Rule of Thirds (suggested, not really a rule)
Because the human eye (in English-speaking countries, primarily) more readily goes to a point about two-thirds up a page, divide a photo into nine blocks and place the main subject(s) on the intersection points rather than in the center of the image.

Landscapes could look more pleasing to the eye using the Rule of Thirds and a low or high horizon line.

The Rule of Thirds means that the frame can be divided into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections. The intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines makes an ideal location for the more important parts of one’s picture. By locating the main subject at one of the four intersections, the subject has more emphasis than if it were in the middle of the picture. (Picture Control)

And, if the area of interest is land or water, the horizon line could look best, according to suggested rules of composition, two-thirds up from the bottom. If the sky is the area of emphasis, the horizon line could appear one-third up from the bottom, leaving the sky to take up the top two-thirds of the picture. (Photography composition)

Diagonal lines

Diagonal lines generally work well to draw the eye of an image’s viewer through the photograph. They create points of interest as they intersect with other lines and often give images depth by suggesting perspective.

They can also add a sense of action to an image and add a dynamic looks and feel. Also, rather than making a line go from the very corner to the opposite corner it’s often good to make them off-center and lead to either side of corners. “As with both horizontal and vertical lines, diagonal lines that are repeated through out an image can create very effective patterns that can easily become the subject of a photograph themselves. A recently plowed field or the ridges on a sand dune might be good examples of this.”

Read more about diagonal lines here.

Leading lines

A good leading line lures the eye deeper into a picture or to an important subject. Straight, curved, parallel, or diagonal lines help to promote interest. Examples include roads, rivers, streams, bridges, branches, or fences–lines with perspectives or vanishing points.

Lines pull one into the picture, toward 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 the composition.

–more tk–

“From December to March, there are for many of 
us three gardens:
the garden outdoors,
the garden of pots and bowls in the house,
and the garden of the mind’s eye.”
-   Katherine S. White

• • •

The name Daffodil is derived from an earlier “Affodell”, a variant of Asphodel. The reason for the introduction of the initial “d” is not known, although a probable source is an etymological merging from the Dutch article “de,” as in “De affodil.” From at least the sixteenth century “Daffadown Dilly”, “daffadown dilly”, and “daffydowndilly” have appeared as playful synonyms of the name.

Does the sharp detail err on the side of masculine? A quick perusal of others’ photos reveals shallow depth-of-field photos, blurred intentionally using the Orton effects, and then covered by a layer of texture. Softness seems to be in style, whether the original were in focus or not. As wikipedia states about the Orton effect:

“Photography enthusiasts, such as groups on Flickr, have embraced the technique and used photo editing programs, like Adobe Photoshop, to replicate it. Some have modified the technique to selectively apply the technique, producing images that have regions of crisp focus and high detail and regions of intense blurriness.”

Pssh. I was pleased that I didn’t touch the RAW photo with Photoshop, except to convert to a jpeg. One assumes that softness sells, but that’s not the aim here. I aim to see in new ways every day. Okay, sales are nice. My accountant likes them.

Or softer, perhaps, with a vignette and lighter background, as in the next shot? Perhaps this looks less clinical and more romantic. (Photo links to sales site.)

I discovered that I concentrate better and speed-read less when I read a book on my iPhone. Despite my love of the feel and look of paper, book cover designs, and joy in seeing books on a shelf or piled on a table, I just can’t seem to read without becoming distracted. My theory: the high resolution of an image and text on the iPhone screen, plus the light weight and close focus offers comfort and few distractions. The only distraction occurs when I stretch out on my side and the screen moves vertically or horizontally.

I’ll pay $5 for one of Chemin’s ebooks, since I like and own his paper books, to see how they compare. Meanwhile, I’ve downloaded the complete works of Shakespeare to my iPhone. There’s a reading challenge–and a contrast from the past. What would Shakespeare think of this?

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” 

William Shakespeare / Hamlet Act 1. Scene V abt. 1601

As a side note, I’m also writing and adding this to the website using, you guessed it, an iPhone.

A metaphor is an implicit comparison of one thing to something else: “my love is a red, red rose”. A simile, of course, is a kind of metaphor that makes the comparison explicit using “like” or “as”: “my love is as beautiful as a red, red rose.”

Thus writes Harold Davis in his article Myths, Metaphors, and Digital Photography. Unfortunately, Davis concentrates on the links between film and digital cameras and processing. I’m more interested in the subject and when or if photographers use metaphors to convey a story.

