Compostitional Photography

In any beginning art class, it is imperative to first review the basics of the elements and principles of design along with introducing compositional rules to get the best work from your students. In a entry photography course, using compositional and photo journalism guidelines improves the quality and interest in photographs. Seven rules exist for governing this:

1. Proximity: The distance between the camera and the subject. Useful for when trying to talk about small details or evoking closeness/intimacy.

2. Vantage Point: Refers to the eye level of the photographer himself. Requires photographer to stand, squat, lean back, ect to achieve an interesting vantage point.

3. Disturbance: altering the edge of the photo to disturb the common rectangle that creates the border of a photograph. The object that is cut off creates a secondary frame within the photo that emphasizes the focal point.

4. Place: All about location. It allows the viewer to use contextual clues to infer something about the place the photo was taken












5. Rule of Thirds:
6. The Golden Triangle
7. The Golden Spiral

If your school doesn't have digital camera readily available for students to take pictures with, T students can use their cell phone camera to take detailed photographs. Students can explore the various compositional and photojournalist rules by coming up with 9 images (three for each comp. rule) detailing their lives/what is important to them. If the school has a darkroom or DSLR cameras, students can explore more in depth the various ways post production in the dark room can manipulate the images.











There are many famous photographers to study but the following have gained a famous following:

http://www.anseladams.com/
http://www.hockneypictures.com/
http://www.biography.com/people/annie-leibovitz-9542372