Photo Composition 101, Part 1: Leading a Viewer's Eye - Learn how to take Pictures
© Karin Rex
Example 1:
http://www.thebackpacker.com/pictures/us...
Example 2:
http://www.photographywest.com/media/ima...
Go back and forth between the two pictures to compare them with one another. These are two beautiful pictures of basically the same landscape, but which photograph's overall composition captured your eye more? I would suspect that it was the second example. The gentle "S" curve of the river draws your eye right into the scene and up to the snow capped Tetons and those glorious clouds.
The second photograph was taken by Ansel Adams (http://www.anseladams.com/Ansel-Adams-Bi... ), a photographer who was especially celebrated for the composition of his pictures. He was both patient about waiting for the right moment to shoot and meticulous about composing his overall picture. There is well-repeated tale about Adams being on a photography shoot in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with some friends. He was standing behind his tripod framing a shot when he deserted the camera, tramped into the scene, and ripped a branch from a tree, tossing it out of the frame. When his friends started to chastise this long-time Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/ansel_adams ) member for meddling with the environment, he simply stated that the branch did not belong in the picture.
Knowing what belongs in a picture and what doesn't is at the crux of good composition. Sometimes good composition can be achieved afterwards in the editing process (cropping, straightening, etc.), but it's usually best if you take the time to think about it beforehand and take into consideration everything within your viewfinder or LCD screen before taking the shot.
In my next few columns, I will explore the topic of photographic composition in this column. This month's focus is on "Leading a Viewer's Eye," which is exactly what the Ansel Adam's "Tetons and Snake River" photograph (Example 2, above) achieves so very well.
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