Project - Composition Workshop - Andrew Lerario

Project - Composition Workshop

9/21/2012

Today was our 3rd photography workshop focusing on composition. After an overview in which we defined composition and the things to consider when planning a photograph, students had the opportunity to practice developing their skills. Here is the sheet that briefly covers our discussion:

Composition notes

For students: The assignment for this workshop is to capture an image that demonstrates your ability to plan and compose an image. Your photograph is due by next Wednesday, September 26. In addition to your photo, respond in the comments section to this post answering the following prompts:

What is the subject in your photograph? (What are you trying to accomplish?)
How do the other objects in the photograph contribute to the subject? (balance - color/contrast, symmetry, framing)
What techniques did you use to draw a viewer's attention to the subject? (camera settings such as aperture, lines, rule of thirds, Golden Ratio)

34 Comments

Michael Gracia

9/21/2012 10:31:09 am

1.) The subject of my photograph is the shutter (I don't know the actual name so I'll call it that) and the clouds over it. I think it's a nice touch of architecture that's overlooked.
2.) There was just a perfect little blend of lighting and the clouds surrounding the object because the sun was overhead, and the clouds perched around it. The clouds I think made the shutter stand out more than it would have.
3.) I used the basic settings on my phone, but I did change it so I focused it myself. Though I used the paper for the Rule of Thirds part but otherwise, not too much. Either way, I really liked the affect I got with it not being straight ahead, but at an angle, more specifically, a upward angle.

Bryanna Rivera link

9/21/2012 12:47:44 pm

1. The subject of my photo is the arch made by the mountain/rock.
2. The rock is such a vibrant color that contrasts greatly with the clear blue sky. The road creates a line for your eye to follow, and of course the subject, the arch does as well.
3 The Golden ratio is somewhat applicable- the picture isn't exactly 5/7
I definitely tried to capture the rules of thirds (the road, the rock, the sky) and then (the rock, the road, the forest) so that way the picture is appealing to the eye.
I also opened the aperture on my camera quite a bit- although I sadly don't remember what exactly.

Alyssa Abeyta

9/22/2012 06:50:03 am

1.) The subject of my photograph is my dog which is portraying natural beauty. I wanted to capture gods creation.
2.) I feel like in this photograph, my eye is attracted to her eyes. The main focus was to position her so the sunlight would really bring out the hazel in her eye color.
3.) i tried to blurr the background and make the main focus her face. Another technique i feel i used was the golden ratio, but up close.

Matt Larson

9/23/2012 07:19:48 am

1) My subject is Grace laying on the water fountain.
2) The other objects connect to her laying down because Grace is showing a sign of tire/sleepiness while the water fountain is showing a completely opposite expression which is energetic because of all the water wildly blowing out behind her.
3) For my camera I just used my iPod, but I had the idea to put my sunglasses in front of it to make it less bright and also fade brightness/color from the top to the bottom.

Francisco M.

9/24/2012 04:53:38 am

1. My subject was China Town. I wanted to show all the things that make it a small piece of China. I took the picture so that the signs, the lamp post and the decorations would be noticeable.
2.When I took the picture symmetry was one of the main things I wanted to have, that is why I tool it in the middle of the street towards a hill. There are tall buildings on both sides of the street.
3.I can't change the settings because I took it on my iPod. I used line to guide the viewer towards the center, which is usually where most look in the first place. There are four triangles that surround the center, although there isn't much in the center I thought it looked cool. I am not sure if this is true but I think the golden ratio and symmetry can't be used in the same picture or else there would be two focus points.

Jimmy Nguyen

9/24/2012 05:04:00 am

1: My subject is the tree on the right
2:The sun was setting and the the colors around the tree was dark. The tree is a dark red with a blue background. There is a car at the bottom of the picture.I was not trying to frame the picture.
3: I tried keeping the tree in the rule of thirds. I didn't have a lot of time so I just raise my ISO to the highest and lower everything else. I wish I could have lowered my ISO because it makes my picture grainy.

