. If you lose important visual elements in your effort to get better composition, you may want to weigh the benefits of the crop.

    Since cropping is one of the most common things done to pictures, it should be fairly easy to find the crop function in whatever tool you’re using. If you’re having trouble, just post about it and we’ll help you with that specific tool.
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  7. #7
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Links to previous threads:
    Lesson #1
    Lesson #2 has been delayed. It will be posted after this lesson is completed.
    Lesson #3

    Setup thread
    Side conversation thread

    Other related threads:
    On image hosting solutions
    On artificially arranging photos
    On photo editing tools
    [/quote]
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  8. #8
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)


    Assignment: Take two photos, one landscape and one portrait, that strongly demonstrate the Rule of Thirds, Visual Balance, and Visual Flow. The use of foreground object for framing at the edge of the frame is encouraged.
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  9. #9
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by featherlou
    Lesson 4? I was waiting for lesson #3! What happened, man?
    Sorry for the confusion. We temporarily skipped Lesson #2, but then I messed up the thread title for Lesson #3.
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  10. #10
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by garygnu

    Assignment: Take two photos, one landscape and one portrait, that strongly demonstrate the Rule of Thirds, Visual Balance, and Visual Flow. The use of foreground object for framing at the edge of the frame is encouraged.
    In post #1 you mention:

    Artistic Lessons:
    - Thinking two-dimensionally
    - Finding the picture
    - Rule of thirds
    - Filling the frame
    - Framing
    - Shooting angles
    - Perspective

    Technical Lesson:
    - Cropping


    Visual balance=? Visual flow=? Are the above subcategories of balance and flow, with cropping being a tool to help achieve them?

    ETA: Are we continuing in B/W for the duration?
    My latest photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lobotomyboy63

    Major gear: Olympus E520 w/2 AF Zuiko, 3 adapted Minolta MD, Metz Flash, Digital King 0.7x wide angle auxiliary, Slik tripod, Lowepro pack, intervalometer en route, + Canon & Oly PS.

  11. #11
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    OK, I think I'm going to be the heretic here. Here are two pictures that I took last weekend that fit the Rule of Thirds:




    Yes, the Rule of Thirds throws them off balance to make the composition more interesting than a symmetrical photo would.

    But composition is (at least in part) about creating tension. Try this:


    It's the Rule of Thirds gone wild: all the action is in the left third of the picture, and the other two-thirds are basically empty. That big empty space creates a lot of tension, symbolising the tension of those children waiting for the parade.

    But you can create tension in other ways:


    This picture avoids, as far as possible, the Rule of Thirds but it deliberately putsa highly symmetrical subject off centre.

    And symmetry can create a tension by just being unexpected:

    (though the red book-return box spoils the symmetry - and perhaps therefore adds to the picture, as the comment from klj_francis suggests - he's a good photographer that I've met several times, and whose opinions I value.)

  12. #12
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    This [img][/img] image is one that I feel has good flow. Your eye is immediately drawn across the three window and then along the grain of rock the the details in the ceiling. Later, you notice the rock niche in the lower left and, if you could see it in much higher resolution, you'd notice some ghostly handprints in the dark rock above the left hand window. It's not so busy that it's distracting, but your eye is drawn around the image.
    This is the most beautiful place on Earth; there are many such places.

  13. #13
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    This one some of you may have already seen, but I feel it has good flow. You notice the interest points according to the rule of thirds and then, later you notice the periphery like the rocks in the lower right and the flash of light up top.
    This is the most beautiful place on Earth; there are many such places.

  14. #14
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by Giles
    And symmetry can create a tension by just being unexpected:

    (though the red book-return box spoils the symmetry - and perhaps therefore adds to the picture, as the comment from klj_francis suggests - he's a good photographer that I've met several times, and whose opinions I value.)
    The red book-return box definitely makes the picture in that case. Without it, it's just another picture of a building facade. The interplay between the primary blue and primary red give this picture interest. My only comment is the perspective is just a little off-kilter, and clean horizontals and verticals would better play with the geometry.

  15. #15
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    I'm confused - was there ever a lesson #3? The last thread said lesson #2 in the title but #3 in the body of the thread, so I'm guessing the typo was in the title.

    Edit: nevermind, I should read the responses next time.

  16. #16
    Stegodon Dragon's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Bandit in a tree & the agcat. Not the best pictures but what I chose to show what the lesson called for.





