{"id":1360,"date":"2013-01-28T07:16:46","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T14:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/?p=1360"},"modified":"2023-09-04T13:54:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T20:54:47","slug":"fifteen-thoughs-on-fine-art-photography-composition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/fifteen-thoughs-on-fine-art-photography-composition\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen Remarks on Fine Art Photography Composition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifteen Remarks on Fine Art Photography Composition<\/strong><\/p>\n

by
\nAlain Briot<\/p>\n

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
\n<\/em>Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
\n<\/em>Albert Einstein<\/p>\n

\"\"Moonset at Sunrize, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California<\/p>\n

Introduction
\n<\/strong>What are the most important aspects of composing a Fine Art Photograph?\u00a0 The answer to this question certainly varies from photographer to photographer because each of us places more importance on some aspects than on others.\u00a0 What follows is what I personally consider to be the most important aspects of Composition.<\/p>\n

This list is excerpted from a longer list that I use for teaching during my workshops and seminars.\u00a0 The decision to create a shorter list, with only 15 items instead of 37, stemmed from the desire to focus on the essential aspects of composing a fine art photograph regardless of the \u00a0subject we are studyphotograph or the specific project we\u00a0are working on. The resulting list is free from a particular teaching emphasis and represents what I look for in a Fine Art Photograph.<\/p>\n

1 – Composition is the strongest way of seeing
\n<\/strong>This is Edward Weston\u2019s definition of composition
\nIt is still my favorite definition of composition
\n
\n2 – Composition is not just the placement of objects in the frame
\n<\/strong>Composition also involves using color, contrast and light
\nComposition includes post processing in the raw converter and in Photoshop<\/p>\n

3 – The goal of composition is to express your vision and your emotional response to the scene
\n<\/strong>The goal of Fine Art Composition is not to create a documentary representation of the scene
\nNor is it to create a photograph that is only technically perfect
\nThe goal is to create an image that is superior, both expressively and technically
\nAn image that demonstrate both mastery of vision and technical virtuosity<\/p>\n

4 \u2013 What the camera captures is objective.\u00a0 What the artist\u2019s sees and feels are subjective
\n<\/strong>Take stock of your emotional response to the scene in front of you
\nRecord those emotions in writing or in audio
\nUse light, color, contrast, composition and cropping to reproduce these emotions visually
\nWork on this both in the field and in the studio<\/p>\n

5 – Think first about light
\n<\/strong>A photograph is only as good as the light you use
\nThe subject is less important than the light that illuminates this subject
\nThe best subject in bad light does not make for a good photograph<\/p>\n

6 – Use foreground-background relationships
\n<\/strong>Find a great foreground and place it in front of a great background
\nMake sure your foreground is large enough to play an important role in the composition<\/p>\n

7 – Contrast opposites elements
\n<\/strong>Human beings think and see in terms of opposites
\nTherefore this is something everyone can relate to<\/p>\n

Examples of opposite elements include:<\/p>\n

– Static \/ moving
\n– Young \/ old
\n– Large \/ small
\n– Organic \/ man made<\/p>\n

\"\"Cottonwood Trees in Fall Colors, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah<\/em><\/p>\n

8 – Composing a fine art photograph is not about redoing what someone else has done before
\n<\/strong>If tempted to redo an image you have seen, just buy the postcard, the book or the poster
\nYou cannot be someone else, therefore you cannot take the same photographs as someone else
\nYou will waste time trying to do so
\nInstead, start to create your own images right away<\/p>\n

9 \u2013 Being inspired and redoing someone else\u2019s work are two different things
\n<\/strong>You can certainly be inspired by the work of other photographers
\nWe have all been inspired by the work of other artists and photographers
\nThis is an inherent aspect of the artistic process<\/p>\n

10 – No amount of technology can make up for a lack of inspiration
\n<\/strong>Cameras and other gears are technical
\nInspiration is artistic
\nThe two exist on different planes
\nAchieving a Personal style in Fine Art means working as an artist not just as a technician<\/p>\n

11 – People, not cameras, compose photographs
\n<\/strong>Certainly, a camera is a necessity
\nHowever, your camera cannot compose a photograph anymore than your car can drive itself
\nYou are the one who composes your photographs, not your camera<\/p>\n