Paisley Dutcher

9/24/2012 05:23:43 am

1. My subject is the gray cat in the middle of the photo. My goal was to convey the mysterious feeling I had when I first saw it to the audience looking at it now.
2. I used mostly framing in this photo with the bush and the contrast of the blue berries with the green and dark browns in the background. Most people don't see the cat initially, to me that means I've really captured the personality of this cat.
3. I had to lay on the ground to get this picture the way I wanted it, with the bush as a frame in the foreground and the cat right in the middle of the background. I didn't pay much attention to the rock on the ground in front but I'm so glad it's there now. It really helps lead the eye to the middle even if you don't see the cat you know you should be seeing something and I think that's really cool.

Stevon Marshall

9/24/2012 09:12:10 am

1) The subject in my photo is the floral arrangements in the center of the photo. The meaning of this was to show how the structure of plant made it's surrounding mysterious.
2) The frame around the flowers, made them stand out. Due to the fact that the frame is dark and there is a little lighting from above that made the flowers shine.
3) I made the lighting from above seem like haze/fog, while the dark frame around it made the flowers the vocal point of the photo.

Tyler Hill

9/24/2012 09:35:34 am

1.The subject I was trying to show was organization. I used pool balls (racked) and put the cue ball directly in front of them.
2.It was taken in the middle of the pool table so the sides are both even on the edges of the photo. The background is all fairly similar, no huge changes that pull your attention away from the balls.
3.I took the picture in gray scale so that the bright cue ball grabs your attention. I turned on the pool light (the light above the pool table) and closed the garage door so that the only light was coming from above. This put a huge glare on the cue ball as well. I also used a pool cue that I aimed directly at the cue ball. This brought lines into the equation that draw your attention to the end of the cue, and the cue ends right in front of the cue ball.

Lukas

9/24/2012 01:34:12 pm

1. The subject is looking out a window at someone deep in their own conciousness. The main subject is Jorge.
2. The window panes contribute to the photograph because they frame the photo. The inside is dark where the viewer is, and it contrasts the bright light of outside.
3. I used the rule of thirds because the window is divided into panes of 3x3. Also I adjusted the camera so the outside is just a tad blurry

Quintin

9/24/2012 04:43:00 pm

1 The subject in my photo is a plane
2 The plane just caught my interest in the way it was the only man made object in the sky in the photo
3 The technique I used was the golden ratio

Sierra Renna

9/25/2012 02:25:47 am

1. Im not sure what I was trying to capture in this photo.The feeling was supposed to be happy though. I think I accomplished that gole.
2. There is more then one layer to this photo. There is a foreground and a clear background. The colors are very bright and work very well with each other.
3. I used the the rule of thirds. Also I tough about when I was taking the picture, which was during the golden hour.

Elijah Sanchez

9/25/2012 09:31:00 am

1) My photo is about the "unseen" teenage life. This particular photo focuses on sex because at some point in high school its something you will be faced with. You may choose to have it or wait but everyone has to make a decision.

2) In the bottom right corner the Trojan condom box and cigarette pack make it very clear whats happening. There's dirt and grime giving the whole thing a grungy feel. The way the metal in the door is bent points to the feet giving the viewer a point of focus.

3) I used a high aperture because there were so many things working together in this picture I wanted it all to be clear. The lines draw the eyes to the feet and the golden ratio leads the viewer to the condoms bringing the whole image together.

sebastian

9/25/2012 03:51:51 pm

ಠ_ಠ

Joshua Quiroz

9/25/2012 11:45:26 am

1) The subject of my photo is the flower and the beauty of it when it's blooming
2) The light of the sun hitting it in angle lets it show the beautiful colors of the flower making it eye appealing to me
3) I used the rule of thirds and focused the flowers filament in the middle and the leaves by the outer part of the rule of thirds.

