Post by PeterW on Feb 28, 2011 8:08:33 GMT -5
Dave,
In the thread Leica Man you wrote:
I have to disagree, or partially disagree, with you.
Yes, you are quite correct when you say that some fortunate people have a natural "eye" for good composition in a picture though they may not realise why they have it and probably can't describe it.
For the rest of us there are a number of ... I almost wrote "rules", but that's the wrong word. There aren't any Rules in composition. Thoughtless adherence to Rules brings about mediocrity. A picture that is, to quote Tennyson, "Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null".
Rules stifle creativity. But there are guidelines, and pitfalls to avoid, which can be taught. After that it is up to the individual photgrapher to apply and develop these guidelines to improve the look and appeal of the pictures he (or she) takes.
Guidelines are very different from rules. Sometimes guidelines can be broken to very good effect, but before the guidelines are deliberately broken the photographer should know why he is breaking them.
Many years ago I had a fancy to draw and paint, and attended art classes. It turned out that I just hadn't got the ability it takes to draw well, but drawing came later in the course.
The first part was taken up with perspective and composition. Perspective does have a certain number of rules, natural laws if you like, about vanishing points and the like (though even these can be, and sometimes are, broken to good effect).
But, as I said, composition doesn't have any rules, just guidelines on what is generally accepted as interesting and pleasing, and pitfalls to avoid.
The last thing I would want is to set myself up as some sort of guru about composition. When I look at my pictures I sometimes wince at the errors I make and the traps into which I fall headlong.
But I still have my notes from those art classes of long ago, and if enough people would like me to I can write, and I hope illustrate in some cases even if only by sketches, a few tutorials passing on the guidelines I learned even though in practice I quite often forget to use them in my eagerness to get the picture.
PeterW
In the thread Leica Man you wrote:
I'm never sure about learning composition. I think one just has an eye for it or one doesn't. Yes, you can improve technique and technical ability but I do think compositional ability is innate, or at least learned when very young.
I have to disagree, or partially disagree, with you.
Yes, you are quite correct when you say that some fortunate people have a natural "eye" for good composition in a picture though they may not realise why they have it and probably can't describe it.
For the rest of us there are a number of ... I almost wrote "rules", but that's the wrong word. There aren't any Rules in composition. Thoughtless adherence to Rules brings about mediocrity. A picture that is, to quote Tennyson, "Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null".
Rules stifle creativity. But there are guidelines, and pitfalls to avoid, which can be taught. After that it is up to the individual photgrapher to apply and develop these guidelines to improve the look and appeal of the pictures he (or she) takes.
Guidelines are very different from rules. Sometimes guidelines can be broken to very good effect, but before the guidelines are deliberately broken the photographer should know why he is breaking them.
Many years ago I had a fancy to draw and paint, and attended art classes. It turned out that I just hadn't got the ability it takes to draw well, but drawing came later in the course.
The first part was taken up with perspective and composition. Perspective does have a certain number of rules, natural laws if you like, about vanishing points and the like (though even these can be, and sometimes are, broken to good effect).
But, as I said, composition doesn't have any rules, just guidelines on what is generally accepted as interesting and pleasing, and pitfalls to avoid.
The last thing I would want is to set myself up as some sort of guru about composition. When I look at my pictures I sometimes wince at the errors I make and the traps into which I fall headlong.
But I still have my notes from those art classes of long ago, and if enough people would like me to I can write, and I hope illustrate in some cases even if only by sketches, a few tutorials passing on the guidelines I learned even though in practice I quite often forget to use them in my eagerness to get the picture.
PeterW
