More Than Kids

Photo Composition Rules

I have already written about my three favorite rules of composition, but I want to create a new list of composition rules so that my photography students can choose their own favorites. In no particular order, here are some photo composition guidelines.

 

1. Rule of Odds

For some reason, when there are an odd number of objects in a picture, the picture looks better. I learned this concept from landscaping. When planting, use 1, 3, or 5 of the same plant, color or shape. Above, I am illustrating the rule of odds with this picture of three yellow posts in front of the orchard from Fresno County's Blossom Trail.

 

2. Repetition and Pattern.

 

In early February of 2020, I was walking through Manhattan with my 16 year old daughter. We saw this scene outside Nello on Madison Avenue. There is a repetition of color and shape. If you look closely, you can see red throughout this picture. In the foreground, you can see the red clearly. If you look to the far right upper corner, you can also see the red in the street parking sign. 

There is also a repetition of shapes with the bears and hearts and rectangles.

 

Isolating the Subject

Simplicity and Minimalism

Train Concert

The band Train is on tour again this summer. Last weekend they played in the Bay Area at Shoreline Amphitheatre … and I did NOT go see them. I have seen them at five different venues, and Shoreline would have been my sixth, but I just did not think I would have a better experience, so I chose not to go.

In 2013, I photographed them twice. I think I took some pretty decent pictures of their Mermaids of Alcatraz Tour.

 

I have added a couple basic pictures from the San Francisco show. The Script and Gavin DeGraw played. Ashley Monroe appeared for a duet. The entire Train band toured. I really enjoyed it.

In 2013, technology was changing too. You can see in the picture above, that some fans still brought point-and-shoot cameras to the show. Now, everyone brings a cell phone.

Last year I went as a fan and brought my cell phone. I took pictures with my Samsung S9. If I wanted to print, the images would not have been good enough, but they probably looked decent on Instagram (which is where most people share now)

 

My phone pictures are not as good as my actual concert phones, but I don't know if most people can tell the difference. I notice too many people holding up their phones at concerts shooting video of songs now. 

 

Even the musicians think that they can shoot video, and assume that it will look great. It's funny that taking pictures and shooting video is probably as much fun as looking. Who am I to discourage this?

 

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Teaching Photography

I have a newer photography blog at Bryan Farley Photography dot com for most of my photography blog posts. I started this blog in January of 2009 to share thoughts about photography education. I continue to use it for notes and other posts. When I started this blog ten years ago, I thought that I might create a book. The book is still waiting. Recently, I was asked to submit a sample photography lesson plan. This site is a good place for such things now.

If I had to teach one lesson repeatedly, I would teach photo composition, so that students could apply the concept to their own work.

I have my own three photo composition rules that I practice. One of my rules is to avoid putting your subject in the middle, yet that is exactly what I am doing here. I would not start a course by teaching composition, and I would not end a course by teaching composition. I would teach it in the middle.

Students need to practice seeing light and shadow, before they practice composition. Students must learn how to practice seeing and observing. Before I teach composition, I prefer to teach light, elements of art, and principles of design. After students understood some of these basics, I would help students understand how to arrange three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface. 

 

Light (assignment) - If students can learn how to see light better, I can teach photography better. Students can learn to see light and shadow even if students don't have access to equipment. Learning how to see light better also trains students how to observe quietly.

Elements of Art (assignment) - Students photograph Elements of Art as explained by the Getty Museum education page. It's important that students understand the difference between shape and form. Often, these two words are used interchangeably, but they mean something different in art. The above photograph could be line or space. Students must be able to explain the photo and the element.

Principles of Design (assignment) - These assignments are similar to the elements of art assignments. Depending on the students, the assignments can be more complex. It is essential that students understand "Movement," as I described in the article "Motion, Movement and Emotion" for the DJNF Adviser Update. If students understand how the eye moves through an image, students will be able to compose an image.

The above photo was taken by one of my former Albany High Students. It was published in the article, and cropped more by one of the editors on the left side. I included the original photo above so that you can see the that the student submitted an excellent example of movement.

In the Motion, Movement and Emotion article, I mention Adobe's Julieanne Kost. Coincidentally, I am going to see her present tonight in San Francisco. She is one of my favorite art educators... just incredible.

Composition (assignment) - For this assignment, students research various lists online. Students will find "top 5 rules" to "25 rules" of composition. While there is some variation in the elements of art, the variation for the composition rules is staggering. I don't know how a new student could understand which list to follow. It's never simple; it's never easy, but it doesn't need to be so complicated.

