"Dry" Balance in Photography - Composition Series 5

It seems that people don’t like to read the content of the composition. Maybe it is too dry, but I still finish this part. After all, composition is an important means to intuitively judge the quality of a photo.

Balance is one of the least talked about principles of good composition, but it may be the most important. Whether or not you make a conscious decision about each photo when you take it: Should the composition be balanced or unbalanced? To some extent, every photo in existence has elements of balance and imbalance, which makes this topic important to photography, and they can enhance the quality of a photo on the most basic level.

When a photo is perfectly balanced, it means that the left and right halves of the photo are even.

Left-right splitting is the only factor that really affects balance in a photo—top and bottom balance doesn’t affect the photo that much. Most of the time, a photo is just balanced between the left and right parts, and it already feels balanced in terms of look and feel. Therefore, you can have a photo where all the subject is along the bottom and it will still be balanced if the left and right halves are of equal visual weight.

Imagine placing a photo on a pivot—if features on both sides appeal similarly to the eye, then the photo can be considered balanced.

Balance, or lack of balance, affects the "stability" of a photo. A balanced image is an unbalanced image with the center of gravity tilted to one side, which is more "stable". This is intuitive. Take a look at the image below:

Another image:

Some people may have different opinions, but in my opinion, the above image is much more peaceful. many. In contrast, the image at the bottom seems inexplicably unsettling. It doesn't look "stable" in its current form, as if something in the picture is about to change.

Of course, different people may prefer different images. For many people, a compact image conveys a story more effectively; for others, a balanced image is calmer and better looking. It all depends on the mood you want to convey.

The most obvious type of balance is where the left and right halves of the image are identical. Perfect, pixel-level symmetry is impossible unless generated in a computer. But a nearly symmetrical photo can give us a balanced composition. Take a look at the image below:

Although the star pattern is different on each side of the photo, the scene is as symmetrical as possible. The subject is centered in this photo, with each side having essentially the same visual weight as the other. The square frame also emphasizes the balance of this image.

The main problem with symmetry is that most scenes have no two identical halves. Also, if your work is in a style with symmetrical themes (for example, architectural photography), then your work will look the same if you compose it the same way.

A photo does not have to be symmetrical to be balanced. Take the picture below as an example. The sun is an important subject on the right side of the picture, but the wavy pattern on the left also attracts people's attention:

Most examples are not so obvious, and every part of the photo Half have a subject that attracts the same attention. For example, the main subject can be on one side of the image, but several smaller subjects on the other side balance the picture. Alternatively, the subject can be large enough to span the length of the image, effectively balancing itself.

In order for an image to be balanced, each side must attract the viewer's attention to the same extent.

To know how to balance a photo, you need to know what catches the viewer's eye. Here is a short list:

Contrast areas

Items that are in focus (especially if most of the objects in the photo are out of focus)

Highlights< /p>

Saturated items

Warm colors (red/yellow)

Large items

People and animals

You Subject's eyes

The direction your subject is looking (even if it's a blank space, it adds visual weight because the viewer follows the direction of the subject's gaze)

< p> This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it includes some common eye-catching items. Any time an object is more noticeable in a photo relative to the rest of the image, it has a certain visual weight. If you are trying to balance your photos effectively, you must arrange compositional positions to balance their visual weight.

Again, just like placing the image on a pivot, objects near the edges of the photo will bear more weight than objects near the center. So, to balance two similar objects in the frame, you can place them at similar distances from the center of the frame. Or, if you have only one important object in your composition, the most balanced composition would be to place it on the center line.

To change the balance of an image, you can quickly view the left and right sides of the image. Make a mental note of how many important visual elements there are on each side and check the items on the list above.

Think carefully about how far each object is from the center of the frame—even objects that aren't usually noticeable will stand out if they're near the edges of your photo.

Adjust the composition to make it more balanced, by moving the frame to give equal visual weight to both sides, or by removing distracting objects from the composition.