    Edit to add this one from November of 1991, 200 NM S/E of Norfolk.

    No job is too hard for the person who does not have to do it.

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    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by lobotomyboy63
    ...
    ETA: Are we continuing in B/W for the duration?
    First, yes I would prefer picture in black and white. This removes the ability for color to influence the eye on a composition.
    This is exemplified by:
    Quote Originally posted by Giles
    No offense, but this is a rather bland picture, IMHO. The red return box really pops, though, and draws the eye to it. If made black and white:

    It’s just another building façade.

    On a side note, it looks like there is some lens distortion at the sides of that picture.


    For most of the examples in my lecture, I deliberately used poorly-scanned black and white photos. “Fucked up and photocopied” in a way, to try and focus on the compositions themselves.
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  18. #18
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    A couple of specific responses:

    (1) If the picture's in colour, then the arrangement of colours is part of the composition -- and, yes, that picture probably does not work so well in black and white for that reason.

    (2) That picture was taken using a Sigma 10–20mm f/4–5.6 EX DC HSM lens on a Canon XT DSLR, at the 10mm end of its range. It's not supposed to have distortion, but it's not surprising with such a short focal length.

    And a general point: I take a lot of pictures of older buildings, and sometimes I think it's better to emphasise their symmetry by taking a picture square on, so tht the resulting picture is symmetrical. In this case, I couldn't get far enough back, because another building was in the way. I tried taking a series of pictures and stitching them together, but the result had even worse distortion than this one. I might try putting that stitched picture into Photoshop this evening, to see if I can get a better picture of the whole of this building.

    But thanks for the feedback: I'm always trying to do better.

  19. #19
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by Giles
    And a general point: I take a lot of pictures of older buildings, and sometimes I think it's better to emphasise their symmetry by taking a picture square on, so tht the resulting picture is symmetrical.
    I agree with you. Symmetry can be boring, but symmetry can be quite peaceful, serene, stately. Personally, I like symmetry with a twist of serendipity, something to throw the symmetry off just a little bit. Like you did with the red drop box. I might like one more element in the photo to make it even more interesting, like an out-of-focus passerby close up in the foreground on the left side of the frame or something like that--or how about getting lucky and having a pedestrian wearing a bright red or green outfit walking down the left side of the frame on the library's sidewalk? That sort of unexpected, unplanned for thing. However, as a still, geometry-and-color-based modern composition, I think the subject has potential, but only if you go the pure geometry route, with the strong verticals, horizontals, and rectangles in your composition. I might even try some more whacked-out croppings that de-emphasize the symmetry.

  20. #20
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Posting to subscribe, basically.
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  21. #21
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by lobotomyboy63
    ...
    Visual balance=? Visual flow=? Are the above subcategories of balance and flow, with cropping being a tool to help achieve them?
    Now for the meat of your question...
    Are you reading my lesson plan notes? Because right here on a pad of paper I wrote out a few weeks ago is:
    “1. Rule of Thirds
    2. Balance
    3. Visual Flow”

    I guess I’ll have to get to it now.

    Balance
    I learned the rules of visual balance not in photography, but in graphic design, where things can be easily more simplified. Basically, your image is a four-way teeter totter for the eyes, and you should have it all balance out. This is added to the natural imbalance of using the rule of thirds, so you have to equalize*.

    *: I’ll cover the ins and outs of breaking the rules on purpose shortly.

    Formal Balance
    Simply having the subject in the center of the frame, equally up down left and right.

    Balance of Tone
    A small, dark object can be balanced by a larger but lighter object opposing it.
    In this photo the white sign counters the darker tone of the building behind it.

    Balance by Shape
    Or by detail, this is common. Large areas of blur can be balanced by a smaller object with detail.
    The size difference could be even more sizable, but this is still a decent example.

    Balance by Texture
    Very similar to by Shape, but more applicable to painting or drawing. Large areas of nothingness can be balanced by a smaller area of texture.
    Here the bark on the tree is balanced by the unfocused, flat building next to it.

    Balance by Position
    A small object pushed to the extremes can balance the larger subject closer to the middle of the frame.
    You can find many examples of this is many photographs. Here the flagpole on the right balances the building on the left, despite being much smaller.

    Balance by Direction
    Using lines in your photograph to direct the eyes to a balance point.
    This is uses perspective to point from one building to the other, but outstretched arms can do a wonderful job, too.

