Concepts of Photography Composition

The rule of thirds has been pounded into most of our brains as a hard and fast rule to achieve great photography composition. It’s true that the rule of thirds has proven results, but rules were, after all, meant to be broken. During a seminar taught by master photographer David Brommer, we learn that there are many other factors to take into consideration while setting up a frame. The seminar, which is two hours long, is available below for you to watch at your leisure. His teaching style will be especially helpful to those those who learn by example, as he showed up to class with an arsenal of stunning photography to keep the educational seminar fun and progressive:

As promised, Brommer really takes it beyond the rule of thirds. Here are just a few examples of what he has to offer:

  • Take advantage of positive and negative space.
  • Positive Space – space that is filled with something, such as lines, subjects, color, or shapes.
  • Negative Space – empty or void space, space around an object or form.
  • There are three points to a photograph: foreground, middleground, and background.
  • Dramatic shapes can override the rule of thirds, just avoid placing on the center line.
  • Understand studium and punctum, they are important parts to photographic composition.
  • Studium general liking or intellectual commitment to the image.
  • Punctum is a quality that transcends studium and puncuates the images into the consciousness of the viewer.

“Contemplate your picture. Before you take it, contemplate it. Digital photography is beautiful, but slow yourself down a little.”

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