February Assignment - COMPOSITION

[Mandy&Bailee]

I think perhaps I jumped into the deep end a little too soon with Aperture last month :)  and realized some members may need some instruction on the basics, so I thought we should focus on Composition this month.  This month, it doesn't matter what camera you have or what settings you take the images with - it's about how you compose the image you are seeing through the lens of your camera.
The human eye is engaged & entertained by shapes in specific arrangements, i.e. composition.  There are six universal techniques/guidelines in regard to composition of an image.
1) SIMPLICITY - reduce the photo to only essential elements that are needed to illustrate your idea.  Avoid extra subject matter - eliminate confusion & draw attention to important elements.
2) CONCEPT OF 1/3RD - place interesting objects/subject about 1/3 of the way from top, bottom, or side.  Makes the image less stagnant & more interesting than always placing subject dead center in image.
3) LINES - objects arranged in straight or curving lines will lead the eye to the center of interest of the image.  Leading lines are very appealing to the human eye & brain.
4) BALANCE - interesting objects on both sides, rather than everything located on one side or the other with nothing to balance on the opposite side.
5) FRAMING - elements in a photo that tend to create a frame within the frame to highlight the center of interest (doorway, arches, etc.)
6) FUSION/SEPERATION - make sure two unrelated objects don't merge in an unintended way (i.e. tree looks like it's growing out of someone's head).

This month's assignment is simple - take 2 pictures demonstrating the "correct" and "incorrect" of any of the above techniques.
As the month goes on I will post some tools and other ideas regarding composition, but I figured this will get you all started.  I apologize for the delay - I'm a busy busy girl lately!  As always feel free to post questions here or email me directly.
I have started another thread for posting the images and commentary regarding them.  Please keep composition questions in this thread and let's keep the images thread strictly for discussing the images as they are posted.
Have fun, happy composing!

[Mandy&Bailee]

Here are some good links with more info!

http://photo.net/learn/architectural/exterior

http://www.aguntherphotography.com/the-ten-most-common-photographic...

http://www.jurgita.com/articles-id2361.html

http://www.prophotos.net/photo_tips02.html

http://onlinephotographycoursesblog.com/12-common-digital-photograp...

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sounds like a fun assignment and I'm glad everyone with any camera can participate.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ohhhhh, this sounds really fun. I can not wait. I am so glad you are giving us the month because there are lots of things to play with.

[Sue]

My take on leading lines. The first two I assume are correct examples of leading lines. The third one seems to dead end in the middle of the image.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I thought these were from a text....beautiful examples.

[Sue]

No wonder I got ignored, LOL Actually, leading lines are one of my favorite things to photograph!

[Mandy&Bailee]

Great examples. You're right, the third one is lacking in a true focal point and it fails to lead your eye to a center of interest. I LOVE THE 2ND IMAGE! Love love love it. Where did you take that at? If you played with that image in photoshop (or equivalent, whatever you use) I would lighten it a tad, add a little contrast to the green trees, and sharpen it a tad - it is an awesome image!

[Sue]

Thanks Mandy. This was taken in 08, and 09,during two different seasons obviously. They were taken in my favorite vacation destination, Door County Wisconsin. It's a popular winding road near the tip of the peninsula. There are many versions of it taken by many photographers.
I have yet to purchase a post processing program, as I cannot decide which to get. I'm deciding between Elements, and Lightroom right now. I'm just using my in computer program for simple adjustments.

[Mandy&Bailee]

I have Elements and love it. It is more user-friendly than the full photoshop. I'm thinking about adding Lightroom myself :) Just remember in lightroom you can't move objects around in photos or anything big like that, you need elements or photoshop. I think lightroom is more for organizing and correcting exposure & color. Thanks for the tip - my husband will bet getting dragged to door county this fall :)

[Linda and "Toby"]

Oh, my gosh, Sue, those first two photos are SPECTACULAR!!! WOW-WEE!!! I wish I could go there! GREAT examples of leading lines!!!!

[Adina P]

I may not be able to participate this month as I don't get home until March...we'll see. I DO have my camera and I AM taking lots of pics.

But a question regarding the rules of 3rds. If the focus of a photo is in the first third of the frame, but I aim in the middle so that the subject IS indeed to the side, doesn't that make the subject less clear/more blurry? I know that's not always true, but reading Diane Margett's blog about her photo of Dakota (where she didn't focus in on Dakota) makes me wonder...is it ONLY in post processing/cropping that one can observe the rule of thirds? Does my question make sense?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am sure you will notice yourself that the answer is in the blog on the main page. Try to post something if you can. We learn from all the postings and would love to see your pictures. Looks like you're enjoying the trip.