12 – “Correct” is whatever works when the goal is to create fine art
\n<\/strong>There is no such thing as \u201cthe right thing\u201d in art
\n\u201cWhat is Art ?\u201d is a question to which there are many answers
\nWe therefore have to answer this question for ourselves
\nWe are also bound to disagree with others because fine art is a polarized activity.<\/p>\n

13 – Straight fine art prints are a myth
\n<\/strong>All fine art prints are a modification of the image recorded by the camera.
\nThe composition of the image you started in the field is continued in the studio.
\nThis is done through image optimization because colors, contrast, borders, image format, etc. are all part of composition.<\/p>\n

14 \u2013 The \u201cright\u201d color balance is the strongest way of seeing color
\n<\/strong>There is no such thing as the \u201cright\u201d color balance in Fine Art
\nThis is because color is one of the ways you express your emotional response to the scene
\nFor this reason, the \u201cright\u201d color balance for a specific image will differ from one\u00a0 photographer to the next<\/p>\n

15 \u2013 The finest compositions are those you never saw until you created them
\n<\/strong>Recreating a composition you saw before is easy
\nCreating a brand new composition, one you have never seen before, is difficult
\nThis is because doing so requires transforming the natural chaos into an organized image
\nIt involves creating order out of chaos, as Elliott Porter said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Alain Briot
\n<\/strong>Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, raw conversion, optimization, printing, marketing photographs and more. Alain is also the author of Mastering Landscape Photography and Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity and Personal Style. All 3 books are available from Alain\u2019s website as well as from Amazon and other bookstores.<\/p>\n

You can find more information about Alain’s work, writings and tutorials as well as subscribe to Alain\u2019s Free Monthly Newsletter on his website at\u00a0http:\/\/www.beautiful-landscape.com<\/a>. You will receive over 40 essays in PDF format, including chapters from Alain\u2019s books, when you subscribe.\u00a0You can also email your comments or questions to Alain at\u00a0alain@beautiful-landscape.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Alain Briot
\nVistancia, Arizona
\n2013<\/p>\n

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Fifteen Remarks on Fine Art Photography Composition by Alain Briot Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. Albert Einstein Moonset at Sunrize, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California Introduction What are the most important aspects of composing a Fine Art Photograph?\u00a0 The answer to this question certainly varies from photographer…Continue reading Fifteen Remarks on Fine Art Photography Composition<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[88,27,54,82,84,43,67,28,79,78,75,83,29,85,81,72,26,32,45,89,76,35,56,33,38,55,77,52,37,47,40,73,48,39,30,59,36,44,31,86,87,34,42,50,41,74,65,49,58,53,46,51,90],"class_list":["post-1360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-composition-2","tag-adobe","tag-alain-briot","tag-alainbeautiful-landscape-com","tag-alainbeautiful-landscape-com-alain-briot-antelope-canyon-arizona-art-auction-barrett-jackson-bentley-canon-car-collection-car-photo-cars-composition-digital-photography-dvd-ferrari-fine-art-fine-art","tag-antelope","tag-antelope-canyon","tag-arizona","tag-art-2","tag-auction","tag-barrett-jackson","tag-bentley","tag-briot","tag-canon","tag-canyon","tag-car-collection","tag-cars-2","tag-composition","tag-digital-photography","tag-dvd","tag-ebook","tag-ferrari","tag-fine-art","tag-fine-art-photograph","tag-fine-art-photography","tag-grand-canyon","tag-grand-canyon-bright-angel-trail-poster","tag-lamborghini","tag-landscape-photography","tag-landscapes","tag-leica","tag-lightroom","tag-lotus","tag-marketing-2","tag-navajoland","tag-nikon","tag-olympus","tag-painting","tag-personal-style","tag-phase-one","tag-photo","tag-photo-poster","tag-photography","tag-photography-ebook","tag-photography-workshop","tag-photoshop","tag-porsche","tag-poster","tag-selling-photographs","tag-seminar","tag-sketching","tag-sony","tag-workshop","tag-workshopshops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1360"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16707,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions\/16707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beautiful-landscape.com\/Reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}