Diana Day

9/25/2012 12:26:29 pm

1.The subject in my photo are these violet/pink flowers.
2.The color of the violet/pink flowers and the green vines balance with each other. I framed the image so the first flower closes to the camera would be blurred and the others wouldn't.
3. I used the rule of thirds to capture this image, and adjusted the camera to a setting that allowed the images of plants to pop out more.

Kim Enriquez

9/25/2012 12:27:33 pm

The subject in my photo was a naval display. I think the way it's taken to the side draws the ye to the subject. I attempted to use the rule of thirds.

Sergio Ramirez

9/25/2012 12:50:55 pm

I tried to show a tree with pink flowers on the top. I wanted to show the sky as well because the flowers seemed to be reaching out to it. In the lower part of the picture is the flowerless plain tree. In the middle of the pic. you could see the colorful flowers, and on top of that is the wavy blue sky. You can also see parts of things blend with each other, like the sky blending with the flowers on the middle part of the pic. I tried using the rule of thirds to divide the objects in the pic to make one pop out. I also tried to make a couple of quick shots (aim and shoot) to see how the objects changed place.

Sam Rizzuto

9/25/2012 12:59:05 pm

1. The subject of this photography is a decorated tea cup with flower petals resting inside.
2. The spot of grass the cup is sitting on helps to frame the tea cup and make the setting look more natural. The bright yellow flower near the bottom draws your eye and contrasts nicely with the cup behind it.
3. With this photo I tried capturing the subject from an angle. The unique angle appeals to the eye more and captures your attention.

Kelley Hernandez

9/25/2012 01:29:24 pm

1. The subjects in my photograph was of two puppies. I tried to accomplish a creative and colorful picture of the two puppies together.
2. I took the photo from a lower angle. The grass and the green ball really makes the photo pop.
3. I used the golden ratio. The focus mainly goes towards the ball.

Grace Ojeda

9/25/2012 01:52:15 pm

1) The main subject is the road. I took this while I was moving I really tried to capture the idea that things seem a little blurry if you move to fast. Like I said the main focus is the road that lead to the palm trees in the distance. I would say that helps you to slowly move up vertically on the picture and then notice everything.
2) I felt that the other objects such as the car(s), landscape, and the houses in front of the sunset really draw you into a vanishing point. All those lead to the road and the to the palm trees. I really tried to pull the blue and orange from the light of the sun to give a bit of a contrast. I also enhanced the different shadows as well as the blur from the picture.
3) I feel like I used a lot of what I said in answering questions one and two, in really pulling the attention to the road. I tried the rule of thirds, I would say that everything calms down as it get stacked higher and higher. From a really crazy scenery to a solid color at the top and dividing that into thirds help to realize which each part of the photo had to offer.

Isak Nuhic

9/25/2012 02:17:17 pm

1.) The subject of my picture was my watch.
2.)My boardshorts were colorful as the watch was so it made my picture look exubrant and vivid. But the floors tan color balanced my picture it out a little bit not making it to overwhelming.
3.) I used a blur affect and the golden ratio.

Britton

9/25/2012 02:35:44 pm

I took this picture of goggles while experimenting with different camera lenses at home. I knew about the rule of thirds and made sure to line the goggles up towards the right. I also tried to get the pool in the background to give a bit of setting and framing to the goggles. I tried to get as close to the subject as possible while still being in focus. Looking at it now, I am proud of the different techniques I didn’t know I was using.

Giovanni Cassarino

9/25/2012 03:13:49 pm

1. My subject in my photo is the water fountain and its surroundings. I focused on making everything symmetrical and line up the shadows.

2. The photo in my eyes is very symmetrical and blends very well. Some of it was accidental although I did plan out having the fountain be in between the trees. This gave it a great effect and framed the subject pretty well.

3. One technique I used was adjusting the ISO to a good level. I tested out the different settings and I found the one that best fit this situation. I also took into account the vanishing point as well as the balance of the photo.