For example, in this photo shot by Howard Marsh, the metaphor could be love of dogs, sharing a moment (the Labs love it when I sit at their level or point of view), or the viewer might see nothing of the kind.

In expressive photography, we rely on visual symbols to represent abstract ideas. A symbol stands for something with a larger meaning. We may also call them metaphors. Some of the most famous photographs endure because of their symbolism”

Thus begins a tantalizing article in pbase.com entitled Using symbols and metaphors to express meaning. The writer accompanies each photographic example with text explaining his reaction to the metaphor — far better than I could here. But I’ll give it a go.

For those familiar with rutting moose in the fall, this photo might convey autumn, an end to a season, and, had I left the suburban sight of powerlines in the photo, wildlife accommodating to life in the ‘burbs of Alaska. Or, in this case, not man versus nature, but man and nature, and especially nature and people with cameras coexisting. The hedge can always be replaced, while the moose are necessary for the balance of diversity in nature. But that’s fodder for another post, perhaps.
(© Photo by Jan Timmons. Photo above by Howard Marsh)

What follows is Tom Ang sharing a draft from his next book for Dorling Kindersley.
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Those who understand photography as essentially a two-dimensional medium – width and depth – impose unnecessary limitations on themselves. And they miss out a lot of the fun. In this book, we will explore the way you can develop your own visual style, based on your handling of no fewer than seven dimensions of the image … and  that’s in addition to the image’s two physical dimensions.

 
Subject-independent

The first four dimensions of the image define could be dismissed as merely the image’s features. But they are much more interesting than that. Think of using technical controls not as a way to get the image right – frankly, modern cameras mostly take care of that – but to get the expression right, to get your images to speak in a just the right ‘voice’.

One dimension is Exposure: your image lies somewhere between the extremes of plain white and dense black – usually, of course, somewhere in the middle. But the further away from the middle, as moody low-key or breezy high-key,  the more expressive your image can be.

Next is the dimension of Tonality. At one extreme, you have just two tones: black or white, with nothing in between. At the other extreme you have – not millions of tones as you might expect – but only one, that is, it is flat; either white or black or any grey in between; but only a single tone. Needless to say, most of the interesting things occur somewhere in between: there’s a gradation of tones. A gradation near one extreme gives you a racy high-contrast image, while nearer the other extreme, you enjoy the softness of contrast tonality – with corresponding variation in the visual impact.

Colour, of course, offers another dimension of control. This extends, as you might expect, from  black-and-white at one end to highly saturated colours at the other, with normal colours taking the middle ground. Exactly how an image handles colour in this dimension is not merely a question of accuracy, but also of expressiveness: vivid colours stimulate sensations that are altogether stronger and more aggressive than pastel or near-neutral colours.

Focus defines our fourth dimension. You can choose to have nothing sharply in focus or more or less blurred, or at the other end of the scale, you render everything perfectly sharp with your choice depending on the visual statement you wish to make or the response you wish to evoke in your viewer. It is interesting to note that the photograph becomes its most two-dimensional when all elements are perfectly sharp.
 
Subject-focused
Images are of course not a meaningless mash of colours and tones. They signify something to us: they invite response or evoke feelings and, in a flurry of simultaneous activity, may also convey information and emotion. Your approach and understanding of the subject-focused sphere of the image sets the stage for your viewer’s response to your image: you knowingly try to shape and manipulate their thoughts and feelings. At the same time, understanding the dimensions in which you work will help you to refine your own expressive or interpretative style.

The easiest dimension to understand is the axis that runs between the Constructed and the Found image. A fully constructed image would be a still-life created in a studio or tableaux with models and staged lighting: every element is deliberately styled and created; all carefully planned beforehand. In contrast, the found image is one over which the photographer exercises no control, and the examples obvious: coverage of war, news and even travel. A portrait photographer who exploits the surroundings he happens to find his subject in could be said to be working somewhere between the extremes of Constructed and the Found.

In the dimension of Objectivity, the photographer’s intention – whether stated or unconscious – is crucial. At one end, an image may be wholly objective, with no requirement beyond a factual record: a photograph of gas meters to document a dozen readings at once; a shot of an archaeological find in situ. As we slide along this dimension, images become more subjective: we move from making factual records to setting out to influence our viewer’s minds by arousing sympathetic emotions. We could photograph gas meters to convey the profligacy of modern society. Or we could present the archaeological find as unearthing the secrets of a dark past. Much of the time, we operate around the middle: wishing to show the subject accurately, but convey some of our feeling for it.

