Uploaded this to r/sonyalpha and it got some traction so I thought I'd get a little critique. I understand rule of 1/3s was not followed but that was due to a few factors.
I don't think there are any rules for composition that can't be successfully broken. In this case your positioning of your wife in the open space created by the plant and the island works quite well.
Brent
I like the composition except I might crop a bit off the bottom. Exposure and focus look good. To me, I would like to see a bit more dof. The subject is looking off in the distance at something of interest, but we the audience don't get to share in the item of interest. I get that you want the model to be the subject of interest, but I think a little more dof might make the shot more interesting. YMMV.
Love the input. I'll try with cropping to see what it does as it sounds like a great suggestion. As for more dof, I couldn't get Mokolii (the island) looking as amazing in my pictures that day as it actually looks in real life so that's why I did what I did. Next time I'll try it out. As for a full shoot, I had my child running around us and near the water so I couldn't do more than a couple photos unfortunately.
film_4ever wrote:
I like the composition except I might crop a bit off the bottom. Exposure and focus look good. To me, I would like to see a bit more dof. The subject is looking off in the distance at something of interest, but we the audience don't get to share in the item of interest. I get that you want the model to be the subject of interest, but I think a little more dof might make the shot more interesting. YMMV.
I saw your image on r/sonyalpha, and I thought the composition was well done. The discussion on Reddit around the rule of 1/3 was tedious. However, I do agree with film_4ever, and I would like to see more depth of field. It's just my personal preference, and it shouldn't take away from your nicely done composition.
ebhanson wrote:
I saw your image on r/sonyalpha, and I thought the composition was well done. The discussion on Reddit around the rule of 1/3 was tedious. However, I do agree with film_4ever, and I would like to see more depth of field. It's just my personal preference, and it shouldn't take away from your nicely done composition.
Cheers!
Eric
I'll definitely try and get some more DOF on shots like this next time as it's a great suggestion. As for the rule of 1/3 talk....it is a little more than tedious the way they were engaging. Oh well. Appreciate the feedback!
Its the "rule" thats mentioned the most in all places that explain rules of composition. Sometimes thats all pages about that mention at all.
But it doesnt exist and it never existed.
It doesnt exist in paintings either, which some name as the origin of this "rule".
The rule is that you should either:
1. Carefully center the subject if that has a strong effect (mainly if its a symmetrical object)
2. Otherwise dont always automatically center everything, but vary a bit, so it looks more interesting. You can put it at a third, sure, but it doesnt need to.
3. There is a certain rule of balance. A large heavy object is balanced against a small lightweight object if it is correspondingly closer to the center of the image than the later, of course on the opposite side.
4. However breaking that rule can also create an interesting effect. Pretty much like not all music must be harmonical.
5. There is also a rule of how you should cut off people in images; its at those places at which clothing might "cut" them, too, such as the wrists of the arms, or the arms close to the shoulder, or you can cut the torso like a belt does, etc. Cutting off the upper part of a face like a hat would do works also surprisingly well. While for example cutting of a half of a hand or just an elbow looks sloppy, as if the person wasnt framed carefully. Again this should be balanced. If you just cut off the feet thats not really looking too great either.
Imo there are no such things as rules of composition. Rather, there are "tools" that are used to aid understanding the elements of how to construct composition.
This is an effective use of understanding how one can use those tools to make a successful compositional construction ... despite not adhering to the overly touted, so-called rules.
