Lecture Notes

Notes on Principles and Elements of Photographic Composition

Compositions

-Refers to arrangement and relationship of principles and elements that comprise an image

-Elements being individual components/building blocks of art and design

-Principle guide how elements are organized, connected, related

Elements, the Basic Building Blocks

-Line, Shape, Form, Space, Value, Texture, and Color

Lines

-Mark made by moving point

-Has greater length than width

-Directs the eye

-Can be obvious lines or borders/edges of shape

Shapes/Forms

-A contained area

-Can be geometric

-Can be organic

-Shapes are 2D and flat

-Forms are 3D with height

-Used to create sense of space and substance

Space

-Area used or unused in a composition

-Positive space:Area objects/subject takes up

-Negative space:Area around, under, through and between

-Gives photo a 3D feeling

-Foreground, middleground, and background

-Can be crowded, near, far, etc

Value

-Black and White and all grays in between

-Dark to Light

-Can add drama and impact to composition

Texture

-Surface quality

-Rough, smooth, bumpy gooey

-Adds dimension to photograph

Color

-Hue refers to a specific color

-Saturation refers to intensity or purity of color

-Value refers to lightness or darkness of a color, in photography this is adjusted by amount of light, type of light and focus of light in a scene

Principles of Art

-Emphasis, Balance, Unity, Contrast, Movement/Rhythm, and Pattern/Repetition

Variety/Pattern/Repetition

-An element that occurs over and over again in composition

-Can repeat element in a consistent pattern

-Can repeat element in a variation of pattern

Emphasis/focal point

-Emphasis in a composition refers to developing points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the work

Balance

-Sense of visual weight in images. Multiple aspects affect our perception of visual weight, including contrast, color, texture, and space

Unity

-Unity is seen in art, design, and photography when all the parts are equal to a whole

Contrast

-Contrast refers to the opposites and differences in work. You can achieve variety by using different shapes, textures, and colors

Movement

-Movement adds excitement to your work by showing action

Elements and principles in photographic composition

-Elements and principles are used in making photographs

-You must know and understand elements and principles of art to see them all around you and capture them in photos