5 Photo Composition Hints. The Fourth Element - Space
IV. Space Composition
The nature of space composition in
photography has analogy with the subject of the theory of music, so
it's possible to use a term "visual ear", which is similar to
music ear. Its quality lies in the differentiation of harmonious and
disharmonious combination in composition. In music it's a combination of
notes, sense of rhythm, sequence of chords. In photography these are proportions of forms, color and lighting, the developing subject, different levels of the detailed elaboration.
In the same way as the color is a material for emotional composition, in space composition it's geometry.
But on the highest level geometry isn't the only element for space
composition, as it is also built with the help of mental forms of
subject composition and the combination of emotions and colors.
If we analyze best photo works of all times we can notice that they are created on the basis of gold proportions of geometry. All parts of a photo should be balanced. If you create a central composition, you should know why you do it in this very way. Regular usage
of the rule of Odds, rule of Thirds, Golden Mean, Golden Ratio and rules of perspective will allow you to create composition even without
thinking a lot. You can read more about all these rules in our articles and .
Henri Cartier-Bresson
There are three kinds of composition:
frontal (2D), volume (3D) and deep space composition (so called
four-dimensional). This differentiation is rather relative, because in
practice we have various mixes of compositions.
If elements are placed on one surface vertically or horizontally according to the viewer it's a frontal composition, that always looks flat, hasn't got any kind of perspective (linear, tonal, etc.). It's more interesting to examine a three-dimensional
shot, which consists of a form, having a relatively closed surface and
being perceived from all sides. Its expressiveness and clearness depend
on the angle of view, horizon line, surroundings, objects, which build this
form. Space composition is formed with elements, volumes,
surfaces, space and intervals between them. The feeling of deep space rises if some elements divide the space to the number of planes (the foreground, middle plane, background and so on). It's also considered that one of the main space composition elements is time, or it's more correct to tell "feeling of time", and it's a work of a master if you can feel it in the shot.
 Types Of Composition In Comparison
| Frontal Composition | 3D Composition
| Spacial Composition
| | Dominance: | object | space
| integral whole in space and time | | Lines: | parallel, without crossing point | convergent, point-focused lines | spherical perspective, curved lines | | Plastic: | geometry | sculpture
| structure
| | Planes: | one plane, as a cutout | linear perspective | color-tonal perspective
| | Rhythm: | metric order (equal distance | rhythmic order (reducing distance) | max rhythmic order (vanishing distance) | | State: | static | movement
| action | | Geometry: | symmetry | symmetry + asymmetry | asymmetry | | Color: | complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel), equal amount | analogous colors (close on the color wheel), unequal amount | one-color tones, tonal softness, color nuance | Space:
| closed
| limited
| unlimited
|
Be attentive when cropping your shot. Cropping and its
proportions is a point of rest in your future composition. If you
gained a foothold you've already done half of the work. It's rather important for a novice to learn how to feel the crop, so it's not recommended to use wide-angle lens and telephoto lens,
doing first steps in photography, because they distort real proportions
of the shot and its perspective. A mistake in space composition is
critical for the whole shot as a false note.
We use a lot of
terms to describe composition. Among them are lines, shapes, forms,
colors, unity, subordination, dominance, coherence, balance, rhythm,
positive and negative space, proportions, chaos and so on. We suggest
you reading not a very long article (but rich in content) "COMPOSITION & the ELEMENTS of VISUAL DESIGN" by Dr. Robert Berdan.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
How To Develop Visual Ear?
We should admit that the nature of musical and visual ear is almost not studied as a subject of progress. It's an intuition
that helps to create great works in every sphere of Art, from physics
to acting, from archery to photography. Every canon, every rule is just
a basis of development: using the rules without an intuition, one can
possess only technical skills. But it's also a possibility to
train to that level, when you don't think about technical side, but
allow your mind to make qualitative change.
The Main Tip for the visual ear development is to start taking photo-etudes.
 - It's a composition of natural origin, don't manipulate with objects to make it possible to realize and calculate their spacel interaction.
- Exclude subject composition
from your shot. Perceive a composition as a combination of geometric
forms, not paying attention to the story, color, sense or showy content.
- Try to avoid beautiful, effective or shocking objects. Portraits, nude, glamour models, landscapes are stricken off.
- Don't be carried away, playing with DOF, photo effects here are the unnecessary luxury.
- The main task is the viewpoint that you should "find out" yourself.
- You don't need to go far away for shooting photo-etudes, you can find a good one even at your place.
Practice makes perfect!
Every learning process is started slowly and consciously. Step by step, through the repetition the quality is born. The feeling of composition is something we can train and foster, so let us do it!
As usual, we are waiting for your participation in our Photo Contests!
5 Photo Composition Hints. The First Element - Texture
5 Photo Composition Hints. The Second Element - Color
5 Photo Composition Hints. The Third Element - Subject
5 Photo Composition Hints. The Fifth Element - Light
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thanks for comparison table
thanks for comparison table