    Balance by Color
    This doesn’t exist. [handwave] The world exists only in greyscale.

    OK, it’s just like balance by tone, only it uses either color differences or color saturation. Saturation is how bright or dull a color is.


    Next up, visual flow...
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  22. #22
    Oliphaunt
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    posting to subscribe as well.

  23. #23
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by Giles
    ...
    But composition is (at least in part) about creating tension. Try this:


    It's the Rule of Thirds gone wild: all the action is in the left third of the picture, and the other two-thirds are basically empty. That big empty space creates a lot of tension, symbolising the tension of those children waiting for the parade.
    I dissed you on that previous example, so I’'m going to compliment you here. I really like this picture. The empty, open road balances the mass of people on the left, and the heads looking, particularly the one leaning out, creates a great sense of anticipation. It also works without color. Here I both desaturated it and cropped it a bit to get rid of some unused space. The desaturation used mainly the red color channel to get a good contrast between the boy’s green shirt, it now much darker, and the road.

    --

    Quote Originally posted by Dragon
    ...
    Edit to add this one from November of 1991, 200 NM S/E of Norfolk.

    This one is fabulous. The apparent horizon, the waterline, is right on that top horizontal third line, and the deck lines up with the right vertical line. It even works in black and white, although the orange weight(?) situated at the top right interest point doesn’t stand out like it does in color. (I checked.)
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  24. #24

  25. #25
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by garygnu
    This one is fabulous. The apparent horizon, the waterline, is right on that top horizontal third line, and the deck lines up with the right vertical line. It even works in black and white, although the orange weight(?) situated at the top right interest point doesn’t stand out like it does in color. (I checked.)
    It also like to add that there's a great sense of movement with the sweep of the lines heading from the bottom left of the frame to the top right third (forming a nice triangular shape there, too, another common compositional concept). The dynamic lines paired with the dramatic crashing of the waves makes for good drama.

  26. #26
    troubleagain
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    See, y'all are praising Dragon's picture, but it just makes me seasick.

  27. #27
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by garygnu
    Assignment: Take two photos, one landscape and one portrait
    What constitutes a landscape? When I think of "landscape" I usually think "nature", although I'm surrounded by a lot more concrete than natural elements (of course there are parks but I like to take pictures of the city too). Can a picture in a city still count as a landscape?

  28. #28
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by Rigamarole
    Quote Originally posted by garygnu
    Assignment: Take two photos, one landscape and one portrait
    What constitutes a landscape? When I think of "landscape" I usually think "nature", although I'm surrounded by a lot more concrete than natural elements (of course there are parks but I like to take pictures of the city too). Can a picture in a city still count as a landscape?
    I think he means horizontally and vertically, like how you refer to printing things "landscape" and "portrait."
    My latest photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lobotomyboy63

    Major gear: Olympus E520 w/2 AF Zuiko, 3 adapted Minolta MD, Metz Flash, Digital King 0.7x wide angle auxiliary, Slik tripod, Lowepro pack, intervalometer en route, + Canon & Oly PS.

  29. #29
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by lobotomyboy63
    I think he means horizontally and vertically, like how you refer to printing things "landscape" and "portrait."
    I think that's right -- and my first picture broke that rule, since it's square, with the same height and width.

  30. #30
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by lobotomyboy63
    Quote Originally posted by Rigamarole
    Quote Originally posted by garygnu
    Assignment: Take two photos, one landscape and one portrait
    What constitutes a landscape? When I think of "landscape" I usually think "nature", although I'm surrounded by a lot more concrete than natural elements (of course there are parks but I like to take pictures of the city too). Can a picture in a city still count as a landscape?
    I think he means horizontally and vertically, like how you refer to printing things "landscape" and "portrait."
    Yes, one horizontal and one vertical. If the subjects are also a landscape of some sort and a portrait of a person, that would be great, too.
    I do not bite my thumb at you, but I bite my thumb.

  31. #31
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Do you still want the exposure detail, Gary?

    1) For these, I set the Canon at ISO 80, 15 seconds at f/7.1, to equal -1 full EV. I used a tripod and the 10 second self-timer. I had tried the two second self-timer but it was still shaky. I didn't tweak them beyond sharpening and converting to BW.

    Here's the horizontal.



