83 Part Two: Composition—Aesthetic Considerations

object against elements with contrasting colors, in this case cyan leaves or flowers.

The Rule of Thirds This very important principle of

image composition provides an easy way to frame ob- jects by using a nine-square grid as an overlay to the picture. The concept, called the rule of thirds, divides the screen by thirds vertically and horizontally. (See Figure 4-19.) It is based on the ancient Greek discov- ery called the golden rectangle, or as Da Vinci called it, the divine proportion. An accurate golden rectan- gle has an aspect ratio of 1.618:1 (the Greek letter phi

is used for the number 1.618). That ratio is found by dividing the longest side of the rectangle by the short- est side. A true golden rectangle is more like the aspect ratio of a movie screen. The TV aspect ratio of 4:3 (1.333:1) does not contain the same geometric prop- erties as a golden rectangle, but the one-third and two- thirds divisions are a close approximation. As more and more consumers take the plunge into high-defini- tion television, with its movie-like aspect ratio (16:9, or 1.778:1), the TV screen will take on more of the ar- tistic look seen in other forms of Western design.

As you look at any composition, fit the elements of the scene into the grid, positioning them on the four intersections of the lines. Try this idea with a sunset and a very flat horizon, such as the ocean or a large

field. You’ll find that long or tall objects, such as the horizon line and maybe a telephone pole, look better lined up along the lines of the grid and not centered in the spaces of the squares. You’ll also find that smaller objects like the sun look better placed at the intersec- tion of the lines.

Figure-Ground One way to organize the elements of

the frame is to use the concept of figure-ground, fig- ure being the main visual element or subject of the pic- ture—the shape that you notice first—while ground gives it the context in which to exist. Figure can only exist with a ground to place it on. You cannot see fig- ure and ground at the same time. Photographers who point and shoot run afoul of this concept all the time. A figure is any element in the frame that achieves prominence over the rest. By concentrating on just the element you want to be the subject of the shot, you cannot see the entire frame—a version of not seeing the forest for the trees.

The best example of this is the infamous tree posi- tioned so it comes perfectly out of the top of some- one’s head. In another version, a lamp or other object sits atop the subject’s hair. (See Figure 4-20.) In these cases, the photographer is so focused on the subject that the other aspects of the frame are literally not seen. But the viewers are not concentrating in the same way; they are just discovering the shot and see it first as simply figure and ground. The tree and head, or lamp and head, appear to be one continuous form. Signs can work the same way. If they are too large or too overpowering in the shot, they become the figure and the person standing in front of them becomes the ground. This is not effective communication.

It is easy to control figure within ground just as you would any object you wish to highlight. Through lighting, color, focus, position, and so on, you deter- mine which object will be figure and which will be ground, despite the complexity of the shot.

Balance A balanced shot is one in which the elements

within the frame are at equilibrium with all the forces of the frame. And there are many. The frame is like a scale; elements and groups of elements have visual weight determined by size, shape, contrast, direction, or just plain interest. Large dominates small; a black bean dominates when seen in a group of all white beans; a regular shape such as a circle dominates within a group of irregular shapes; and certainly a

Figure 4-18 This simple color wheel can be easily created by writing the three primary colors of light, RGB (red, green, blue), in a triangle, and then writing the three second- ary colors, YMC (yellow, magenta, cyan), in their respective places between the primary colors in an inverted triangle.

84 Chapter 4: Part Two: Composition—Aesthetic Considerations

snake sliding across the floor dominates any picture re- gardless of composition.

Balance is determined by two factors: the visual weight and the visual pattern’s direction of movement. Position in the frame has a lot to do with an elements’ relative weight. A large object near the center of the screen can be balanced by a small object close to the edge of the frame. Objects at the center or on the ver- tical centerline of the frame have less weight than the same object at the sides of the picture. A face in the left third of the screen can be balanced by look space

orlead space in the right two-thirds of the screen (as- suming the person is looking screen right). An ele- ment at the top of the frame is heavier than when it is

at the bottom. Because of our left–right conditioning, an object on the left side of the frame has greater vi- sual weight than one on the right side. A picture can be balanced by total symmetry, but these composi- tions rarely hold visual interest; they are boring. By using a more dynamic framing scheme, such as the rule of thirds and figure-ground, combined with the concepts of eye movement, you can design an image that holds the viewer’s interest and therefore imparts more information.

The movement, or implied movement, within the frame is the other part of the balancing act. Converg- ing lines create movement to the point of convergence. Your eye follows a curved line in a field of all straight

Figure 4-19 Use of the rule of thirds makes this sailboat and seascape a balanced picture. The sea is in the lower third of the frame; the boat is at B2; and the cloud is at A1.

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