DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND IMAGING - Week 2

  

WEEK 2 (8/4/2023)

Lectures: Introduction to Composition

1. Introduction to basic composition

• Focal Point: A key element to any good composition is a strong focal point, as it helps your viewers’ eyes naturally settle on the important pieces of your design first

• Scale and Hierarchy: Scale is often used to help communicate hierarchy by drawing attention toward and away from certain elements.

• Balance the Elements: A good technique for mastering asymmetrical balance is to think of each element as having a ‘weight’ to it.

• White Space: White space can help balance the main focus of a composition by balancing out the more complicated and busy parts with space that helps it breathe.

2. Rule of Thirds: The process of dividing an image into thirds, using two horizontal and two vertical lines.

The Rule of Thirds is a way to: 

• Use composition techniques that are in line with what’s naturally pleasing to the eye. 

• Creatively use negative space.

• Create conversation between the subject and background.
  
  

3. Golden Ratio:

• It is commonly found in nature, and when used in a design, it fosters organic and natural-looking compositions.

• It creates and appreciates a sense of beauty through harmony and proportion

• Provides a sense of artistry.

• A useful guideline for determining dimensions of the layout.

• A simple way to apply the Golden Ratio is to set your dimensions to 1:1.618.

4. Composition (Framing and Cropping)

Framing: the process of selecting a part of the scene to capture within the camera's viewfinder or on the sensor. It involves deciding where to place the subject within the frame and what visual elements to include or exclude from the image.

Cropping:  The process of trimming or removing parts of an image to create a tighter composition or to focus attention on a specific area or subject. It is usually done during post-processing and is a useful tool for improving composition and enhancing the visual impact of an image.

Tutorial

Mr Fauzi showed us a demo video of Collage elements layering & composition.

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Practical

We are required to choose and identify our collage's design elements to be cut out and compose it into our own concept & story.

We should pre composite our collage's design elements into a composition.

Reference: https://youtu.be/2KqXGMf0HNk

Work-in-progress:

Before creating my own physical collage, I went to Pinterest to find some inspiration. I've chosen the 2010 movie "Black Swan" as my theme for my physical collage.  

Figure 1.1 References for Physical Collage

Elements that I have found on pinterest and google that I will be using for my physical collage. 

Our lecturer instructed us to use 5 elements for our physical collage and these are the elements that I'll be using.

Figure 1.2 Elements for Physical Collage

1. PRE-COMPOSITION #1

2. PRE-COMPOSITION #2

3. PRE-COMPOSITION #3

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I decided to move on with pre-composition#2. I decided to add more elements in my physical collage because I thought it looked a bit plain.

Work-in-progress:

 

These are the elements that I'll be adding.

Figure 1.3 Elements for Physical Collage

Final Outcome:

Final Outcome - Physical Collage

Links: Project 1