The third subject-focused dimension measures the complexity of the image. At its most basic, the photograph records a static arrangement of elements. But we can stack up layers of meaning and emotion, using visual, compositional and extra-photographic means. We can compose the shot to exaggerate spatial relationships, or use blur to suggest motion. And we juxtapose unexpected elements to surprise the viewer or suggest a narrative. And we can add text to create commentary on the image and manipulate the context in which it is viewed. This dimension differs from the Objectivity-Subjectivity axis in that an essentially scientific image can be highly complex: recording, for instance, elapsed time while also carrying textual labels.
 
Viewer responses
So far, what I’ve described are what you can do to your image, the many dimensions of your control over its content. The fun really starts when someone views your image. The viewer brings a varied panoply of factors to their perception of and response to your image. It may be as fundamental as the quality of their eyesight – perhaps colour-blind or hazy from cataract. And it could be as complicated as their superstitions or religious beliefs. Responses can range from failing to register the image, to being profoundly moved by another. Or the same image may be barely acknowledged by one person yet it could be seared into the memory of another. There are few, if any, assurances on the response an image may evoke, even

In a world of globally available media, photographers must be aware that images will be viewed in contexts and perceived within frameworks of understanding which may be far removed from their own experience. This opens the door to exciting possibilities of new ways of communicating, of expanding the repertoire of our response to images. But the foundation should be the photographer’s own awareness of how they are constructing meanings with their images; in short, photographers need to know what they are doing.
© TOM ANG 2009

Please do not abuse Tom Ang’s trust or take comments out of context. His websites are www.tomang.com and www.idigitalphoto.com.

A list of his books follows:
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS (Dorling Kindersley) – Best How-to Book of 2008 (Library Journal); The Crème De La Crème of the Top Digital Imaging Books of 2008 (Shutterbug)
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHOTOGRAPHY (MitchellBeazley US: Charles Knopf)
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S HANDBOOK 4th edition (Dorling Kindersley)
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING (Dorling Kindersley)
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 2nd edition (Dorling Kindersley)
ADVANCED DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 2nd edition (Mitchell Beazley US: Amphoto)
COMPLETE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY (New Holland)
TAO of PHOTOGRAPHY (Mitchell Beazley US: Amphoto)
PICTURE EDITING 2nd edition (Focal Press)
PHOTOSHOP CS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY (Argentum US: Amphoto)
DICTIONARY OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND DIGITAL IMAGING (Argentum US: Amphoto)
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 2nd edition (Mitchell Beazley)
SILVER PIXELS (Argentum US: Amphoto)
KISS DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY (Dorling Kindersley)
EROTIC HOME PHOTOGRAPHY (Carlton US: Firefly)
DIGITAL VIDEO HANDBOOK (Dorling Kindersley)
DIGITAL VIDEO: AN INTRODUCTION (Dorling Kindersley)
EYEWITNESS COMPANION: PHOTOGRAPHY (Dorling Kindersley)

In my pursuit of rekindling creativity, I found an article dedicated to that subject on his website.

He writes,

” The creatively intelligent person works consciously with ambiguity, playing with it like a great playwright building up dramatic tension – it may not be enjoyable at times for there is little clear water between ambiguity and gnawing uncertainty – but artists know they have to walk through the fog, suffer the pain. It therefore means learning how to let go, how to let a situation find its own level or to establish its resolution. For the visual person, tolerating ambiguity means not settling on the first idea that comes to mind. You need to cherish positively the fact that after teasing and throwing a concept around, it still refuses to settle into a shape that you can work with. That just means you need to do a little more work. Creative intelligence knows that ambiguity is the birth-place of artistic cogency.”

Speaking of play, anyone for a game of frisbee?

When I consider the unique challenges of telling stories within the confines of a single photographic frame, two aspects of storytelling come to mind. The first is the study of themes that tie the image to our deeper, more universal human experience. The second is conflict, revealed in the frame by contrasts. With regard to technique, the photo essay is the time-honored means by which photographers have told longer stories, and composition the means within our single or multiframe stories to move the plot forward.

From duChemin’s book Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision

While I can feel the wind, the elation at seeing a friend and her dog after almost a year, and a beautiful autumn day, I didn’t quite capture the story. Movement, either hers or, in this case, panning her with the camera to create more blur in the background as she and the pooches ran, might have helped to create more of a story.

Practice needed!