A brief discussion on photography composition

Introduction: I have talked about how to teach myself photography and post-production before, so I will also talk about composition and form a trilogy of self-taught photography. I hope it will be helpful to friends who are self-taught in photography.

In my opinion, composition has little to do with rational and rigid technology, but mainly has to do with beauty. In other words, the composition has nothing to do with whether you lift the camera or not, let alone what grade of camera you use to shoot. The composition is just the angle from which you see the world. Therefore, composition is more about perceptual beauty and the composition of emotions, which is also the highlight of photography. I still only talk about ideas and methods. Han Yu said: Teacher, preach and teach to solve doubts. I know that I am very shallow, and I definitely dare not call myself a "teacher." I just feel that the "Tao", that is, the ideas and methods are more important. As the saying goes: It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. The right way of thinking and how to shoot is a competition between everyone's personality and aesthetics. As for specific technical posts, you can search and learn by yourself.

Misunderstandings in composition learning: tied creativity

Many photography books have analyzed many composition methods, such as: the rule of thirds, the cross composition method, and the X composition method. Or the triangle composition method, etc. There is no problem with the analysis of these methods, but here is a problem. Many of these analyzes are done after taking photos, and then others look at the pictures for analysis. Based on the works of many masters, many methods are analyzed, and then written into books that can be sold. Sell ??for money. To be honest, when you see a work, as long as it feels comfortable to look at it, if you have to analyze it, you can analyze a lot of theoretical basis, but in fact it is just the idea of ????later people. The photographer did not think so much at first, he just raised the camera and When I shoot, a lot of it is subconscious composition, subconscious behavior, and subconscious shooting. Some moments are only one second, how can you really think so much?

My understanding is that a lot of composition analysis is needed to give everyone some reference, to train line thinking, and to cultivate searching. Awareness of ordered lines and points. I don’t want many people to worry about whether I should use thirds or triangle composition when they raise their camera. This is the problem that many newcomers have. They think that they have seen many composition methods and raised the camera to think, how should I compose the picture? After struggling for a long time, the opportunity was missed. Or after taking the photo, ask a master to analyze it: Do you think my composition is correct? Is there any right or wrong in it? Do you think it is comfortable or not? In many cases, it looks comfortable to you, but not to others. If you survey a hundred people, there will be very few works that everyone finds comfortable. In most cases, everyone is attracted to different eyes. Some people can look very comfortable when taking basic photos. Some people have upgraded their equipment to top-notch equipment and are familiar with the technical theory, but they still can’t take photos that look comfortable. What is the problem? I personally think it is the case for many people. My mind is full of technical data and theoretical methods. When taking pictures, I think too much and have too many choices. Instead, I cannot concentrate on taking pictures with my true temperament and express beauty with my own emotions. I originally had some ideas, but I was constantly disturbed by those rules and theories of composition that I was familiar with every day. I always debate whether I want sesame seeds or corn, but the result is different.

Composition is actually about discovering beauty and then expressing it rationally.

The so-called aesthetic is what the older generation of photographers commonly call it: the photographic eye. For example, when you and your friends are walking by the side of the road after get off work, others see: the street lights above are warm, the traffic is thick next to you, and the sky is deep blue and poetic, and they immediately take out their cameras and take a picture. But you didn’t notice such a perfect time, location, and harmonious blend of people and beautiful scenery and walked by quietly. If you don’t even have the awareness to discover the clues of beauty, isn’t it too early to talk about composition? So I have always advocated that composition has more to do with perceptual aesthetic issues. This cannot be solved by just looking at the photography works of masters. Generally speaking, it is to improve your own beauty cultivation and inspiration of beauty. Be able to be sensitive to beauty matters immediately, discover beauty instantly, find things worth photographing, and then practice reasonable composition. Some people think that the most effective way to learn photography is to see the works of masters. I don’t think so. I’m joking, have you ever seen a painting master who only copied other people’s works and developed his own style? Whether it’s copying or appreciating the works, it’s just learning. A way, just for reference. There is more to it than photography, your feelings about the world, life, and the beauty of the four seasons. Without this, after reading tens of thousands of works by masters, all I can do is imitate and copy them, and I don’t have the realm and thought of the masters, so I will end up with something completely different.

Composition, my personal understanding is the angle from which everyone sees the world. For example, some people see the West Lake as just an ordinary lake in a city park, while others see it as poetic and picturesque. The distant mountains and rowing boats in the lake can be so intimate. In fact, there is nothing wrong with the former type and the latter type. If you use the logical thinking of science students to analyze West Lake, it is just a park lake in the city. At most, it is larger and richer than ordinary park lakes. But for a perceptual person, a person who has a perceptual literary and artistic understanding of the West Lake, the landscape is a painting, and he will naturally use the eyes to see the landscape painting to discover the beauty, and the natural sense of the logical line picture in the photo will be the same as that of a science student. Different. At least in terms of visuals, there will be more emotional expressions and angles of beauty.

