Balance in "Dry Goods" Photography —— The Fifth Structure Series

It seems that people don't like this composition. It may be too dry, but I'd better finish this part. After all, composition is an important means to judge the quality of photos intuitively.

Balance is one of the least mentioned principles in excellent works, but it may be the most important. When taking photos, do you make a conscious decision on each photo: should the composition be balanced or unbalanced? To some extent, every existing photo has balanced and unbalanced elements, which makes this topic very important for photography. They can improve the quality of photos at the most basic level.

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

The left-right division is the only factor that really affects the balance in the photo. The balance between the top and bottom will not have much influence on the photo. Many times, a photo is only balanced in the left and right parts, which is already balanced in perception. So, you can have a picture with all the subjects along the bottom. If the visual weight of the left and right halves is equal, it is still balanced.

Imagine putting a photo on a fulcrum. If the features on both sides are similar to the eyes, then the photo can be considered balanced.

Balance, or imbalance, will affect the "stability" of photos. A balanced image, the center of gravity is biased to one side, which is more "stable". This is intuitive. Try the following picture:

Another one:

Some people may have different views, but in my opinion, the above picture is much more peaceful. In contrast, the picture at the bottom is inexplicably uneasy. Its current form does not look "stable", as if something in the picture is about to change.

Of course, different people may prefer different pictures. For many people, compact images can convey stories more effectively; For others, the image of balance is more peaceful and beautiful. It all depends on the mood you want to express.

The most obvious balance type is that the left and right images are the same. Perfect, pixel-level symmetry is impossible unless it is computer-generated. But a nearly symmetrical photo can give us a balanced composition. Look at the picture below:

Although the pattern of each star in the photo is different, the scene is as symmetrical as possible. The subject is located in the center of this photo, and the visual weight of each side is basically the same as that of the other side. The square frame also emphasizes the balance of this image.

The main problem with symmetry is that most scenes don't have exactly the same two halves. Moreover, if your work belongs to the style of symmetrical theme (such as architectural photography), then if you compose in the same way, your work will remain unchanged and nothing new.

A photo doesn't have to be symmetrical to be balanced. Take the following figure as an example. The sun is an important subject on the right side of the picture, but the wave pattern on the left side also attracts people's attention:

Most examples are not so obvious. Each half of the photo has a theme that attracts the same attention. For example, the main body can be on one side of the image, but several small bodies on the other side can balance the picture. Alternatively, the subject can be large enough to span the length of the image, effectively balancing itself.

In order to balance the image, each side must attract the attention of the audience to the same extent.

To know how to balance photos, you need to know what attracts the viewer's attention. The following is a short list:

check plot

Objects in focus (especially when most objects in the photo are out of focus)

A striking person [something]

Saturated commodity

Warm colors (red/yellow)

Large articles

Humans and animals

Your target's eyes.

The direction your subject looks at (even if it is blank, it will increase the visual weight, because the viewer looks in the direction of the subject's line of sight)

This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it includes some common eye-catching items. At any time, an object in a photo is more eye-catching than the rest of the image, and it has a certain visual weight. If you try to balance your photos effectively, you must arrange the composition position to balance their visual weight.

Similarly, just like putting an image on a fulcrum, objects near the edge of the photo bear more weight than those near the center. So, in order to keep two similar objects in balance on the screen, you can put them at a similar distance from the center of the screen. In other words, if there is only one important object in your composition, the most balanced composition is to put it on the center line.

To change the balance of the image, you can quickly look at the left and right images. Remember how many important visual elements there are on each side and check the items in the list above. Think carefully about the distance from each object to the center of the picture. Even those objects that are usually inconspicuous will be obvious if they are close to the edge of your photo.

Adjust the composition to make it more balanced, make the visual weight on both sides equal by moving the border, or remove distracting objects in the picture.

