PREZI Report on Photojournalists/Photographic Composition

Your report, done in Prezi, will be due next Tuesday for presentation to the class.

Stephen Alvarez    Yasmine

Pablo Bartholmew   Jacob

Robert Capa      Austin 

Felice Beato     Tyshon

Spider Martin     Aleah

W. Eugene Smith   Mitchell

Zoriah      Jaymee

Carol Guzy   Grace

Stan Honda    Saisha

Lewis Hine    Tyshay

Eddie Adams     Isaiah

James Nachtwey     Izzy

Josh

Margaret Bourke-White     Karlamarie 

Lucian Perkins     Radezia

10 top Rules of Photographic Composition

You will want to be aware of these rules as you prepare your Prezi about a photojournalist, as well as your own project!

www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

10 Top Photography Composition Rules

It may sound clichéd, but the only rule in photography is that there are no rules. However, there are are number of established composition guidelines which can be applied in almost any situation, to enhance the impact of a scene.
These guidelines will help you take more compelling photographs, lending them a natural balance, drawing attention to the important parts of the scene, or leading the viewer's eye through the image.
Once you are familiar with these composition tips, you'll be surprised at just how universal most of them are. You'll spot them everywhere, and you'll find it easy to see why some photos "work" while others feel like simple snapshots.

Rule of Thirds

Imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal segments by 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines. The rule of thirds says that you should position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect.
Doing so will add balance and interest to your photo. Some cameras even offer an option to superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it even easier to use.

Notice how the building and horizon are aligned along rule-of-thirds lines. Image by Trey Ratcliff.

Balancing Elements

Placing your main subject off-centre, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo, but it can leave a void in the scene which can make it feel empty. You should balance the "weight" of your subject by including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

Here, the visual "weight" of the road sign is balanced by the building on the other side of the shot. Image by Shannon Kokoska.

Leading Lines

When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. By thinking about how you place lines in your composition, you can affect the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the subject, or on a journey "through" the scene. There are many different types of line - straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag, radial etc - and each can be used to enhance our photo's composition.

The road in this photo draws your eye through the scene. Image by Pierre Metivier.

Symmetry and Patterns

We are surrounded by symmetry and patterns, both natural and man-made., They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them is to break the symmetry or pattern in some way, introducing tension and a focal point to the scene.

The symmetry of this chapel is broken by the bucket in the bottom right corner. Image by Fabio Montalto.

Viewpoint

Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you will shoot it from. Our viewpoint has a massive impact on the composition of our photo, and as a result it can greatly affect the message that the shot conveys. Rather than just shooting from eye level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a long way away, from very close up, and so on.

The unusual viewpoint chosen here creates an intriguing and slightly abstract photo. Image by ronsho.

Background

How many times have you taken what you thought would be a great shot, only to find that the final image lacks impact because the subject blends into a busy background? The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between different elements in a scene, whereas a camera has a tendency to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an otherwise great photo. Thankfully this problem is usually easy to overcome at the time of shooting - look around for a plain and unobtrusive background and compose your shot so that it doesn't distract or detract from the subject.

The plain background in this composition ensures nothing distracts from the subject. Image by Philipp Naderer.

Depth

Because photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose our composition carefully to conveys the sense of depth that was present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. Another useful composition technique is overlapping, where you deliberately partially obscure one object with another. The human eye naturally recognises these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an image with more depth.

Emphasise your scene's depth by including interesting subjects at varying distances from the camera. Image by Jule Berlin.

Framing

The world is full of objects which make perfect natural frames, such as trees, archways and holes. By placing these around the edge of the composition you help to isolate the main subject from the outside world. The result is a more focused image which draws your eye naturally to the main point of interest.

Here, the surrounding hills form a natural frame, and the piece of wood provides a focal point. Image by Sally Crossthwaite.

Cropping

Often a photo will lack impact because the main subject is so small it becomes lost among the clutter of its surroundings. By cropping tight around the subject you eliminate the background "noise", ensuring the subject gets the viewer's undivided attention.

Cut out all unnecessary details to keep keep the viewer's attention focused on the subject. Image by Hien Nguyen.

Experimentation

With the dawn of the digital age in photography we no longer have to worry about film processing costs or running out of shots. As a result, experimenting with our photos' composition has become a real possibility; we can fire off tons of shots and delete the unwanted ones later at absolutely no extra cost. Take advantage of this fact and experiment with your composition - you never know whether an idea will work until you try it.

Digital photography allows us to experiment with different compositions until we find the perfect one. Image by Jule Berlin.

Composition in photography is far from a science, and as a result all of the "rules" above should be taken with a pinch of salt. If they don't work in your scene, ignore them; if you find a great composition that contradicts them, then go ahead and shoot it anyway. But they can often prove to be spot on, and are worth at least considering whenever you are out and about with your camera.

Again,  more advice for you to follow.

The Rules of Photographic Composition

By Dave Johnson, PCWorld    Apr 18, 2011 5:20 PM

Take Better Photos With Your Digital Camera

Follow the Rule of Thirds

Most people are at least somewhat familiar with the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is utterly ubiquitous: Every movie and TV show makes almost constant use of it, and professional photographers avoid putting the subject in the center of the frame almost without exception. To understand it, draw two lines through a photo, dividing it into thirds. This turns it into something like a tic-tac-toe board, as you see here.
At its essence, the rule of thirds says that you'll get the most interesting photos when your subject isn't in the center of the frame, but rather is positioned off-center, to the left, right, up, or down. You can position your subject at any of the four intersection points of the third lines, or along one of the four lines, like the birds in this example.

Use Diagonals to Your Advantage

Here's another trick using lines: If you want to add a sense of drama to your photograph, look for ways to incorporate a diagonal. Draw a mental line from one corner of the scene to the other; if you can find some element in the situation that more or less follows this line, it can make your shot more dynamic and add some energy to the scene, almost as if it's pulling the viewer through the scene. The diagonal can run the entire length of the photo, as it does in this photo.
But it's not critical for your diagonal to span the entire photo. You can get essentially the same effect even with a partial diagonal, such as this.

Break the Monotony

This is a fun one. No doubt you've seen photos in which most of the frame is filled with more or less the same thing: a field of grass, a pile of pennies, rocks, fish, stars in the night sky. Such photos truly would be monotonous if that's all they offered, but often, the photographer will incorporate one out-of-place element that attracts your eye like a magnet. With that in mind, this rule says that you should look for photos that are mostly uniform and then break the pattern with an element that disturbs the natural flow or organization of the scene.

Make it Symmetric (and Then Disturb Your Symmetry)

Rules, of course, are meant to be broken. The rule of symmetry is all about capturing the natural symmetry in nature. There are a few ways to do this. You might shoot a scene in which both sides of your photo are essentially the same, for example. Or you might shoot a photo of something that is itself quite symmetrical, like a flower.
Even better, though, is when you incorporate a lesson from the rule about monotonous content and shake things up with a little variation. Surprise the viewer, either by making one side of the photo nonsymmetrical, or, in this example, defeat the symmetry of the flower by shooting only part of it in the frame.

Position Movement Into the Frame

One of my favorite photo subjects is motion. I like capturing the essence of speed and energy in what's by its very definition a static art form. But how you introduce that motion into your photo is really important. Whether you're shooting a speeding car, an airplane, a flock of birds, or a running dog, be sure that the motion leads into the frame, not out of it. By that, I mean you should give the leading edge of your moving subject plenty of room; it should be positioned on a third line (see the rule of thirds) and pointed at the center of the frame, not at the closest edge, as you see in this shot.