    Here's the vertical. Sorry it's small but I had a BODACIOUS time with DoMeBo or Photobucket or something. I tried resizing in photobucket more than once and it kept putting an image on the post preview what wouldn't even FIT on my 15 inch screen. I didn't know that was possible in here. Ah well.

    [spoiler:3nkssh6y]Wish I'd realized the tripod shadow was in there. Ah well...from that vantage point, it couldn't be helped I guess.[/spoiler:3nkssh6y].



    Larger sizes (both BW and color) are here.

    http://picasaweb.google.com/lobotomyboy ... r04_08_09#

    2) These are really the same picture...the vertical is a crop of the horizontal. I didn't tweak them beyond sharpening, cropping, and converting to BW. I set the Olympus to ISO 80, it chose 1/1250 sec at f/2.7 (-2/3 EV). I don't know why it kept upping the shutter speed instead of stopping down the aperture some but I wish I had more DOF in the leaves etc. Ah well.

    Here's the horizontal:





    Larger images (both BW and color) are here.

    http://picasaweb.google.com/lobotomyboy ... ForDomebo#

    Finally, couple of random shots. How do you photograph a girl flying a kite? With a lot of uninteresting sky, I guess.



    Also I've been trying to shoot from the hip. Holding the camera at my side, I don't raise it to my eye to compose and I don't even break my stride, hoping to get natural expressions on faces. Here's a heavily cropped image.

    My latest photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lobotomyboy63

    Major gear: Olympus E520 w/2 AF Zuiko, 3 adapted Minolta MD, Metz Flash, Digital King 0.7x wide angle auxiliary, Slik tripod, Lowepro pack, intervalometer en route, + Canon & Oly PS.

  32. #32
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Heh, color me as one confused between "portrait" and "landscape" as "subject matter" rather than "visual alignment!" :

    So: A portrait, in portrait:



    Pardon the grain--I was working with a forced ISO of 800 and no flash in a small, gloss white painted bathroom lighted by a 100 watt CFL. This was desaturated to b/w and I played around with the contrasts a bit to emphasize the contours of his face.

    Then I was just assing around in the mirror and quite by accident took a portrait in landscape--if you rotate it 90 degrees clockwise it's at the proper orientation according to the camera but that removes about every bit of visual interest in the picture. I cropped it a tiny bit on the left to increase the discordant angles of the edge of the mirror with the edge of the frame:



    Then I still had this landscape in portrait that I'd cropped and desaturated already so I'm gonna post it regardless, yo!

    "And I hope I don't get born again, 'cuz one time was enough!" -- Mark Sandman

  33. #33
    Oliphaunt featherlou's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Working with the law of 2/3s and my favourite subject -


    Visual flow - I would improve this picture by removing the hanging plant - it's pretty cluttered on that side.


    Partial picture and balance -


    Framing -


    I also misunderstood the instructions for portrait and landscape meaning the orientation - I'll go out tomorrow and take some portrait pictures.

  34. #34
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Gary, I have to say that you're doing a great job in this thread, you have inspired some interesting images from the students. Here are a couple of mine which i have desaturated.


    I just love the short palm tree!



    My good friend Richard

  35. #35
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by david86blue
    Gary, I have to say that you're doing a great job in this thread, you have inspired some interesting images from the students...
    Thank you. I’m very happy with what I’ve seen so far in this lesson. I’ll critique them individually once we get some more turned in.
    I do not bite my thumb at you, but I bite my thumb.

  36. #36
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    I’d like to add some further information about filling the frame.

    I was going through my negatives, scanning in ones that illustrated visual balance, when I found these next two photographs. The first is a fairly typical, amateurish shot of a father holding his baby:
    There is loads of wasted space, and the ugly fence behind them is in focus. The bench is unnecessary. Even if it followed the rule of thirds, which it doesn’t, there just isn’t anything worth viewing.

    The second one is essentially the same shot, only I had moved closer and I may have also zoomed in more. The resulting photo has much more impact:
    So what if the top of the father’s head is lopped off? You can see the baby’s facial expression much more clearly. At this point the photo is no longer of a father holding his baby. It’s a photo of a cute, happy baby being held by her father. What little of the background that is still visible is out of focus.
    Neither image has been cropped. The top picture could be cropped to get a similar effect, but in this case the expressions on both faces and the kid’s arm position are also better. If the top one was to be cropped, one may be tempted to keep the father’s whole head in, which is not necessary.