Madison Clark

9/25/2012 03:53:03 pm

1) The subject in my photo is me and a classmate's feet in the grass. I'm trying to accomplish color pattern and framing.
2) The grass adds a lot of color, our shoes do as well. And they way were standing adds to how its framed. the patterns in the grass and on our shoes fill the pattern part.
3) I used pretty basic camera settings, i didnt focus it too well though and I pretty much eyeballed the rest.

Sebastian

9/25/2012 04:01:25 pm

1. My subject was a group of cacti, to the left of the photo. On the right of the photo you can see three blurred people, one with extended arms. Which draws your attention to the unfocused part of the image.

2. The photo is asymmetrical and a large mass of cacti catch your attention at first but then you notice the figures and it balances out the image.

3. I took this photo a while ago so I can't remember the settings. But i do remember having a wide open aperture so I could only have the close object in focus.

Marco

9/26/2012 12:21:59 am

1) The subject in my photo are mangoes. Just a group of mangoes, You could see horizontal lines coming towards the mango like the lines in tron.

2)The large mango catches your attention.

3)No settings, just use a horrible camera.

Livi

9/26/2012 12:54:38 am

1.My subject is flowers. I was trying to show how each of the flowers are strong and are really on their own.
2. I focussed my camera more on the front most flowers and left the other flowers blurry in the background. I also took the picture in good lighting.
3. My technique was using the focussing on my camera to make the attention towards the thing i focussed more on.

Miguel Ramirez

9/26/2012 06:40:49 am

I am trying to accomplish that the lights travel down each other just like an illusion.
The lighting of the picture helps a lot because it makes the walls pop out.
I used the ringaround effect because it caused an effect around my body.

Ana

9/26/2012 07:38:01 am

1. The subject of my photo is the pattern of the succulents. The repeating circular shape give it a cool effect.
2. The contrasting big and small circles make the picture more eye catching.
3. I just used the way the plants naturally made the pattern as my technique.

miles

9/26/2012 10:53:56 am

1. my subject in the photo is miles herrera, I set the focus and blurred everything out that's not the main subject
2. the arm, leg and hand are all leading towards him in this picture,
wit the shadow leading down on the coach, my face catches light on only one side.
3. the golden ration is at its finest in this picture, it has everything that you have thought us so far.

Lindsey R.

9/26/2012 11:00:50 am

1. My subject was a small palm tree, I wanted to show how even thought it was a small tree the colors were still very vibrant and beautiful.
2. The way that everything behind it is pretty dull, and then the tree adds this pop of color. So because everything behind the leaves is a different color scheme, it makes the leaves of the tree look so much more green.
3. I made sure the camera was focused of the base of the tree so it would immediately draw your eyes in. Also there are a lot of lines leading right to the stem, so that also makes you look at it.

John Preciado

9/26/2012 01:34:40 pm

1. My subject are plants on a beach. I wanted to give the picture the effect of focusing and the use of the golden ratio.
2. The backround lights up the photo and the other plants in the backround fill in the rest of the picture.
3. Some of the techniques I used was the golden ratio as well as the rule of thirds, and they really enhanced my photo

Jorge

9/26/2012 02:29:05 pm

1) The subject of my photograph is grass, nature's carpet. I wanted to capture the peace and beauty of the environment. I wanted this photo to relieve stress at the first look, like when I happened to me as I walked into NTC.

2) I like the amount of symmetry in this photo and feel that it represents balance. The bottom of the photo is like a canvas, a neutral color. I feel that the blue from the sky, and green from the plants, blend well together and with the bottom. I also like how the dark green trees and bushes enhance the lighter green grass.

3) The sky, grass, and cement all were all meant to capture the audience and follow the rule of thirds. Once they were hooked, the trees and dirt paths form lines from the outside towards the center. This gives an idea of how open and immense the place is.

Project - Composition Workshop

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