Of course, all these need to be practiced, although a lot of knowledge about combination balance is very intuitive, which is why beginners tend to put the subject in the middle of each picture. We tend to take balanced photos according to our feelings, and proper practice can help us achieve this in more complex scenes.

Your photos don't need to be completely balanced to look smooth. However, when you are composing a composition, it is very important that an excessively unbalanced picture will make the viewer nervous. This is not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your intention, but nervousness is something that many photographers try to avoid in their photos.

In some photos (actually many photos), a certain degree of imbalance is necessary. In order to make a scene dynamic and tense, your composition must almost make the scene not completely equal from one side to the other. Take the following photo as an example:

In this picture, the weight between the two parts of the picture is uneven. The left side is brighter, with higher contrast, and contains the main body of the image. In other words, the composition is not unbalanced to the point of distraction, and certainly not to the point of disturbing the viewer. This unbalanced image with tension is very suitable for this photo.

On the surface, it doesn't seem particularly difficult to balance a vertical photo. If you use exactly the same technology as the horizontal photo, the photo will be very balanced.

However, vertical composition gives you less space between the center and the edge of the image. As mentioned above, if objects are close to the outer boundary of photos, they will be more easily distracted. In fact, in most vertical images, objects that hardly deviate from the center are close to the edge of the picture. Of course, this does not mean that it is impossible to achieve balance. Vertical images are usually as effective as horizontal images, but the balance of vertical images needs more attention.

Of course, symmetry is still valid at this time:

But sometimes, vertical composition only needs to compose its main body around the center of the picture. In the picture below, three main objects (window, sign and surfer) form a triangle around the center of the photo. At first glance, the image focuses more on the left, but the surfer seems to move to the right, making the weight of the left and right sides roughly the same.

If you want to take a panoramic photo, it is very easy to balance a photo. For example, a small change in the left and right position of an object will not have as great an impact as a vertical image. In addition, panoramic view is easier to avoid the edge of the scene, giving you more room for composition.

The following figure shows that it is very simple to balance two objects on the panorama. The visual weight of birds is similar to that of waves, and the distance between them is roughly the same.

Sometimes, the balance of the image depends on the size of the image, because important details (which may change the balance of the composition) are invisible at a smaller size. This seems to be a strange concept, but it is meaningful in practice.

Take the following figure as an example. When displayed on a small size, perhaps on a mobile phone, it is a bit difficult to see lightning on the left side of the image. If there is no lightning, the clouds in the image will tilt the weight of the image to the right. In fact, this picture looks quite balanced, but it will only be balanced when the image is large.

Another example of this effect is the following photo. The author wants to create a peaceful landscape and a balanced composition, but this special scene is difficult to balance properly. Similarly, at small sizes, the image seems to be more inclined to the right, although these effects are weaker than the above photos. But when the size is large, it is obvious that the sky above the waterfall is full of stars, which attracts the attention of the viewer to the left.

Many times the difference is not as obvious as these examples, but you should always pay attention to the influence of image size on image balance.

Perhaps the best way to correct (or emphasize) the photo imbalance is to use local adjustment in a program like Lightroom. This may be as simple as dimming a highlight that is too bright, or reducing the clarity of an object that is too prominent. You can also remove some objects, such as using the Repair Brush tool. Cropping also belongs to this kind of operation, because you move elements in the picture and try to change the balance of the composition. The method you can use depends on your post-processing technology and what kind of photographer you are. For example, for legal reasons, documentary photographers are unlikely to copy elements of images.

If you are meticulous about composition, you can control the balance of most scenes. Moreover, if a scene cannot be effectively balanced, post-processing can usually be used to highlight some elements of the picture.

Finally, whether you choose a balanced composition or not, it is important to think deeply. Ask yourself what kind of photos you want first, and then consider how balance (or imbalance) can help you achieve your goals. If you can control the balance of the picture well, even if you use unbalanced elements, you can make a stronger and more meaningful composition and improve the quality of the photo.