December 6, 2014
Sandbar and Yoda’s Advice
Sometimes the strangest things can catch your eye and make for a nice image.
I was driving down the Oregon coast when I saw this sandbar. I liked its shape and how it contrasted against the water, and how it provided balance to the land in the background. It was a simple image and I further simplified it by using a long exposure to mute the detail in the clouds.
When I compose an image, I compose simply by how it feels and when it feels right, it is done. I never give a thought to the so-called rules of composition.
Thinking that following rules will produce a great image is like believing that following the instructions and staying within the lines on a paint by number kit will produce a masterpiece.
Following those rules may produce a “competent” image, but not a masterpiece!
I have no doubt that Apple will one day program the rules of composition into an iPhone so that every image we take is a competent image, but it will never create a great image. Great images are created by feeling people whose images cause others to feel.
Remember the wise words of the philosopher Yoda:
“Feel the force. A photographers strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side.”Feel the image and beware of the dark side (rules).
Cole
Hi Cole,
I totally agree with your words. The feeling that it is right is more important than following the rules.
And sometimes the result of the feeling does fit to rules and sometimes it doesn’t.
And the strength of not just following the rules but feeling the force that leads you to one of your masterpieces makes you being a master.
Great photograph!
Lovely image! I can see why the sandbar caught your eye!
In the B&W photo group I moderate on G+ we spent several weeks this year working on composition. One of the most difficult things we’ve found is to help people understand what makes a given composition work (this is where the “rules” can be helpful), and then teach them that simply following the rules will not necessarily create a strong composition. The two concepts seem to be at odds with one another, yet each has its purpose.
As you’ve so elegantly pointed out in this post, following the rules may create competence, but not a masterpiece. Wonderful!
Cole,
Balance is your key word in your statement. Composition for me, is a flow of things that seem to fall into a balance to create an interesting image. Sometimes it is achieved quickly and other times it can be a struggle because the balance isn’t there or I fail to see it. Many times I have seen an interesting scene from a distance and decided that it would look better if I moved in. As I walk closer I noticed I have ruined the composition because I have walked into the subject. The image had balance from a distance but closer in the composition fell apart. We learn rules as beginners but hopefully as we advance we no longer have need of them. Rules are not laws, they can be broken.
Excellent post, Cole.
?”The reason that art (writing, engaging, and all of it) is valuable is precisely why I can’t tell you how to do it. If there were a map, there’d be no art, because art is the act of navigating without a map.” ~Seth Godin
Gorgeous image, Cole. I love photographing beaches and sandbars because of such opportunities, especially in overcast days…
Regarding rules, you nailed it! What we should all be working on is precisely the “feeling”, this unfathomable thing you get when it “clicks” inside you. It takes a lot of continuing practice to both position oneself for it to happen, and to recognize when it does :-)!
Cole, this is one of the most pithy posts I’ve read in a long time. …and, of course, I totally agree with you. 🙂
Cole,
Another great post my friend…. I agree 100%. Go with what feels right and with what speaks to you. I find I make fewer photographs when Im out, but I come away with better ones than I ever did worrying about what others might think and with trying to conform to rules that seem to do nothing more than stifle my creativity. I do think that knowing and understanding the intent of rules, studying art in general is a positive exercise as long as you put them in perspective and not let them keep you from being creative..
Have a great holiday Cole….
So true. Do people really approach a composition with a rules checklist in mind? I couldn’t do that if I wanted to, it would just be too unwieldly a way for me to work.
I do think the study of composition is interesting, and it’s fun to think through why some things work and some things don’t as a kind of academic exercise. But if anything, I think this kind of awareness just gets folded into my subconscious, helping me to be more open to possibilities when visualizing an image, rather than becoming a front-loaded rules checklist to follow.
Lovely post. I agree, I don’t look for images based on rules, or even keep the rules in mind, I just go with what I like. But when I see something that touches me, I often remember a composition concept that resonates behind it. Your posts are really helping me to try to visualize what I like about an image in advance of making it – thank you.
I could never “paint by number” and stay inside those lines anyways! In fact, I could never paint!