It's All About Composition

[PeterToronto]

Greetings guys

A few months back I sat down with a young, keen, and motivated teenager who had, over the last year or so, fallen in love with photography. We sat for a while, and went through a small collection of his images in a coffee shop. The conversation revolved around the good, the bad, and the ugly in relation to his photographs. He kept wanting to know how to improve upon what were his best images. He genuinely wanted to get better at photography. It was great to see someone so enthused about photography.

At one point in the conversation I mentioned a compositional weakness with one of his images, and the immediate response was "I'm not worried about composition, I'm more interested in improving the technical side of my photography". At the time I forced myself to let that comment go, but it bothered me that I did so. I immediately should have taken the opportunity to challenge the comment. My response should have been: "No, it’s all about composition". At the time I thought maybe this was just a philosophical difference in our respective approaches to photography. Well, maybe it was, but even then, I'm frustrated that I missed a great teachable moment. For the record, I'm aware that most people that are relatively new to photography want to, first and foremost, improve their technical skills.

A strong understanding and use of composition is what differentiates the beginner from the advanced amateur. It's what sets apart the advanced amateur from the professional. It's what distinguishes the working professional from the legendary photographer. I'm not simply talking about leading lines or the rule of thirds, I'm talking about knowing how to harness and play with light and texture in one's composition. I'm referring to new, unique, and unconventional angles on those more than well known photographic landmarks. I'm talking about a three degree tilt in a subject's glance that takes a portrait from good to spectacular. Those subtle compositional nuances make all of the difference in photography, but no I was silent and missed my opportunity.

Peace
Peter

peter anthony PHOTOGRAPHY - Home

[Iguanasan]

Interesting story. Not sure what provoked you into sharing it at this point in time but I'm glad you did. It's definitely something worth thinking about.

[PeterToronto]

I was trying to get across the points that one's technical proficiency will develop over time, and composition is the key to lasting images.

Personally, I would rather have an interestingly composed image with weaker technical aspects, versus that of a technically strong image with no sense of composition.

Peace
Peter

peter anthony PHOTOGRAPHY - Home