What about them Greeks

Last week we talked about the rule of thirds and how it can provide placement of the subject within the frame.  The Golden Rectangle is an even earlier compositional rule that came from the Ancient Greeks. It is  based on a geometrical progression called the Fibonacci series. 

The Fibonacci series starts with 0 and 1.  The series progresses by adding the last two numbers to create the next number.  By extrapolating out, series becomes 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, etc. What is interesting about the Fibonacci series is that if you take the ratio of any two sequential numbers in this series (ignoring the first ratio of 1/0 which can't exist), they will always approach 1.618. This ratio is called Phi - not to be confused by the better know Pi which is something else all together.  The Greeks used these ratios to build a rectangle the became know as the Golden rectangle.

To build a golden rectangle, you start with a square which is the first ratio in the Fibonacci series, 1/1.  Now put an identical square next to it and you have a 2/1 ratio (one side of the box is twice as long as the other). You now have a basic Golden rectangle.

To build the box bigger, add a third box along the long side.  This will give you a rectangle with a ratio of 2/3, which exactly follows the Fibonacci series. Continuing to add more boxes in the same fashion, you will build a bigger rectangle, but it will always have the same relationship to Phi, regardless of how big you make it.
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The Greeks found references to this pattern in nature and so adopted it to their architecture.  Soon, artists recognized the beauty of this Golden Rectangle and began making works of art composed using this concept.  By making the frame of the art piece in a 1.618 ratio, artists could define focal points by placing the subject in one of the boxes within the frame. The most impact created in the smallest box - the least impact being in the largest box.  Many great works of art exhibit this theory in their compositional elements and I would recommend spending some time investigating. 

From the Golden Rectangle came the Golden Mean.  The Golden Mean is a way of finding the impact spot in a Phi based rectangle without having to draw out the boxes.  To determine the Golden Mean, and hence the highest impact point, draw a straight line from one corner to its opposite corner. The draw another line at right angles from the line you just drew up to an adjacent corner.  Where the two lines meet is the same place as the smallest box will be.  This is your Golden Mean.

Focal Point Courses

Hi folks

I'm pretty excited.  Looks like I will be teaching 2 courses at Focal Point this winter.  One course on Wednesday evenings called Commercial Portraiture and the other is a wedding photography course dealing more with the business end than the photography end.  Really looking forward to it.

See you on Sunday for my blog on technique.  I will be continuing the discussion on composition.

Divide by Three

It's Sunday morning which means it's time to talk a little more about composition.  Last Sunday we talked about making sure we filled the frame of our image with what we wanted to be in the picture. Now we need to look at where to place our point of interest within the frame.

Every image needs to have a point of interest -  a main focal point that is supported by the rest of the image.   For example, in a head and shoulders portrait, the main focal point will usually be the eyes.  In a full length portrait, the main focal point will usually be the face.  It is very common for a new photographer to want to place the main focal point right in the centre of the image.  In most cases, this will not be the most effective placement of the subject.

First seen in paintings around 1797, the rule of thirds has become the most common compositional rule for subject placement within a frame.  The rule of thirds divides the frame into 9 sections by drawing lines across the frame at one third intervals both horizontally and vertically. By placing the main focal point where two of the lines intersect will almost always create a more powerful composition than having the subject placed in the centre of the frame.  So, when you create a head and shoulders portrait, the eyes should land on one of the cross points.  When you have a larger subject, such as a full length portrait, the point of interest can be placed on one of the lines.  The key is to have your main point of interest on one of the thirds, and where the lines cross will be the highest impact points.

The intersections of the lines are called Nodal Points. When someone looks at an image, their eye flows from left to right, bottom to top to bottom, passing through the nodal points in the order that they are numbered in the diagram.  The eye will stop briefly at each nodal point but will be attracted to stay longer only if there is a reason to.  Placement of your subject on specific nodes can create some very interesting dynamics.

If your subject is placed on nodal point 1, the eye will be drawn to stop there.  However, your brain will want to continue its journey through the image.  This will cause tension and stress, translating into a sensation of tension and stress in your image.  Nodal point 4 will do the opposite.  Because the mind has finished its journey through the image, it is comfortable to rest here before exploring the image again or moving out of the frame.  Hence a sense of calm is given to the image.

Nodal point three will give a similar sense of calm but the subject will have more power, control, or importance in the image. Nodal point 2 will have a similar sense of tension as nodal point 1 but the subject will have a better sense of power, control, or importance in the image.

Here are some tips when using the rule of thirds for portrait photography.

• The eyes are the focal of a head and shoulders portrait.  Have them on the nodal point 2 or 3
• In a full length portrait, the head and eyes should be on the upper 3rd line
• In a 3/4 length portrait, the head is the point of interest and should be in the 2nd or 3rd nodal point
• Image flow of the main subject should have the viewers eyes moving back into the image

The rule of thirds is the most well known compositional rule.  Use it but keep in mind that it is not the only compositional element.  Come back next Sunday for more compositional ideas.

First Rule of Composition

Over that past few blogs, I have been looking at using light from a hand held strobe.  The applications are endless and definitely open creative options.  Good lighting is only part of the story.  Composition plays a major role in creating a good image and that is what the next few blogs are going to be about.

The most basic concept of good composition is fill the frame.  Make sure that your image uses the entire space within the frame. Avoid including anything that does not need to be in the image to tell the story.  For example, if you photograph is of a group of people, then fill the frame with that group. If it is of a group of people standing in front of a church, then fill the frame with that - if the parking lot filled with cars is not part of the image concept, then do not include it in the frame.

Because digital photography makes post production easier, there is a tendency for photographers to "shoot loose" with the intent of cropping later.  There are a number of reasons to avoid this.  The two biggest ones are

1. Cropping your image reduces the available resolution and can potentially reduce the quality of the image.
2. It takes time.  And wen you are talking about a great number of images like you would get from a portrait session or a wedding, you could save yourself hours by getting it right in the camera.

To fill the frame in camera, you need to consider what your final output size will be because this will be your outside frame.  I prefer to have my output be the same as dimensions as my camera's sensor so that the frame of my image is the same as the frame in my viewfinder.  However, there are many situations when the output is going to be a different proportion than the sensor.  You should spend some time learning where different proportion will show up in your viewfinder.  This will save you hours of time and many headaches.

So, the first key to better composition is to fill your frame with the image you want to take.