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Jeff Mellody

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Jeff’s Leica Blog

All things Leica and related. Reviews and information to make you a better Photographer.

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Photography Composition Quiz

May 3, 2019

Take a good look at the above image. It is the popular minimalist style. We see them on Instagram all day long. They are popular because they are so easy to do because of the few shapes and limited color palette. I don’t like them but I take them when I see them because you never know, I might need a throwaway image for a blog post. 

Here is a dissection of the image. Three bold colors and black. The roof is a diagonal that points to the pole. The orange and yellow stripes repeat the angle of the roof. Also the orange and yellow strips are on the opposite side of the color wheel from the blue sky, convenient right. The pole meets at the corner of the roof stopping your eye and redirects it upward towards the circular frame where the sign was. The circle stands in contrast to all of the square geometry in the rest of the image. These are the roof edge, the black area that is the underside of the roof, and the solid blue sky. The white cloud looks like the contrail of a plane and is at a contrasting angle to the roof. Since it is on the opposite half it is nice that it is semi-transparent. Inside the oval is a single light bulb that becomes the focal point of the image. Rule of thirds, leading lines, contrasting colors, all the basics. 

Now for the quiz. Look at the image again and hold your left thumb out and cover the white cloud on the left side. Move your thumb away then back over the image. Question, does the cloud belong in the image? Should it be cloned out of the image? 

There is no right or wrong answer but this is a lesson on how to evaluate your images. Does the cloud fit into the geometry of the image or compete with it? If your using a mobile device rotate the device 180 degrees to flip the image upside down, is the image balanced?  If on a computer you have my permission to download image and rotate it in your software of choice ( please delete image from computer when finished, thanks ). When evaluating an image you look for what works but try looking for what doesn’t work. Go look at some images from a year ago and see if the compositions as as strong as you remember them. 

Remember, 2 hours of shooting for every 1 hour reading about cameras. 

 

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