JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

You can't break the rules unless you know the rules.

pila

I shoot all lens cap photos with a tripod and a high ISO. Black Art.

pila

Love!!!

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Right On!

srt101fan

How about 3. stand behind the camera

Oh wait, I forgot selfies!

Steve Whitcomb

“Learn the rules like a pro so that you can break them like an artist.” - Pablo Picasso

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Chaostrain,

When I read messages like the one you posted I like to see examples of images made by the photographer. I looked at the images you have posted on this site. I don't want to be cruel or negative but you have "put yourself out there" with your statement. After viewing your images it was clear to me that you could greatly improve your images with either rules or guidelines. You have far to go in the journey of photography if your goal is to take attractive, compelling images that viewers respond to in some meaningful and purposeful way. I try to take images that show beauty in nature and wildlife and my hope is that viewers see my images and feel an emotion of happiness, gladness or some other good emotion. When I viewed your images I just thought, "wow, this is someone who knows very little about taking a decent photograph." But if your goal is not about taking a good photograph then you should continue on without any rules or guidelines and keep snapping your snapshot photos. It's all about what each of us wants to accomplish with our photographs. Some people want to learn and get better with each shot and others don't and both approaches are ok. My preference is to use the guidelines, rules, and all of the knowledge I have acquired to continue to improve in my goal of creating beautiful artwork.

Also, I will have to say, based on my experience, that knowing the basic rules/guidelines in photography allows me to see a fast-changing scene and get the shot almost immediately as I don't even need to think about composing now, it's automatic and hard-wired into my brain.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I'm ruling this out!

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Rules are not really rules, nor are they guidelines to help you sell photographs—although at a certain level both are true.

Visual principles, based on how humans organize images, is what they are. As such, they are complex, but unavoidable, as they are hard-wired into the brain.

If someone is going to ignore them, the odds are very high that they are taking snapshots. Even great artists and photographers didn’t rely on"intuition," but also considered principles (rules, guidelines) to improve on their already highly developed intuitive sense.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

With due respect to your talent in photography, that may work great for you. Congratulations. But many people with a camera have absolutely no idea about composition. For those people rules, guidelines really, are there as suggestions. The rule of thirds and the rule of not having your horizon directly across the middle generally good rules, guidelines, to follow. I am not suggesting they work for every single photo but they do seem to work for a great many photographs. A new photographer could do pretty well learning these guidelines.

Dennis

foxfirerodandgun Loc: Stony Creek, VA

Not exactly. It really boils down to having the freedom of making the choices that we, as individuals, choose to make without any parameters of restriction. For example, if one chooses to make choices which are outside the boundaries of our legal system(s), then we must be accountable for those decisions and/or actions and thus suffer the consequences. However, since photography is such a suggestive subject, what one considers bold, creative, aesthetically pleasing to their eye and/or taste, etc., another person may consider it to be outside of set "rules". In other words, while so called "rules" can be considered "guidelines", it is also up to the individual to adhere to them or to venture out into the arena of experimentation to achieve results that please that particular person. Just my 2¢ worth.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Via the Lens said it well earlier on this page. Her comments included, "It's all about what each of us wants to accomplish with our photographs."

For moving past simple snapshots such as those that document "my vacation" or "my grandchild's first birthday," I'm a proponent of learning guidelines for composition, but even more so about how to use the LIGHT.

ggenova64

Thank you Linda

Well done!

Linda loves harmony!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

And lens flare, backlighting and a blown-out sun

ggenova64

Hi Linda

I want to accomplish LIGHT! How about some tidbits on LIGHTING your subject!