How to use the components of photographic composition to analyze photographic works?

Photography is a visual art and has the same characteristics as visual arts such as fine arts. However, photography has its own unique language in its means of artistic expression. Photography is the use of a camera as a tool and the use of photographic techniques and techniques to create works. In addition to having a good subject and creativity, a successful photographic work must also pay attention to photographic modeling elements such as composition, light, tone or tone, exposure, as well as various post-production techniques in darkroom printing, which constitute the art of photography. characteristics.

Composition is the processing and arrangement of the shapes in the picture. In essence, it is to solve the internal connections and spatial relationships between various factors on the picture, and organize them organically on a picture to make them form a unified whole. Therefore, for photographers, composition is an important link in the process of turning the "shape" of nature into the "shape" of art, placed in the conception and specific expression methods.

Although photographic composition and painting composition both adopt the "planar composition method" and both use two-dimensional space to express three-dimensional space, they are very different in composition methods and procedures. By comparing them, we can find out the special rules of photographic composition. In painting, the composition is designed first - subjectively; in photography, the composition is chosen first - objectively. The composition of paintings can be chosen subjectively and created according to the designed composition; while the composition of photography requires direct use of the camera viewfinder and lens to compose on-site, focusing on objectivity and making appropriate choices. Therefore, it is said: "Painting is additive composition, photography is subtractive composition." This shows that the composition choices in photography are qualitatively different from those in painting. Photographic composition is completed by several procedures: framing - cropping - cropping again. Framing - Cropping is the main process of composition, which is determined by photographic equipment. Re-cropping is the second composition, which depends on the results of the first two procedures. Due to various reasons during shooting, it is difficult to achieve the ideal picture effect in the first composition. Then you can use cropping to perform the second artistic processing and make necessary corrections to the original composition. It is a powerful "remedy" measure.

Photography is "painting" on the spot. It must first explore the composition elements such as the lines, shape, appearance, and texture of the subject, and then it can fully use the technical means of photography to complete the photographic composition task. Lines - Our world is full of lines, and different lines evoke different emotional responses. Horizontal lines imply tranquility; vertical lines represent pride and nobility; diagonal lines can induce a feeling of movement or speed. In short, lines have visual weight, and thick lines are more powerful than thin ones. Shape - Shape is the most basic element of composition. Lines are the basic conditions for forming shapes, and shapes are closed curves. Squares and rectangles are closed by four straight lines. This shape gives people a sense of stability and stability. A triangle is closed by three straight lines. The pyramid-shaped triangle gives people the feeling of lasting endurance, steady weight, and strong advantage; the inverted pyramid-shaped triangle is often used to symbolize water, plant growth, and music. When the ends of the curves are connected together, a vortex or circle is created. Since any point on the circular line maintains a fixed distance from the center of the circle, no shape in nature or in the art world has a stronger metaphorical meaning than the circle. It represents the sun, moon, earth, etc. It inspires emotions of completion, totality, completeness, and warmth. Appearance - The contrast formed by the shaded and dark areas of the meter is called appearance. The difference between appearance and shape is that the main body of appearance expression is three-dimensional space, while the main body of shape expression is two-dimensional space. The appearance can give people a sense of depth and make people believe that the real world exists in three-dimensional space. Light, shadow, and depth are the appearance conditions that make up the subject. Texture - a composition that highlights texture can easily arouse the viewer's excitement. By revealing the nature and texture characteristics of the subject: such as the moistness of water, the coldness of ice, the exquisite clarity of glass, the roughness of the old man's skin and the delicateness of the child's skin... it arouses the viewer's touch and makes them associate.

There are as many different compositions in the works handed down by outstanding artists in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. However, the compositions are ever-changing, but they all have rules to follow. "There is change, but not chaos; there is order, but not monotony." This is the general principle of plane composition. Balance is a general rule of composition. The balance of photographic composition refers to the coordination of lines, tones and colors in the picture. A balanced picture makes people feel stable, comfortable and natural. Rhythm and rhythm are one of the important means of photographic composition and the soul of the composition. It is the orderly repeated alternation and change of lines, shapes, tones and colors in the picture. Rhythm is the regular repetition of things, and rhyme is the rhythm with "emotion". Rhythm is a concrete object, and rhythm is an abstract meaning. Perfect rhythm naturally produces rhythm, and rhythm is a higher level of rhythm. As a kind of contrast technique, foil can make the main image features more prominent, form a strong visual stimulation and deepen the impression. Contrast, using a combination of opposite factors to create a strong contrast in feeling, can produce a good aesthetic effect. That is the so-called "opposite and complementary". Specificity and Exaggeration The so-called specificity means that there is change in unity. The simple unity of the picture makes people feel dull and dull, but the clever use of special skills can bring life to the picture and form a center of interest. It makes the picture feel active from tranquility, and changes from simplicity. Exaggeration refers to a breakthrough in the original concept of things in space and time that deviates from natural and usual standards.

With the advancement of modern science and technology in photography, the emergence and use of various special lenses, filters, additional lenses, the improvement of darkroom technology and the improvement of post-production technology such as computers, exaggeration, an artistic expression form, has become a form of photographic composition. Commonly used techniques. However, exaggeration in photography is not simply caused by the photography equipment and the subject, but is determined by the subjective consciousness of the photographer who masters photography technology. He uses factors such as deformation, tone, color, etc. to achieve exaggeration during shooting. purpose. Art practice proves that there is no art without change. But if there is only change without unity, the picture will be messy, confusing, and without a subject; if there is only unity without change, the picture will be monotonous, lifeless, and lacking in artistic appeal. The picture of a photo is limited, but nature is infinite. If you want to use a limited two-dimensional space to express the infinite three-dimensional space more movingly, you must rely on change. However, changing objects must seek unity in opposition, so that people can feel beautiful and natural, and nature is the highest state of composition.

“Looking at it from the side, there are ridges and peaks, with different heights near and far. I don’t know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain.” Su Dongpo’s poem "Inscribed on the West Forest Wall" expresses the choice of viewpoint when observing the scenery. importance. From photography theory, the viewpoint is the shooting position of the camera. Most of the objects photographed by photographers are three-dimensional. They present many "faces", including front, side, back, top and bottom. Each of these faces shows its own characteristics. Before shooting and composing a picture, you need to choose different directions and angles to observe, study, and compare the subject to find the best viewpoint. The same subject, due to different shooting directions, will show a variety of composition effects. If you shoot from the front of the subject in line with people's appreciation angle, it can form a solemn, solemn and stable composition effect. However, smooth lines and symmetrical structures will also appear dull due to the lack of perspective; if the subject is photographed from an oblique direction, the original parallel lines on the screen will form a diagonal line, giving a sense of depth and drawing the viewer's attention away from the subject. Leading to the depth, the three-dimensional sense is strengthened. Moreover, the slashes also enhance the dynamic impact, making the picture more vivid. With slight changes in the oblique azimuth perspective, interesting changes will occur in the perspective effect. When we go to the back of the subject, we choose the direction that is often ignored by everyone and boldly frame it into the picture, which will make the composition language of the picture subtle and imaginative.

American photographer L. Jacob Hiss Jr. believes: "Composition starts from the photographer's mind's eye. The process of composition is also called 'foreseeing', which means that you can create a picture in your mind before taking a picture of an object or while taking a picture. By frequently analyzing the composition of your own and other people's works, you will become more proficient in this ability and become an instinct."

Photography creation is a minimum. Mental labor that is fixed at most exceptions, least routine and most varied.

When a photographer's mind is attracted and possessed by a true emotional image, and has the ability to keep it there and express it visually, he will create a good composition