Composition problem identified but no solution known (Page 3): My favorite dog ... Otto OLE OTTO was a dog ... yes a real dog He hunted and sniffed his way. He was a dog and I a boy.

William Loc: Mississippi

My favorite dog ... Otto
OLE OTTO was a dog ... yes a real dog
He hunted and sniffed his way.
He was a dog and I a boy.
Now a man, I wish to be the dog.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

ShakyShutter wrote:

We've all been frustrated to some extent by the propensity for newcomers to place the main subject in the center of the frame.

I think the reason for this is that most newbies have been raised watching television.

If you watch TV with this in mind it will be come apparent that most programming from news casts to commercials totally ignore the major rules for traditional photographic composition like the often ignored Rule of Thirds.

The rule of thirds is a recommendation not carved in stone and brought down from the mountain. There are many well known pieces of photographic art in the world that are centered.

A newbie centering something is not wrong for doing so because non-newbies do it when they feel that's the composition they want. Nobody is wrong for the way they compose their shot. Somebody could criticize your rule of thirds shot and say your subject would have been better in one of the other thirds too.

Centering can many times work well especially if you are using some sort of natural framing that consumes part of a side and top third of the composition.

Pics-Tale

sinatraman wrote:

rember you all were new at one time. centered subject matter isn't always bad its personel taste. and be carefull with this thread you do not want to discourage people from posting from fear of being ridiculed by an oldtimer. finally posting centered photos is not nearly as irritating as posting questions that can be answered if one only READ THE CAMERA MANUAL.

Well said.

Jude

Sorry to be such an idiot, but I have studied photography, won photo contests, have two art degrees, have taught art in public school, do watercolor painting, jewelry and make furniture...but I have never heard of rule of thirds-could someone enlighten me? :oops: :roll:

beacher Loc: Butler, PA

Jude wrote:

Sorry to be such an idiot, but I have studied photography, won photo contests, have two art degrees, have taught art in public school, do watercolor painting, jewelry and make furniture...but I have never heard of rule of thirds-could someone enlighten me? :oops: :roll:

Well, this should help round out your 2 art degrees, enhance your teaching curriculum, breathe new life into your jewelry design and increase your knowledge of photography -- and do it all on one web page.

http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Eugene_Ilchenko/GoldenSection.html

Never heard of the rule of thirds...? Well, it just reinforces the old axiom : "If the learner hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught."

beacher Loc: Butler, PA

Jude wrote:

Sorry to be such an idiot, but I have studied photography, won photo contests, have two art degrees, have taught art in public school, do watercolor painting, jewelry and make furniture...but I have never heard of rule of thirds-could someone enlighten me? :oops: :roll:

Just to complicate things more:

http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Edwin_Leong/Camera_Hobby_-_e-Book_on_the_Golden_Ratio.htm

and...

http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/

hope this helps...

DB Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

Everyone processes information and interprets it differently. You can give 10 people the same photo and ask them to edit it to THEIR liking and you'll gt 10 different takes on it. No picture will appeal to everyone. Rule of thirds works most of the time, but if you have leading lines the rule of thirds usually goes out the window. Take several shots of the same image....placing the main subject in different parts of the tic tac toe (rule of thirds) grid. Then decide which shot appeals to your eye. Some people have a natural EYE and some need to train theirs. The important thing is to keep shooting.. and experiment to find you style.... Photography is Art and there is no right or wrong way if YOU like ur results.... you'll get better the more you shoot and study.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

I quess i missed something as i thought people tried to be helpful here and never got the impression about discouraging.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

Also to add to the bulls eye reference and focusing in the middle, we also see the world in landscape mode and it takes practice to turn that camera to vertical. Which by the way, the brain finds very interesting.

steve Loc: Iowa

Just Tami ,Very well stated! i'm with ya on that

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Jude wrote:

Sorry to be such an idiot, but I have studied photography, won photo contests, have two art degrees, have taught art in public school, do watercolor painting, jewelry and make furniture...but I have never heard of rule of thirds-could someone enlighten me? :oops: :roll:

Oh well... somebody else was a professional photographer for 50 years and never heard of watermarking until seeing it here!

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

Do the same rules apply to macro photography?

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

naturepics43 wrote:

Do the same rules apply to macro photography?

It depends on what you are shooting. If you are shooting a product for a catalog, you'd want it dead center because you are documenting and being artistic. If you are shooting a bee sitting on a flower you'd probably want to shoot it dead center and then shoot it in various 1/3s of the frame. Afterward you can determine which you feel is your best.

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

Since a lot of my photos (butterflies for instance) are taken with a 300mm lens and they don't normally sit still too long, is it acceptable to crop for the proper composition or does the orignal need to be composed correctly to be "politically corect"?

AnneA

naturpics, don't worry about "correct" politically or otherwise. It is your camera and your media. Whatever you do to produce the image you want is A-okay. But when it comes to cropping, keep in mind that everything you cut away takes away from the number of pixels you have to work with. If you plan to enlarge in print media, you could wind up with a fuzzy photo--and that is probably not the image you want. Depending on your camera, you can crop quite a bit before it becomes a problem unless you want to make a poster sized print.

Keep a copy of the original and experiment.