Composing Good Photographs CS 178 Spring 2011 Marc Levoy Computer Science Department Stanford University There are no rules for good photographs there are only good photographs Ansel Adams Outline the pictorial elements of photography line and form pattern and texture tone and color pictorial design i e the design in the 2D picture frame symmetry and balance framing common compositions things we won t talk about today situation storyline viewpoint field of view focus lighting exposure color balance post processing 3 Marc Levoy Learning good composition there are no rules like describing wine with words they don t mean much there are only tools and heuristics they merely give us a framework for thinking about issues the best way to learn is to take lots of pictures think about the issues as you take them critique your photographs and have others critique them look at good photographs by others most useful if you ve also tried the same thing yourself In response to one student s clever question about how I would summarize this lecture if I had to do so while standing on one foot I might say that I hope to convey the message that great photographs are seldom accidents Good photographers think about pictorial design You should too 4 Marc Levoy Lines as a pictorial element Ansel Adams Aspens 1958 5 Marc Levoy Arrangement of lines Freeman Patterson 6 Marc Levoy Lines as a decorative element Howard photodelusions wordpress com 7 Marc Levoy Lines that lead your eye to the subject London Hiromu Kira The Thinker 1930 8 Marc Levoy Lines that lead your eye to the subject the lines don t need to be manmade or smooth Bryan Peterson 9 Marc Levoy Raphael Galatea 1513 Gardner Form lines with meaning Bryan Peterson first shot second shot 11 Marc Levoy Form lines with meaning 12 Edward Weston Pepper No 30 1930 Marc Levoy Georgia O Keeffe Grey Line 1923 Shape readily identifiable form backlighting draws attention to shape Bryan Peterson 14 Marc Levoy Shape readily identifiable form 15 Marc Levoy Pattern repeated forms Bryan Peterson first shot second shot 16 Marc Levoy Pattern repeated forms Abhaneri Stepwell Rajasthan India 17 Marc Levoy Frederick Evans The Sea of Steps Wells Cathedral 1903 Rhythm a looser kind of pattern Freeman Paterson 20 Marc Levoy Auguste Renoir Le Moulin de la Galette 1876 Texture fine patterns early product of f 64 club sharp focus smooth papers reaction against Pictorialists Ansel Adams Boards and Thistles 1932 22 Marc Levoy Texture co founder of f 64 club with Ansel Adams Edward Weston Dunes Oceano 1936 23 Marc Levoy Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater 1934 photographs by Galen Frysinger Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater 1934 Lighting as an aid to pictorial design London Fluor Gardu o Basket of Light Guatemala 1989 26 Marc Levoy Yousuf Karsh Winston Churchill 1941 Rembrandt van Rijn Self Portrait 1660 Yousuf Karsh Winston Churchill 1941 Rembrandt van Rijn Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts 1631 Tone as a pictorial element 29 Robert Mapplethorpe Marc Levoy Color as a pictorial element London Hedgecoe warm cool 30 pictorial Marc Levoy Color as an accent Hedgecoe 31 Marc Levoy Encircled by color Hedgecoe 32 Marc Levoy Giovanni Bellini Altarpiece of S Zaccaria Venice 1505 Color as rhythmic accent Hedgecoe 34 Marc Levoy Peter Paul Rubens The Judgement of Paris 1636 Diego Vel zquez Las Meninas 1656 Pictorial design 37 symmetry and balance framing common compositions Marc Levoy Symmetry Arcade in Red Fort Delhi 2008 38 Marc Levoy Marc Levoy Symmetry Marc Levoy Place du Carrousel Paris 2009 39 Marc Levoy Asymmetry Marc Levoy Montmartre 2009 Rajasthan 2008 off center placement of main subject underscores the asymmetry of the architecture 40 Marc Levoy Balance symmetrical background dynamic unbalanced foreground Freeman Paterson 41 Marc Levoy Jacque Louis David Oath of the Horatii 1784 Framing Marc Levoy 43 Marc Levoy More dynamic framing London shadow edges complete the frame slashing diagonals create tension Dennis Stock James Dean 1955 44 Marc Levoy The picture frame Bryan Peterson first shot 45 second shot Marc Levoy Raphael School of Athens 1511 Common compositions upright equilateral triangle diagonal calm stability power tension discord dynamism S curve motion sensuality eye flow rule of thirds In response to an insightful question from a student about whether this lecture would have a different message or whether this list of compositional ideas would be different if I illustrated the lecture with examples from modern art rather than pre 20th century art I conjecture that modern art has contributed additional ideas but not banished the ones on this list Later in the course I ll talk about 20th century photography interleaved with examples of modern art Let s see if my conjecture proves right 47 Marc Levoy Raphael Madonna with the Goldfinch 1506 Titian Madonna of the Pesaro Family 1526 Raphael Madonna with the Goldfinch 1506 Titian Madonna of the Pesaro Family 1526 Titian Venus of Urbino 1538 pendant Titian Venus of Urbino 1538 Photographic examples Edward Weston Charis Wilson Nude 1936 52 Marc Levoy Photographic examples diagonal leading to her eye eye and shoulder use rule of thirds stems create frame within a frame partially hidden face creates mystery Jimmy Sin http www pbase com aloha lavina librodo workshop malaysia 53 Marc Levoy Photographic examples diagonal leading to her eye eye and shoulder use rule of thirds stems create frame within a frame partially hidden face creates mystery Jimmy Sin http www pbase com aloha lavina librodo workshop malaysia 54 Marc Levoy S curve large collection of articles about photographic composition photoinf com 55 Marc Levoy S curve Ansel Adams Tetons and Snake River 1942 56 Marc Levoy Pictorial design Samuel Schulenburg John Shappell St Teresa s Church Bodega California 57 Jay Bergeson converted to B W Marc Levoy Pictorial design John Shappell 58 Ansel Adams 1953 Marc Levoy Alfred Hitchcock The Birds 1963 Potter s Schoolhouse and St Teresa s Church Bodega 59 Marc Levoy Parting thoughts from Fredo Durand simplify your picture avoid cluttered backgrounds reposition yourself 60 Marc Levoy Parting thoughts simplify your picture avoid cluttered backgrounds Marc Levoy use a shallow depth of field 61 Marc Levoy Parting thoughts simplify your picture avoid cluttered backgrounds fix it in Photoshop 62 Marc Levoy Parting thoughts simplify your picture avoid cluttered backgrounds or leave it there 63 Marc Levoy Parting thoughts simplify your picture avoid