Composition

Composition is the basically the placing of all the things in viewfinder to emphasize the subject or to simply make it more pleasing to the eye and composition is not only for photography, but it can also be used in art or dance. There are several compositions that are used by many working photographers and they are fairly simple to use although some are more complicated and advanced than others.

During this assignment, I struggled on what my subject should be for each assignment. However, I knew exactly what must be done, I only had difficulty on what to take a photo of. It was also difficult to take photos of strangers because whenever I asked they would say no or if it were little kids, they would run away to their parents which made the assignment even more harder than it needs to be. Although, I was able take all 36 photos and had a few options for the print enlarger.

Contact sheet of composition assignment

1) Balance
For this assignment, the use of balance is having more than one subject to balance out the space of the photo. Instead of having one focus, there are several other subjects that the viewer can pay their attention to. With the use of balance, it shows the equality of the importance of the subjects in the photo

This photo has more than one focus in the photo therefore there is balance in the photo. For example, you can focus on the girl with the watch on the far left, or the two boys next to her. You could also focus on the boy that's on his phone and the girl that is not looking into the camera because of how both of their attentions are not on the camera. If I were to done this better next time, I would have tried to move around more so that the person that's a little bit in the shot, with the hair in the photo, cropped out. I took their photos because I noticed that the kids were bored while waiting for their parents so I asked if I could take their photo since they were patiently waiting.

2) Leading lines
Leading lines are basically lines that are leading up to your subject. The purpose of this is to pull the attention towards your subject. If there is a photo with great leading lines but doesn't lead to anything, it would be useless. However, leading lines can also be used that directs you all over the photo in a pattern or in random.

This photo has a clear leading line towards the family. The leading line is coming from the floor or the pavement leading to them and the trees sort of help direct the view into the family. I especially liked the baby is between the man and the woman which emphasized the motion of height between the four people. If I were to done this better next time, I would have made the subject further down the leading line so that the viewers will have a sense of adventure down the line and towards the subject instead of it being a large size subject on the photo. Initially, I wanted to have the baby as the subject and framed by the two adults however I didn't want to be really close to them to take their photo in fear that they will get mad. Therefore, I let them pass ahead of me in a few meters and quickly took the picture so that they wouldn't notice me.

3) Texture

With the use of texture, there is no focus in the photo at all. All that matters is how the subject looks. If you were to look at a well-done texture photo, you would be able to see or feel if the subject were smooth or rough by only looking at the photo.

This photo shows the texture of the roof and how there isn't a real focus on a subject. However, if I were to have done it better, then I would have tried to get closer to the roof top so that the texture of the textile is emphasized.

4) Natural frame
The using of nature or other objects forms a frame around the subject. The most common used natural frame in photography is using arcs and having the subject in the middle. The use of natural frame is similar to leading lines because of how the frame brings the attention straight towards the subject since it is placed in a frame.

This photo has a little girl which is the subject and is framed by the shape of the ride in the park. The girls body is sort of blocked by the ride and you can only see her head because of how her body is framed. I also think that the shape of the ride constrains you to only pay attention to the girl since she is framed and boxed in. Initially, this girl was with, who I am assuming, was her brother but as I approached them, the boy quickly ran away. When I asked the girl if I could take her photo, she was silent so I took the photo anyways.