How to Compose in Landscape Photography
-
There's no mystique involved in composing
landscape pictures, and even the most visually naive and unaware
snap-shooters compose images every time they take a picture. Those
lucky enough to have a natural eye for composition can look through the
viewfinder and instantly arrange the landscape elements into a pleasing
and harmonious pattern. Some of these photographers have no formal
education, and absolutely no knowledge of the ground rules of
composition. How is it, then, that their photographs conform so
precisely to time-honored laws of composition?
-
The reason is simple: compositional
guidelines are not an arbitrary framework dreamed up by a committee of
stuffy academics. Many of the rules have evolved through centuries of
study of what makes images pleasing to the eye. This century has added
a second branch of knowledge - scientific studies have explored the
psychology of vision, how we look at pictures, and how we mentally
synthesize the original scene from the photographic image.
-
For the vast majority of us who are not
blessed with photographic "perfect pitch", an understanding of the
formal rules of composition and perspective is a valuable aid. These
compositional rules provide a framework, scaffolding that can help you
to construct your own unique vision of landscape. They also provide a
kind of official code - a system to which viewers expect your pictures
to conform. So if you aim to make landscape images that shock or
unsettle the viewer, you can alter the formal rules of composition and
use them as a means to disturb. Your pictures won't suddenly and
dramatically improve if you slavishly follow the rules of composition
and perspective. But armed with knowledge of them, and taking into
account the demands of the subject and the mood you seek to create, you
will find it easier to take effective pictures.
|