Tutorial - composition

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Some people asked me to do a tutorial on composition, and I'm way overdue, so here it goes.

Part 1: What is composition?
Basically composition defines where your attention goes. Generally it's the shape that forms if you outline all the attention points in a piece. So technically, every image has a composition. But not every piece has an eye-pleasing composition and not every image achieves the goal of bringing the eye of the viewer to the right places.

Theoretical example: suppose you have a girl and a lot of birds in the image. They are somewhere in a room full of books. You want the viewer to look at the girl and then notice the birds. If you have a proper composition, that will happen. If not, the viewer will notice the books, the room, get distracted and pass over the girl. He won't get the clear message of the needed attention points right away. And those few seconds he's confused and not understanding where to look at - those are usually when you lose the viewer. Especially on the internet, when he's not even looking at a full version, but at a small thumbnail.

So, to sum up: composition is ordering your attention points in a proper way so that the viewer's attention goes to the right points in your image.

Part 2: What kind of compositions are eye-pleasing and natural?
There are several compositions that are eye-pleasing and will form by themselves when possible. Has something to do with how we humand perceive the images. My advice is to try all of them just to see how they work.

Here's a list with examples:
1.Central:
Most obvious one. Basically have one attention point in the centrum and be done with it.
Central by Chanteur-de-Vent

2.Symmetric:
Distribute your elements in a symmetrical way over the canvas. Every point should have a similar point on the other side of the symmetry axis.
Symmetrical by Chanteur-de-Vent

3.Assymetric:
Fill up only one half of the picture with attention points, but leave the other side blank or less occupied.
Asymmetrical by Chanteur-de-Vent

4.Horizontal:
Let all the attention points follow the horizontal lines across the canvas.
Horizontal by Chanteur-de-Vent

5.Vertical
Let all the attention points follow the vertical lines across the canvas.
Vertical by Chanteur-de-Vent

6.One third:
Divide the canvas in 9 squares and only put attention points in the cross points. Preferably only in one of them.
One third by Chanteur-de-Vent

7.Golden ratio:
Divide the canvas by two lines, so that the bigger part of the cut is 1.62 (= phi) times the smaller part of the cut. Put your attention point at the crossing.

Golden ratio by Chanteur-de-Vent

8.Diagonal:
Put your attention points along a diagonal line across the canvas.Especially good when you want a dynamic result.
Diagonal by Chanteur-de-Vent

9.Triangular:
Put your attention points in a triangle. Can be combined with symmetrical composition, by using a pyramid composition.
Traingular by Chanteur-de-Vent

10.Over-all:
Put your attention points everywhere, unformilly divided over the canvas.
Over-all by Chanteur-de-Vent

11.Circular:
Put your attention points on a circle.
Circle by Chanteur-de-Vent

12.Spiral:
Put your attention points on a spiral.
Spiral by Chanteur-de-Vent

Part 3: How to shape a piece into a certain kind of composition
So you've got your scene set up, but instead of getting a triangular composition you get a triangle and an extra point somewhere else. Or maybe two extra points. Or maybe it's the other way around, your attention point is being swamped and doesn't get noticed.How do you change that?

There are several ways:
1.Color:
When everything is the same color, the other color will become noticed. So to make something stand out - give it a different color. To make something blend in - give it the same color as the environment. Just make sure your colors are limited. If you start giving everything a different color you'll end up with rainbows and peacocks.
Color-noAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent  Color-OneColorAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent  Color-Rainbow by Chanteur-de-Vent

2.Light:
Light objects pull attention. Usually that translates in whiter and lighter things to go to the eye first. Use your light and shadows to enhance and de-hance your attention points.
Color-noAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent  Light-withLight by Chanteur-de-Vent

3.Details:
A detailed texture will pull more attention than a plain colored one. You want a piece of metal to pull attention, give it a more detailed texture. You want it to blend in - give it a plain colored texture without details.
Details-noAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent  Details-WithAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent

4.Focus:
What's in focus is always more attention seeking that what's out of focus. Use soft focus filters and Depth of Field to leave your attention points in the middle of the focus and the rest out of it.
Bonus remark: if you let the focus slowly creep over the floor your eyes will follow from the most blurred area to the least blurred area. Great way to setup a path that leads to the culmination of the image.
Color-noAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent  Focus-withDOF by Chanteur-de-Vent

5.Lines:
Wherever your lines go, your eyes are trained to follow. That's how line perspective works. So if you want something to be the center of attention, let the roads lead to Rome. Point the lines towards the attention point.
Color-noAttention by Chanteur-de-Vent  Lines-withLines by Chanteur-de-Vent


Notes:
Please use full view for the pictures, thumbnails are sometimes too small to see the difference. All renders performed with random props and using no tools like grid (for 1/3 or Golden Ratio), so they might be slightly off.

Let me know if I forgot anything.
© 2017 - 2024 Chanteur-de-Vent
Comments49
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Andrey-A-M's avatar
Не обижайтесь, но это всё верно, лишь для постановки натюрмортов. :)
Как только в сцене появляется сюжет, так задача становится непосильной для "арифметики".

Do not be offended, but it's all good only for posing still lifes.
As soon as a story appears in the scene, the task becomes too difficult for arithmetic.