Beginners Evening - ideas for "Composition/Aesthetic"

[bluphoto]

<p>All,<br />Our camera club resumes from the summer break in late August. More often than not, we get a lot of beginners with new cameras coming along at the start of the season, tailing off nearer Christmas as the new hobby gets more mundane.<br />We've decided to run a "beginners" evening on week#2 to give new members a bit of a low down on how to work their cameras, basics of exposure and composition.<br />I've been tasked with running the composition part, though I'd like to make it a little broader than just the "rule of thirds".<br />I was wondering if you guys had any bullet points or suggestions I might use. I'm guessing that the cameras/sensors/lenses part will take no more than about 15 minutes, the exposure basics will take about the same, but the composition/aesthetic part could take a bit longer.<br />I don't want to bamboozle all the new users going in to great depth, but would like to cover the main points, to give them a few tools to inprove their photography.<br />I want to show a decent cross section of photographic subjects, whether landscape, wildlife, still life, studio portrait, outdoor portrait etc.<br />rgds,<br />Guy</p>

[Matt Laur]

<blockquote>

<p>but the composition/aesthetic part could take a bit longer</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yeah, like for the rest of one's life! Knowing what to shoot, and how to present it, is a never-stop-getting-better-at-it process. The three main things I'd drill in there:<br /><br />1) Move around. Change perspective, and see what happens.<br />2) Look at the background. Are there things that should be included or excluded, to make the image work better?<br />3) Don't shoot too tightly. Save room for a bit of a cropping afterwards, and to take into account that different print aspect ratios (say, an 8x10 from a 2:3 format composition) can be really hard to create if you didn't give yourself some room around your subject.<br /><br />Can I also recommend that you spend some time on <em>light</em>. Sources of, quality of, and falling-off-ness-of. Control of light can really makes the difference between newbie snapshots and more polished-looking results.</p>

[sknowles]

<p>I would focus more on looking and seeing than composition, and a lot of time on, as Matt suggests, light. Composition is personal and photographers should shoot and produce the best images of what they like than following any rules. They'll learn by their own mistakes, something cheap with digital cameras. And show them, as Matt also suggests, move around to look again and again. I was originally taught to take a shot then look again and take another, and in most cases, you'll like the second more than the first.</p>

<p>This comes from watching a number of photography workshops in Mt. Rainier NP where the instructors, including some famous ones, take the class to a spot and shows thems what he would shoot and they're supposed to come up with their version of his shot. Ever watch 12 photographers crowd into the same spot? When I ask some of them, they usually cite how they're learning to shoot who this or that photographer shoots. What's good about that? Like being in the same spot makes them good? And where's the individuality in their work?</p>

<p>Anyway, good luck.</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>For beginners, I like to coach, "Topic / Subject / Path," as a set of ideas about composition. This teaches composition's principle components, and gets away from long lists of pattern examples.</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/pentax-camera-forum/00VGQt<br /> Similar discussion began here: http://www.photo.net/pentax-camera-forum/00VG4k<br /> Homemade video:

<ul>

<li><strong>Topic</strong> of the photo would be the generalized <strong>main area</strong> or target to photograph.</li>

<li><strong>Subject</strong> of the photo is <strong>the eye's main destination</strong> as it travels over the surface of the photo (not just main idea of the picture, but the main destination of the eyes).</li>

<li><strong>Path</strong> to the subject is <strong>the route</strong> we want the eye to trace to get to the subject. There could be multiple paths, but for the beginner examples, try to keep it simple and use one distinct, main one.</li>

</ul>

<p>As near as I can tell, photos with strong composition have those elementary characteristics, regardless of compositional pattern or technique applied to organize the photo.</p>

<p>Idea is to coach the main components of a composition (regardless of composition pattern). <br /> Let the beginner learn to identify those parts (they often catch on after just one or two examples). <br /> Challenge them to identify those parts, those ideas, in their own viewfinder, before they click the shutter.</p>

<p>Okay, they're gonna do poorly with some of the initial photos. Yet, they're going to have a language that allows them to evaluate and get better and coach themselves. This empowers them to have a good strong point of beginning for their interest in photo composition. You can get someone going with learning about photo composition in 15 minutes with some quick coaching on topic/subject/path. This empowers them to take action. It makes the first few steps easy.</p>

<p>Then, later, after they've done some and show some interest in improving; then haul out the expert examples and historically significant photos.</p>