Without this literary accomplishment and accumulation, it would not be West Lake if the West Lake is photographed in a variety of colors and the neon lights make it feel like life and death. This is because West Lake has become a cultural symbol under the influence of thousands of years of literati. It is always appropriate to wear heavy makeup and light makeup. The elegant style is the beauty that Su Shi had already set when he was planning the West Lake. I have been to West Lake more than 20 times, and have seen Snow Lake, Rain Lake, Morning Lake, and its cycle of seasons, but I still feel that I don’t understand West Lake.

So, the composition that I understand is, to a certain extent, what happens before you raise the camera. Before you raise the camera, it is emotional. After you raise the camera, how to shoot is a combination of rational application of technical theory. This point of study must be separated. If you always compose pictures with rational data and theories in your head, let alone whether the pictures are beautiful or not, at least the works will lack a little "humanity". Of course, this "humanity" is a joking term. , which means that there is missing a kind of beauty of temperament in it. Since it is a logical theory, it can be imitated. It is the same as the industrial standard. Anyone can imitate it, so there is no need to talk about composition, just find a clone copy from the same angle as others. Just fine. The reason why composition is the essence of the beauty of photography is that the biggest charm is that everyone sees the world differently. I can see another world in your eyes that I can't see. Looking back suddenly, that person is there, the feeling of being in a dimly lit place.

Suggestions for systematic study of composition

Zhuangzi said: "The beauty of heaven and earth cannot be described." ?Everything in the world, including the pictures you take at work, under the trees in your home community, or even placing a few stones on the ground, can train the ability to appreciate lines. If you limit your analysis to only one picture, it will be too restrictive. Broaden your horizons. The so-called composition learning and training is to recombine the world in your eyes in an orderly manner from the chaotic world elements.

When talking about systematic learning, many movie fans will understand that there should be clauses like one, two, three and four, what to do first, what to do later, just like teaching handwriting step by step, the system I personally understand Learning is just a method and idea of ??learning, rather than copying something step by step. Text sharing can probably only talk about methods and ideas. I would like to share some of my opinions on composition learning and development after studying photography for more than ten years. It is only for the reference of some photographers.

1. Seek more inspiration and creativity from works of art. Photography and painting are of the same origin. There is no need to keep focusing on the photography world and not see other art forms. You should not only look at Western art works, but also learn to appreciate Eastern art works from different periods. Apart from Impressionism, Western painting focuses more on realism, with a strong sense of concavity and convexity, which conforms to the logic of light and shadow and creates a sense of space. Oriental paintings, especially literati paintings after the Song Dynasty, have more simple beauty based on freehand lines, which is also in line with the "subtractive" aesthetics of photographic composition. The more you see, the more you will naturally view the world with different emotions and perspectives, and the works you produce will also naturally be different.

2. Good architectural works are the best instructors in photography’s use of light and composition. Master Ieoh Ming Pei has a famous saying: The soul of architecture is light. The same goes for photography works. They are just the guiding lines for systematic composition. When you have free time, visiting more excellent architectural designs can be a very good inspiration for beauty. For example, the design of Suzhou Museum and Suzhou Railway Station integrates the essence of lighting. These are the great beauties of life around us, but they are beautiful without words. If you turn a blind eye and then hold a camera to deliberately say that you want to discover beauty, it will be a bit far away.

3. Having a strong literary background can help you look at the world more poetically, instead of just tossing and turning between boring logical theoretical data without any taste. No matter what you shoot or how you compose the picture, it is always one of the criteria for a good work to have taste, vitality and emotion. No matter how much theoretical data there is, a work without any emotion or feeling of beauty will always be bland. And all of this is closely related to shooting inner emotions and feelings. There is a saying in Buddhism: In the eyes of Bodhisattvas, all Bodhisattvas are seen, and in the eyes of sentient beings, all sentient beings are seen. This is the truth.

Summary:

No matter what photography is, the final work is art. If you just shoot and record, you don’t need to learn anything and just shoot in automatic mode. If you want to rise to the realm of beauty, then you have to rise to the realm of art. Since it is art, it is perceptual, it is something that people can see, and it is the human factor that is conveyed. Instead of taking a bunch of photos and analyzing theoretical data. Finally, I suggest that beginners should not dislike the trouble and long time of learning photography. There is no quick fix for solid photography learning. What’s wrong with letting the camera accompany you in your lifelong beauty practice? When talking about the post-production of photography before, there is no quick fix for any artistic practice. Yes, three minutes on stage and ten years of hard work off stage. If you have money for the equipment, you can do whatever you want, but the accumulation of knowledge and experience cannot be bought with money.