Composition

Understanding composition:

Composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art, as distinct from the subject of a work. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art ( Wikipedia). Great art does not just happen. There are visual cues/aesthetics that we as humans read as pleasing. Some even have to do with Math! What?? Yes it is true and when we talk about the rule of thirds or the golden ratio you will see how this all works! Below is the file for the worksheet we are going to use in class.

Digital Photography School is one of the best sites on the web for learning about photography and equipment. I use them in my advance Photography classes as well. Here is a great article about balance and contrast in photography. Balance from digital photography school.

You will hear us talk a lot about the rule of thirds in the art department, remember the connection to math? We are attracted to specific ratios in nature, architecture, and even portraits. Below is an example of the grid you may have as an option on your camera to guide you while shooting pictures. I also have a link to explain the concept more here. Rule of thirds

Example of the Rule of thirds grid on an image

More math? Yep, we are going to take a look at the golden ratio. This ratio = 1.618. Also known as the golden section. It has been used in art, architecture, math, and nature. Here is a great link explaining the math behind it Golden ratio.

To see the video on YouTube go to this link:video about composition

Here is a link to Kodak's website concerning composition Kodak composition.

Here are a few more examples of the golden ratio concept in nature.