UXOEOD

Is it just me, or what?

Each morning, over my first cup of coffee, as I peruse the photographs here on UHH, I am AMAZED by 2 things.

Firstly, the many wonders of the world we photographers see, enjoy, photograph and share. We truely live in an amazing universe, and collect wonders.

Secondly, the large numbers of oh so close to GREAT wallhangers, that miss the mark by composition, only. Everything about these photos are right, color, exposure, subject, story, feeling, you name it, it is right, except the final over all composition.

If we all, will simply practice the Rule of Thirds, and to have our "subject", what ever it is, look into the frame not out of, so many of the images would really be GREAT WALLHANGERS. People should look into the picture, birds fly into the picture, trains roll into the .... don't mean to be redundant.

Yes, there are times to violate the standard rules, but they are few and hard to find. I do not mean to lecture, but I think working on composition will make so many of us so much more satisfied with our photograhy.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

composition is up the one that captured it. not all see same things.

Old Grey Beard Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah

And who came up with the rule of thirds? And why should that be set in stone?

cheineck Loc: Hobe Sound, FL

Maybe, maybe not.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Like you, every day I grab some coffee and check out UHH. Some photos are incredible and should be on a wall somewhere. Others are just so-so or bad with it might seem no photography rules followed at all. I see so many photos that are out of focus, no picture subject at all, poor composition and so on. Yet, the taker of these photos is happy with them. Maybe they just got a new camera and shot a sunset they thought was beautiful even though the camera didn't bring out the beauty. Maybe, for that person, just getting a bird in flight is one happy moment for them. Whatever the reason they posted the photograph they are happy with it enough to post it here. I may not like the picture but I am happy to see it if it makes the photographer happy. After all it is the picture taker who has to be happy.

Dennis

cheineck Loc: Hobe Sound, FL

Well said!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Uh oh...now you've done it....you've suggested that there might be something to that ol' rule of thirds and now you're going to get 20 pages of pummeling explaining why rules are made to be broken and art is how you see it....etc.

Deep seat in the saddle and grab the popcorn.

Singing Swan

Isn't it sometimes okay for an animal or a human to be looking at something out of the frame.... and is it not okay for a train to be leaving the station?? The only gripe I have quite often are the ones where the water is going to puddle on my desk if I don't move right along, or the ones where the building will fall on me soon if I don't move.

Composition IS important, but sometimes, the memory the shot contains is way more important. I was just going through some old photos of my grandson at his last high school concert....some of them are terribly focused and in some the extra people in the photo bother me immensely, but they are memory photos and when we look back at them years later...we won't really care....but there will be that niggling part of my own brain that sits there quietly and yells loudly in my ear
"YOU COULDA DONE BETTER! ! ! ! "

Old Grey Beard Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah

:thumbup: :thumbup:

UXOEOD

I do so agree with you, and yet.... I know that when I have finally cropped that shot just right, that final act of solidifying the composition of the image perfect where it speaks to me, and everyone who looks at my photograph, I, unintentionallly release a sigh, and smile. Then I "save"it, maybe print it, or post it, or share it, and feel so good.

That is when I know I have a new member in my Wall Hanging Collection, and I am proud of it. And there are so many, so close to GREAT images here that a wee bit of croping would make GREAT.

Sorry for any annoyance, just saying.

djenrette Loc: Philadelphia

I see at least 2 ways to look at composition:

1. The pictorialist approach (often the camera club approach) which thinks in terms of thirds, odd numbers, space in front of animals, guides for the eye to follow, don't cut at the joints, etc. It follows the rules that painters established (but which many of them do not follow any more --at least not for a hundred years).

2. Composition that makes you think and gets at concepts and ideas. For example, plopping a small cactus right in the center of a desert photo could be wrong pictorially, but right in the sense that it can express the emptiness of the desert. An animal facing left right at the very edge of the frame would be pictorially wrong, but might imply that the animal is trapped and desperate -- which may be what the photographer wants to express.

I am NOT saying that every "bad" (according to the camera club judge) composition is just misunderstood, but a photo should not be rejected ONLY because a viewer has this set of arbitrary sunglasses on. There may be more there than you think.

For example, look thru some expensive magazines and you will see photos that the pictorialists would reject -- on the other hand you know that advertisers and editors are paying large sums of money for those photographs and expecting and getting financial benefits from them -- They may know what they are doing.

Of course, merely applying easily stated pictorialist rules to photographs means you don't have to do much thinking. But is that the way to go? I have seen too many "artistic" photos to which my response is "So what?"

steve03 Loc: long Lsland

For me composition is the hardest part of photography to master. Everybody likes pictures of fluffy the cat, their grandchildren, flowers, and birds, but the difference between a picture and a piece of art is composition. The rule of thirds go back tho Greek and Roman times and was used by all the Masters, but there is more to composition then just that. What about the vanishing point or how to move the eye in a direction to tell a story?
I am lucky to live in NY where we have many museums where one can study the great masters and study composition and may I add lighting that adds to that composition.

RicknJude Loc: Quebec, Canada

:thumbup:

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

UXOEOD,

Composition is truly in the eye of the beholder, Composition is a term used in fine art work and is a must to consider when creating a work of fine art. Photography is a method of recording an event; a wonderful sunset, children at play, birthday party, wedding, etc. Photography can be a method of creating fine art and it is there Composition should be added.

As far as I can determine, UHH is a user forum, created to help fellow photographers improve their skills in capturing an event as well as possible. If someone wants to provide artistic lessons and tips on fine art composition they should create another topic, titled artistic composition.

If we research the topics on UHH we will find the majority of replies relate to the topic within the forum, and improving elements of photography related to the forum topic. When a post is submitted and the elements of the photograph are all well captured, the replies may diverge into Composition and how to improve the original capture.

You are correct in that composition is totally in the eye of the beholder, there are many means of defining composition. Most notably relate to how, we humans, learn to read and write. Western/European societies read from top/left to right, back to the left and down. Asian societies read from center top - down, and Arabic societies read from right to left. There may be many more in our world, art is dependent on where we live.

There is plenty of room for art in photography, but it has a valid place, not a prominent place. Most photographs are meant to capture a unique moment in life, how well we record that moment can be the difference between a poor snapshot, and something that comes out of the family photo album and hangs on the living room wall.

If someone wants to open a topic on Composition, welcome, most members here might support the topic and some will learn something new and valuable.

Michael g

steve03 Loc: long Lsland

:thumbup: :thumbup: