APPROXIMATE TIME
4 hours.AssigNMENT
COMPOSITION
“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”
– Ansel Adams
The aim of this assignment is to look for some of the basic principles of composition in my environment, to strengthen your imagery, and enforce what it is that you want to say with a photograph.
Rule of Thirds
© Leonie Marinovich, Taos New Mexico. July 2014. Camera Settings: Fujifilm XE-2 18mm (27mm FF) ISO 200, f11 1/320s
Most important elements are organized along the main lines and the 4 intersections. Use it as a building block.
Fill the Frame
© Leonie Marinovich, Lesotho. Canon 5D Mk II 70mm. ISO 125, f3.5, 1/125s
Filling the frame with your subject. Get close, then get closer.
Draw the viewer’s eye to what captured your interest in the first place.
VIEWPOINT
© Leonie Marinovich
Change your viewpoint. Go high, go low.
Framing
© Leonie Marinovich. Lesotho.
(SUB) framing – FRAME WITHIN A FRAME
By framing elements within the image, you immediately draw attention to what is important.
It’s isolating.
It creates depth and layers of interest.
LEADING LINES
14 December 2010, Mazabuka District, Zambia. Conservation agriculture (CA) aims to achieve sustainable and profitable agriculture and subsequently aimes at improved livelihoods of farmers through the application of the three CA principles: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations. Fabian Haweza, 35, husband to lead farmer Ireen Hamvunga, cultivates the land between his newly emerged maize, with his son. ©Leonie Marinovich.
Camera Settings: Canon 5D Mk II, f9 1/320s ISO 250.
Help lead the viewer through the frame.
I also found this one as I was going through my archives. Here the light is creating leading lines to the teacher.
Parakou,Benin. December 2009. At the Amy Pascale Centre teenagers are given the opportunity to do professional tailoring courses. This gives them formal recognition of their skills and allow them to better negotiate a job or start out on their own. ©Leonie Marinovich.
Camera Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mk II. Focal Length 70mm. f2.8 1/50s ISO 640
Symmetry and Reflection
A waiter passes by the outside of a beachside cafe in Beira, Mozambique. July 2001. Image scanned from the original negative. Photo by Leonie Marinovich. Shot on Leica M6 at ISO 400.
Symmetry is about balance and it fulfills our desire for order. There’s a fine line between balanced and boring.
Foreground and Background
©Leonie Marinovich. Kipushi, Democratic Republic of Congo. 8 March 2009.
Camera Settings: Canon EOS 5D f8 1/125s ISO 125.
Having objects in the foreground and background adds depth.
Horizon
©Leonie Marinovich. Rovinj, Croatia. 7 April 2008.
Camera Settings: Canon EOS 5D. Focal Length 105mm. f7.1 1/320s ISO 200
Placement of the horizon indicates where the importance is.
Isolation
14 December 2010, Mazabuka District, Zambia. The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was established in 1996 as a semi-autonomous corporate body with responsibility for managing the National Food Security Reserve. To this end the FRA purchases grain at the beginning of the marketing season for release at market value under the circumstances that the private sector is unable to meet the market demand for grain. Here a private contractor is moving surplus maize from a storage facility in Mazabuka district to a central distribution point elsewhere. ©Leonie Marinovich
Camera Settings: Canon EOS 5D Mk II f7.1 1/200s ISO 250. Focal Length 28mm
Draw attention to your subjects by isolating them from their background or other distracting elements.