My Photography Blog | Design for Photographers Series

[mindforge]

I started a new blog today. I decided that I would get serious with one, now that I am doing photography as a full time job (I resigned from my newspaper job about a month ago to pursue design and photo full time).

I am nearly finished with my MFA in Graphic Design. I have been in school for business, photography and design for over half a decade (good god). So, I decided to start a series for more advanced photographers that enjoy designing their materials and beginners that would like to apply graphic design, art and psych theories to their photos.

I already have the posts laid out for at least two dozen entries for this series. If anyone is interested you can twitter me (http://twitter.com/robertwheater) or catch the blog at:
Click Here (http://blog.robertwheater.com)

I just thought offering a cross education in some of the art theories that could be applied in photography will be interesting. It is also a learning experience for me - applying things like Gestalt principles of perception to photography. I started it off with the golden ratio (which is the source of our Rule of Thirds, imo).

I just started the blog today.

[jjeling]

I have a friend in architecture who mentioned that the Golden Ratio is where the Rule of Thirds originated. Some pretty interesting stuff. I havent seen that graphic to illustrate it before, but it makes a lot of sense. Definitely some advanced math involved compared to the simple 1/3 idea.

[Iguanasan]

The Da Vinci Code was full of this stuff if I remember correctly. I've also seen a number of other things on the golden ratio and if you have any level of paranoia at all you'll start to freak out once you see all the places where it creeps into your life.

[jjeling]

Kind of like the 'perfect' male, which has resulted in our understanding of an 'inch.' Get your index finger out. haha

[kat]

Yah! Congrats on your move and good luck with your blog. I have no idea about bolgs!!!

[Marko]

Congrats on the new blog MF!

[mindforge]

The next one is the Face-ism Ratio. It has been posted now.

The Face-ism ratio is an actual percentage used by magazine layout and art directors to determine how much face is showing. Let's say I wanted to portray someone as intellectual in an article, well the higher the face-ism ratio the more face it shows. It is a proven fact that the more face we see in an image the more intellectual and personality properties show. On the other hand, the more body you show, even starting with just the neck or bust, the more sensual and physical the picture becomes... See more. (http://blog.robertwheater.com)

[jjeling]

Good stuff. If I take portraits, the first question I'm going to ask them is, "Do you want to look smart, or strong?" hahaha Really though, this is good stuff to know. Can definitely see myself using this in the future.

[mindforge]

Good stuff. If I take portraits, the first question I'm going to ask them is, "Do you want to look smart, or strong?" hahaha Really though, this is good stuff to know. Can definitely see myself using this in the future.

When I am designing a magazine layout (design still pays more bills than photography) that is exactly what I think. I might want to show several images and you have to think about how you want the article to be taken on a psychological level. Do you want the reader to connect the images with beauty or intellect... or a mix of both? Reading the article changes the way that this works of course, but on first glance... what do you want the reader/viewer to feel on a psychological level?

[mindforge]

I just posted the beginning of my first series in this... The Gestalt principles of perception. It will have eight parts. The Gestalt Principles (http://blog.robertwheater.com/?p=45)

[mindforge]

Well, the next Design for Photographers (http://blog.robertwheater.com/?cat=4) is up on the site: The Law of Pragnanz (http://blog.robertwheater.com/?p=49)

[JAS_Photo]

Great series Mindforge!