<p>The pattern examples are the "how" of photo composition. By coaching the elementary characteristics first, particularly as they may be identified on-site, then the "who, what, when, where and why" have already been coached. Then choosing a "how" pattern to line things up a little better is a smaller, more contained, idea to teach.</p>

<p>Discriminating between a topic and subject alone can keep them out of a heap of compositional trouble.</p>

<p>So, by coaching a practical defining and identifying approach to the elementary characteristics, you set up the pattern recognition part of composition to be a more limited, easily quantified and qualified and communicated, concept. This structures up the training a little bit more. A greater number of people will get it and respond quickly and effectively. They'll like it more, and go on to the next level.</p>

<p>I was taught composition by having to sit down and learn about two dozen composition patterns by rote example. I'm not so sure that's helpful in today's impatient world. It's helpful in the long run; but, topic/subject/path will get them going today.</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>Some topics could include, rule of thirds, leading lines, perspective, balance, how color affects composition, and high key and low key exposure. You might also recommend some books on the topic. I wouldn't try to cover too much with newbies. They're confused already.</p>

<p>When I got my Buick La Crosse the salesman went over about 100 features with me. Then he asked it I remembered everything. I said, yes for the next ten minutes.</p>

<p>I would also emphasize that these "rules" are only guidelines, and can and often should be broken.</p>

[luis_g]

<p> If you are supposed to address composition, that's what you should be doing. After teaching for many years, in my experience, what worked best with my students was teaching composition using <em>visual examples in the form of a slide show. One composed only of top-notch photographs.</em></p>

<p><em> </em>Often, but not always, I start with showing and analyzing snapshots, because this is the form that everyone is familiar with, and wants to get away from. From there, to the snapshot aesthetic, and onward to more dynamic, complex compositions. want to show something about the range of strategies, and mainly pry them from the snapshot rut.</p>

<p> I would do a hand-out with the basic elements of composition. There are many places on the web you can draw from (and it is for educational purposes, so copyright is not a problem).</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p><em>"...composed only of top-notch photographs..."</em><br>

I'd disagree only slightly. It can be useful to compare uncropped versions against the final vision of the photographer.</p>

<p>Take a peek at the differences in crops of the <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/07/unethical-cropping.html?cid=6a00df351e888f88340133f21a18f3970b">same Weegee photo</a> in this July 6 <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/">TOP</a> column.</p>

[dave_wilson1]

<p>Agree with learning to "look and see", then an object from various perspectives and lighting. One I have used and like is hand out paper and pencils and have them draw something like a horizon and a tree and see what they come up with, then go over some of the basics like the rules of thirds and converging lines and so on. Have fun!</p>

[stinshoff]

<p>My top three tips for beginners would be to get closer, place the subject off center and keep the background uncluttered. When it comes to shooting people, I'd add turning on the flash outside and turning it off indoors.</p>

[dan_south]

<p>At its core, composition is about</p>

<p>(a) drawing attention to the subject - positioning, framing, leading lines, use of space</p>

<p>(b) conveying some information or impression about the subject - what is it with, relative size and placement, juxtapositions</p>

<p>and © removing distracting elements.</p>

<p>Just about everything else extends from those three ideas.</p>

 

[mike_hitchen]

<p>I agree with teaching really basic principles and the importance of looking at the scene and thinking about what it is you want to capture: this means there is so much less for them to think about.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>One composed only of top-notch photographs</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That is a good start but I am a believer in that you learn far more from what doesn't work that what does, so the final part of the slideset could be differnt perspectives/cropping/DOF of one particular shot to show the thinking process: and it will also show them that even experienced shooters do not get it right all the time as I think with beginners there is a tendency to be embarassed about taking 20 shots to get one right.</p>

<p>Have you ever noticed how it is much easier to critique someone else's resume than it is to write your own? Or critique a someone else's technical writing than to get yours right? The same applies to photographs. I think you could set an assignment and get them to critique each other's photographs with minimal input from yourself - you can guide them through the process with open questions such as 'what do you think is the main subject', 'if it doesn't work, what is distracting you' and so on. This can be difficult for the person who took the photo but they need to learn that there is no right/wrong, just opnion that they may or may not choose to take on board.</p>

[dan_south]

<p>How about instead of a lot of blah-blah-blah you just show them a slide show with pairs of photos? In each pair there would be a slide showing a compositional mistake (or a questionable choice). The next slide would show the improved version. For each pair, switch back and forth a few times to give the full effect of the A/B comparison.</p>

<p>Remember that even in today's mexapixel cell phone age, a picture is still worth a thousand blah-blah-blah's.</p>

<p>;-)</p>