make your photos speak

Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music.
If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them.
Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.
Truman Capote

• There are formal rules of composition in art. These rules apply to all forms of art. A good photographer will learn these rules and learn when to apply which rule.

• However, a good artist learns to know when to break the rules. Sometimes an unusual composition says more than a composition that follows the rules.

Good composition is like a suspension bridge;
each line adds strength and takes none away…
Making lines run into each other is not composition.
There must be motive for the connection.
Get the art of controlling the observer – that is composition.
Robert Henri

Don’t worry about your originality. You couldn’t get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do. Robert Henri

Subject matter is an interesting aspect of photography. Many photographers feel that there are suitable photographic subjects and unsuitable subjects. Everything is subject to the human eye; so don’t hide what you see from the camera.

Suitable Subject Matter

1. Don’t be afraid of ‘scary’ subjects. If something moves you, photograph it.
2. Do not worry if it may seem weird to photograph it. Just do it.
3. If you place inhibitions on your photography, you will find your work getting boring. It certainly isn’t necessary to show other people the photograph but it will help you express what you are saying

In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.
Ernst Fischer

Space is the breath of art. Frank Lloyd Wright

As a general rule, eliminating extraneous details in your composition will always improve it.

• Often moving closer, to one side, or choosing a higher or lower perspective will help you eliminate unnecessary information from the scene.

• However, sometimes simplicity is more than just streamlining the image. Sometimes, it is the image. For instance, the image below is a plant holder in the cemetery. However, when isolated in the snow and given the title “halo” it takes on a different meaning and feeling altogether.

• However, sometimes simplicity is more than just streamlining the image. Sometimes, it is the image. For instance, the image below is a plant holder in the cemetery. However, when isolated in the snow and given the title “halo” it takes on a different meaning and feeling altogether.

Sometimes a simple image can take the viewer further than a complex image full of stuff the viewer has to sort out and try to understand.

Simplicity, clarity, singleness:
These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great art. Richard Holloway