    - - - - - - - - -

    So the moral of the story is: get close. Think about what is visible at the edges of your frame, and if it is necessary. Can you get rid of it, or can you somehow replace it with something better?

    How much of your subject do you really need to show? In these two portraits, significant portions of the subjects are not in frame, but it doesn’t matter. In fact, the photos are better for the lack of inclusion:


    I do not bite my thumb at you, but I bite my thumb.

  37. #37
    troubleagain
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    david86blue, the short palm tree *makes* the shot!

  38. #38
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Quote Originally posted by david86blue

    I just love the short palm tree!
    Am I the only one seeing these as tuba keys and "hearing" the picture as an oompah tune? Yes? Okay, I'll go now...
    "And I hope I don't get born again, 'cuz one time was enough!" -- Mark Sandman

  39. #39
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    I was looking through my own stuff to find something that Garygnu's baby shot shows. One of the best ways to get better at composition is to take shots that you already have and use for pieces of paper to 'crop' them into better photos.
    This is the most beautiful place on Earth; there are many such places.

  40. #40
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    " Smart Aleq wrote
    Am I the only one seeing these as tuba keys and "hearing" the picture as an oompah tune? Yes? Okay, I'll go now... "

    I am enchanted by that mental image; I'll never look at it the same way again.

    Thank you!

  41. #41
    Oliphaunt featherlou's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    My portrait orientation pictures - a local rock formation up close and personal demonstating law of two-thirds and balance -



    Some wild grasses - demonstrating law of two-thirds and balance and taking pictures really close up -


  42. #42
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Here are my submissions for the week.



    I had the good fortune of having a beautiful model for this photo (my girlfriend).



    Two buildings in West L.A.

  43. #43
    Stegodon Dragon's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Thought I'd add this one I just took here at the desk with the Fuji s6000 fd set on RAW & b/w
    400
    auto focus
    1/40 at 3.2f

    No job is too hard for the person who does not have to do it.

  44. #44
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    I am not entirely happy with any of these, just for the record:

    Portrait:

    For those who are curious, that's a badger skull and coyote vertebrae. Both were gifts.

    Landscape:
    Aunt Em - Hate you, hate Kansas, took the dog - Dorothy.

  45. #45
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    I only had access to some of the most boring subjects in the world.

    Framing:


    F7.1, 1/500, ISO100

    Tried to get the trunk of the tree and the branches over the top as the frame. As I mentioned above I seriously lacked decent subjects. Didn't work out exactly like I would have hoped.

    Rule of Thirds Horozontal:

    Large
    F2.3, 1/6, ISO100, Exposure Bias -.7

    A little oil candle thingy. This picture kept overexposing with the flash which was why I brought it to -.7EV.

    Rule of Thirds Horozontal:

    Large
    F2.5, 1/2, ISO100, Exposure Bias -.7

    The best of the ones I took. The further turtle seems to be JUST on the edge of the depth of field, but I love the way the color stands out.

    Rule of Thirds Vertical:

    Large

    There were other little votives beyond the three I got and it was hard keeping them out of the picture. The blue candle was a little closer to center than I would have liked (probably error in the display) but I tried to put it down the left "thirds" axis.

    QUESTION: To the more experienced photographers...how do you shoot a subject you like? To you tend to take multiple exposures in case one is off? I know my camera has a "bracketing" function where it will exposure up and down a stop, do you do this also? I've been finding myself being a little disappointed lately thinking a I had a shot, then when I get it on the computer, I find out I didn't (the turtles).

  46. #46
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    I always take multiples of a still-life. I took seven photographs of the skull to get those two that I was semi-pleased with.
    Aunt Em - Hate you, hate Kansas, took the dog - Dorothy.

  47. #47
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Oh yeah. I click the shutter non-stop and then pick my favorite frames later.

  48. #48
    Oliphaunt featherlou's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Yeah - the two pictures I posted for the portrait orientation came from 75 shots.

  49. #49
    Elephant
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)

    Ah, yes. Another secret of good photography: volume.
    The required corollary is you have to cull the herd, too.
    I do not bite my thumb at you, but I bite my thumb.

  50. #50
    Stegodon Papaw's avatar
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    Default Re: The DoMeBo Photography Class - Lesson #4 (Composition)





    I think these are good examples.
    Vintage Wrench Collector Tool Talk
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