Of course, this takes practice, although a lot of knowledge about compositional balance is relatively intuitive, which is why beginners tend to place their subject in the middle of each frame. We tend to take balanced photos the way we feel, and proper practice can help us how to achieve this in more complex scenes.

Your photo does not need to be perfectly balanced to appear even. However, when composing your shot, it’s important to remember that an overly unbalanced image can cause tension in the viewer. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, depending on your intentions, but tension is something many photographers try to avoid in their photos.

In some photos (indeed, many photos), a certain amount of imbalance is necessary. In order for a scene to have movement and tension, your composition almost has to be such that the scene isn't exactly equal from side to side. Take the photo below as an example:

In this frame, the weight between the two parts of the photo is uneven. The left side is brighter and has higher contrast, and it contains the main subject of the image. That said, the composition is not unbalanced to the point of being distracting, and certainly not so unsettling to the viewer. This unbalanced image with tension is perfect for this photo.

On the surface, balancing a vertical photo doesn't seem particularly difficult—using the exact same techniques as for horizontal photos, the photo will be balanced.

However, a vertical composition gives you less leeway between the center and the edges of the image. As discussed above, objects are more distracting if they are close to the outer borders of the photo. In fact, in most vertical images, objects that are barely offset from the center are already close to the edge of the screen. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to achieve balance—vertical images are often just as effective as horizontal ones—but balancing vertical images requires a little more attention to detail.

Of course, symmetry still works here:

But sometimes, a vertical composition only needs to compose its subject around the center of the picture. In the image below, the three main objects (window, sign, and surfer) form a triangle around the center of the photo. At first glance the image is more focused on the left, but the surfer appears to be moving to the right so that the weight is roughly the same on the left and right.

If you are taking a panoramic photo, balancing a frame is very easy. For example, small changes in the left-right position of an object will not have as big an impact as a vertical image. Plus, panoramas make it easier to avoid the edges of the scene, giving you more room to compose your shot.

The image below shows how easy it is to balance two objects in a panorama—the bird has a similar visual weight to a wave, and both are roughly the same distance from the center.

Sometimes the balance of an image depends on the size of the image, since important details (that might change the balance of the composition) are not visible at smaller sizes. This may seem like a bit of a weird concept, but it makes sense in practice.

Take the picture below as an example. When displayed at a small size, perhaps on a mobile phone, it is a bit difficult to see the lightning bolt on the left hand side of the image. Without this lightning, the clouds in the image would tilt the weight of the image to the right. In reality, the image looks pretty balanced—but only if the image is larger.

Another example of this effect is the photo below. The author wanted to create a peaceful landscape with a balanced composition, but this particular scene was difficult to balance appropriately. Likewise, at small sizes, the image appears to be tilted more to the right, although these effects are much weaker than in the photo above. However, when scaled larger, it becomes apparent that the sky above the waterfall is filled with stars, drawing the viewer's attention more to the left.

Many times the difference is not as obvious as these examples, but you should always be aware of the effect that image size has on image balance.

Perhaps the best way to correct (or emphasize) imbalance in a photo is to use local adjustments in a program like Lightroom. This could be as simple as dimming highlights that are too bright, or reducing the sharpness of objects that stand out too much. You can also remove parts of an object, for example using the Healing Brush Tool. Cropping also falls into this category because you move elements around the frame in an attempt to change the balance of the composition. The methods you can use will depend on your post-processing techniques, and what type of photographer you are—for example, a documentary photographer is less likely to copy elements of an image for legal reasons.

If you are meticulous about your composition, you will be able to control the balance of most scenes. And if you find that a scene isn't balanced effectively, you can often use post-processing to accentuate certain elements of the frame.

Finally, whether you choose to balance your composition or not, it’s important to think deeply.

Ask yourself what type of photos you want, and then consider how balance (or imbalance) can help you achieve your goals. If you have good control over the balance of your shot, you'll be able to create a stronger, more meaningful composition even with unbalanced elements, which can improve the quality of your photos.