I caught a little frog outside at my brother's house. It was funny, my 2 year old nephew was stomping mushrooms and I saw this weird shape jump away from the mushroom and sure enough it was a frog right in the middle of the lawn.
We caught it and took some pictures and through the evening saw about 5 or 6 more frogs, it's weird that they were just right in the middle of the lawn hiding under small mushrooms where it was wet... there isnt even any lakes nearby.
Center composition is when the subject is centered in the middle of the shot. It is generally a less interesting composition. Google "the rule of thirds". Here's a brief snippet I found at digicamhelp.com:
"The Rule of Thirds is a principle of composition used for centuries by painters, photographers and other artists. The underlying principle is quite easy to understand and apply.
When using the Rule of Thirds, the main subject is placed off center, away from the middle of the frame. As a result, photos often look more dynamic and interesting."
Here's a shot I took over the weekend that (imho) demonstrates the visual effectiveness of avoiding center composiition. The shot is much more interesting than if I had just plunked the acro down in the middle of the frame.
You can also see in Recty's first frog shot how the focal point (the head and eyes) are in the upper left of the pic.
Here, the primary subject, the acro, is off to the right and is compositionally balanced by the large round paly on the left.
This might help demonstrate it too... it kind of tells a story almost, it's like you can tell the bird is looking off to the left and getting ready to fly, whereas if I had just cropped it so it was zoomed in and in the center, it would just look like a bird on a branch.
Or here is one of my other recent ones, the fly is what I was focused on but I put him off to the side... it looks a lot better than just having it dead in the center...
Yes, divide the frame in thirds both vertically and horizontally. The intersection of the lines are power points. If you compose around a power point, the picture will be more interesting.
Yes, divide the frame in thirds both vertically and horizontally. The intersection of the lines are power points. If you compose around a power point, the picture will be more interesting.
Yes. You'll often hear this described as the "rule of thirds." There is also the "Golden Section" and ton of other "rules" that apply to composition. It's good to know them, and I teach them when doing workshops, but it's also important to know that there are also plenty of situations where it's appropriate to break them. Think Captain Jack Sparrow. They're really just guidelines.
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