Ideas of Composition: Part 3

Welcome back to my blog series on composition. We are now on Part 3. Part 1 explored Rule of Thirds, Symmetry and Balance, and Leading Lines. Part 2 explored Curves, Rhythm and Pattern, and Framing. So many ideas to help make your images better. But wait! There's more! In Part 3 we will explore the ideas of  Foreground, Midground and Background, Shapes, and Filling the Frame.

Again, these are ideas to build upon. The ideas in the previous blogs work well in exploring these ideas

FOREGROUND, MIDGROUND, and BACKGROUND

Photographs are two-dimensional representations of our three-dimensional world. How do we compose images that help translate that three-dimensionality onto a two-dimension medium? Through our compositions, we create the illusion that the two-dimensional image is three dimensions with the use of foreground, midground, and background. Adding these elements helps to create the appearance  of depth by giving the viewer elements through the image to focus on - just as we would have elements close to us, between us and the distance and into the horizon in the world around us. Let's look at these one by one.

Foreground brings the viewer into the image and creates interest to investigate further. This is usually a detail closer to the photographer that is interesting and will make the viewer pause to admire it's interesting lines and details. It often helps set the stage for the rest of the image. A colorful bush in the fall or a patch of flowers in the spring tell the viewer the season. A country road leading the eye further or a ramshackle fence tell the viewer we are no longer in the city. Take your time in finding an interesting foreground - your midground might change but your background will likely be far enough away to change hardly at all. A viewer can tell whether or not you took your time here - throwing in a foreground just because you want a foreground will do the exact opposite of what you want. It could look haphazard and the viewer will walk away. Foreground can be the base of the rest of your image and when done right will direct the viewer to the rest of the image.

Midground helps draw the viewer in further, and is often a resting place for the viewer's eyes. The midground should be free of distractions or elements that either block the viewer from continuing on into the image or distractions that draw them away from the image such as a fence that reaches from edge to edge where a viewer feels blocked out of the image or a road that continues out of the frame and the viewer's eye goes with it. Sometimes this is where we find our subject. Think of an environmental portrait where your subject has an interesting foreground that possibly frames you subject and the subject with a background as a backdrop. Often your midground is your most versatile area in your photograph and should never be neglected.

Background is often the culmination of the journey in the photograph - the fulfillment of the viewer's interest. It can be the subject such as a magnificent mountain in grand landscapes where the viewer feels as if they have been on a grand adventure. Most often though, as the name implies, it becomes the backdrop to what is in the midground or foreground. When used as a backdrop, you'll need to take care of not including distracting elements such as a branch impaling your subject's head or bright highlights that lead the eye away from your subject. A good background keeps your viewer's attention in your photo for as long as possible.

Can you create interesting and compelling images without all three of these? Of course you can. This is another way to create compelling images that draw your viewer into the story your trying to tell.

SHAPES

We're going back to geometry class here for a minute and combining it with a bit of psychology. Sounds fun doesn't it?

Our brains need to organize the world in categories to help it make sense of the world. It becomes a sort of shorthand for the mind. We see a door and we know two things immediately - it is an egress and it is a rectangle. From there we build on the style of door, where it is located, and all sorts of things. But our immediate lizard-brain response is rectangle and escape.

Using shape is one of many ways we organize the world to help our lizard-brains understand what is going on around us. We see parallel lines on the ground and without having to think much we know that it is a pathway - the beginning of a journey (probably why I love leading lines so much in my images). We can strip our images down to the most elemental and create images based on shapes. We can look for triangles and curves/circles to add a sense of motion for our lizard-brains. Rectangles and squares add stability and safety.

How does this apply to composition? Well, think of the base elements of the story you're trying to tell. Is it a story of action? Then you will want to avoid creating and photographing squares and rectangles, instead you'll want to look for rectangles and curves in your elements. Do you want to tell the story of safety and security? Now would be the time to look for rectangles and squares.

So what's up with the image above that includes curves and squares? Let me explain it this way - our history is who we are, it is the foundation of our present, but time forever moves and builds upon our foundation.

FILL THE FRAME

Filling the Frame is a concept I heard often in my college days of studying photography. Back then, we used a substance called film and often could not crop our images especially if we were using transparency or slide film. So we needed to find the essential elements withing our composition and fill the frame with those elements and only those elements. We needed to conduct "border patrol" - checking the edges of your images to make sure you weren't cutting off anything essential and/or allowing anything distracting to encroach on your image. If there was, you'd need to re-compose. It is still a very good idea to conduct "border patrol" before releasing the shutter so that you aren't including distractions or excluding storytelling elements. Using film required us to analyze our composition and the story we were trying to tell and not include anything that was extraneous.

Filling the Frame was usually where I had the most difficulty in school. I often took the idea too literally and would fill my frame with the subject and only the subject often leaving out the most important element of the image - the storytelling quality that brilliant photographers understand. It about what story there is to be told and how you tell the story. So, filling the frame does not necessarily mean to fill the frame with your subject, but to fill it with the story, the feeling, the idea.

In the image of the ballerina, I was looking at a contemplative moment of the dancer resting between moves and poses. A quiet moment with her in her thoughts and studio. If I had moved closer to her, to fill my frame with the ballerina, it would not convey the same story - a story of quiet respite.

As you compose your images, think about the story to be told. Once you understand the story, fill your frame with only the elements that tell the story - nothing more and nothing less.