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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Some help needed: composition
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 03/12/2011 11:14:07 PM · #1
so, I dove in head first on this book project. Everything was going great and smooth till I dove in too far on composition.

I know all the elements of composition, things like lines, balance and blah blah blah. The problem is, I know them from just doing it.
I want to know if there are any good resources that explain how the eye and mind react to certain elements and why.

i tired of seeing sites that explain so little as if they dont have a clue what they are doing. I see a lot of, "framing does so much for a photograph" yet
it never goes into explaining what it actually does.

Man, my mind is all over the place tonight.

Like how the mind divides up the photo in half and how it wants to see balance. Im trying to get to the nitty gritty core I guess you can say.

any help would be so so so appreciated. My research skills suck.
03/12/2011 11:19:20 PM · #2
Most comprehensive look at this I've ever read:

Arnheim, Rudolf (1974). Art and Visual Perception. A Psychology of the Creative Eye. ISBN 978-0-520-02613-1.

Wiki has a good overview that you can take off from. They reference the above book, but I read it way back when.

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)
 03/12/2011 11:34:42 PM · #3
this is art, not science.
 03/12/2011 11:40:19 PM · #4
yes its art and you can notice any great work has some sort of compositional balance and probably could apply a formula to it. the eye recognizes some things as appealing and others not.
 03/13/2011 12:01:11 AM · #5
I think Im going to fry my brain learning all this or even trying to write it all...
 03/13/2011 12:08:15 AM · #6
So are you actually writing a book?
 03/13/2011 12:10:18 AM · #7
Just remember, that the "rules" of composition are after the fact; they are descriptive, not prescriptive. When certain compositional approaches become institutionalized, so to speak, then the logically-minded study them and distill them into "rules". This is useful for discussing composition, but not so much useful for the creation of art, which more often requires the breaking of new ground.

It's the same with scansion, in poetry; there are a gazillion terms-of-art we use to describe what's going on in the construction of a poem, but it's a poor poet who writes by thinking "insert caesura here".

R,

Message edited by author 2011-03-13 00:10:33.
 03/13/2011 12:11:27 AM · #8
Originally posted by posthumous:
this is art, not science.


Well yes, but we can't deny the physiology behind perception; however, the science doesn't need to play a major role in the education of art.
 03/13/2011 12:13:05 AM · #9
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
it's a poor poet artist who writes creates by thinking "insert caesura here".

R,


:)
 03/13/2011 12:17:59 AM · #10
Matthew, have a look here. This author makes his living by marketing perception. The first chapter, or so, is interesting if you like physiology, but again, it won't change your imagery. It's geared towards making you desire his photoshop plug-in (essentially amplifying blacks and whites).
 03/13/2011 12:49:05 AM · #11
Yes Bspurgeon, I am writing a book and I hope it turns out as its expected to

I just want to be able to describe the elements of composition and then show how to use them to create the image that you desire.
 03/13/2011 08:51:17 AM · #12
A classic and important resource: The Photograph, composition and color design. Harld Mante. This is a little tedious to wade through, but the concepts are presented in more depth than most sources, and the images are great examples. Well worth taking a chapter at a time and trying to come up with personal examples of when the ideas apply and when they don't.

Easier but takes some time: watch all the videos at The Mindful Eye. You can see current content just by navigating there, but all the past content is available upon free registration. Craig Tanner provides a huge amount of information about many aspects of design, illustrates concepts with individual images, and has a gentle but informative approach makes it easy to learn. No need to agree with everything he says - just take the huge amount of valuable pointers to heart. I give his site a very high recommendation.

The way design elements jointly affect perception gets into quite a few areas of expertise: Gestalt psychology; the physiology of retina-brain signal processing, the interaction of learning, memory, and expectation on what we see; and the exceptionally wide realm of theories of art. Too many references to list.

Best wishes for your project.

03/13/2011 10:42:43 AM · #13
I have been reading through The Photographer's Eye for a few months (I read a bit at a time and try to use that in my shots). It's pretty much exactly as what you describe wanting. He breaks down every compositional technique into how the eye reacts to the scene, and what makes it work. A very good resource.
 03/13/2011 11:26:30 AM · #14
[quote=Bear_Music] Just remember, that the "rules" of composition are after the fact; they are descriptive, not prescriptive. When certain compositional approaches become institutionalized, so to speak, then the logically-minded study them and distill them into "rules". This is useful for discussing composition, but not so much useful for the creation of art, which more often requires the breaking of new ground.

That,s a really good way of looking at it, Thanks, You are forever my hero.
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