I have my own three "rules" of composition. I follow other rules, but I have three favorites. I try not to impose my compositional rules on students. I want students to find their own way of seeing. I also want students to know that compositional rules are more subjective than elements of art... more like recipes.

After students practice with each rule, students learn how to take pictures that incorporate all three rules. Once students have been able to do this consistently, students will have learned the rules of composition. Students will have also started to understand composition better. Students share their rules with each other and learn more rules. 

Note: a thought about rubrics. When I first started using rubrics, I was confused. When I first started using them with students, I realized that students did not really use them to assess their work accurately. I think it's important, perhaps especially in art, to have students participate in creating rubrics. I prefer using a 1-4 scale so that students don't pick the middle automatically. The highest end needs to clarify high expectations. 4's are rare. When I am confused about my own rubrics, I return to this site.

To read more about my philosophy on my first rule of composition, please read this post called, Getting Closer to the JEA Digital Photography Workshop.

 

Masters of Photography (assignment) - Study and emulate historical greats.

Portfolio Assignment (assignment) - Students will have already learned the difference between "favorite" and "best," and they will create online portfolio. Students will also study how other photographers have created portfolios. In March 2011, I interviewed several photographers about how they created portfolios. Here is the link to that project. I have also included a link to portfolio presentations at JEA National Conventions.

More about Portfolio Presentations

Photo Story - Students will create a photo story and study the history of the photo essay, especially the role of Life Magazine. Since some students will remain at the school for several years, some students might want to begin a long term project.

Mother's of Angel Photo story and article, page 31; photo story on blog. This link will take you to other posts as well.

Melrose Leadership Photos Story and Project

 

I have taught the composition lesson at the beginning of the year, but I find that students understand composition better if they already know many of the terms used by artists. During the earlier lessons, students will have also learned classroom routines and basic camera functions. Since I ask students to choose their own rules of composition, I want students to have more time to develop their own point of view; having this lesson later in the term provides that opportunity.

 

Updated 4/28/2019

Laws of Media - McLuhan 30 Years Ago

Ten years ago today, I finished my final MA thesis and research paper. If I were to give it a simple title, I would have probably called it, "The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same."

I based much of my thesis on Marshal McLuhan and Eric McLuhan's book Laws of Media "The New Science." Eric finished the preface on 8/8/88 after his father died. I chose to finish my thesis on 8/8/08 to honor both men. While I used many other sources, Laws of Media was tremendously useful and worth reading several times. Today I reread Eric's Preface. It is also worth reading on its own. Just the preface discusses Francis Bacon, Giambattista Vico, James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, and Newton's theory of motion, and in case McLuhan seems to take himself too seriously, he also considers scrapping his preface and replacing it with Bacon's preface from Bacon's New Science work.

My old thesis and research paper were written before I started posting work online. I hadn't read either paper for several years and I didn't even know if I could find my thesis. Surprisingly, I could have written similar words today with similar critiques. I attached some of the PDF's, but in case they don't transfer, here are some sample paragraphs.

McLuhan would not merely argue that policy leaders or school
administrators were asking the wrong questions; he would challenge
educators to consider long term implications of their decisions.
(Federman, 2004). While some researchers argue that technology
implementations do not disrupt change quickly enough(Blin & Munro,
2008), McLuhan asserts that most innovations create change slowly.
Furthermore, most change is usually “unanticipated.” (Federman, 2004)
According to McLuhan, these “unanticipated consequences,”
often referred to as “unintended consequences,” are caused by events
that we do not consider when planning, because these events are too
normal and too numerous for most people to consider (Federman,
2004). It is for this reason that society needs artists and other social
critics to remind us what we take for granted. (M. McLuhan, 1964). 

Download When an innovation is introduced

In Laws of Media, the McLuhans explained how the four laws of media applied throughout history. I applied the four laws to education and "innovation."  Ten years ago, I had already begun to ask where the "real journalists" had gone. I could have asked about "fake news."

Have we begun distrusting New Media already? Maybe this
generation is moving faster. We trusted the real news for generations.
How much longer before Yelp becomes obsolete, and the real
journalists return? Yelp claimed to be “honest and current.” When
everyone is honest and current, who will lead? Who will teach?

Yelp hasn't become obsolete yet, but it also hasn't become honest and current. When I was completing my research project, Yelp was being sued by small companies that had received bad listings. (At one time, I actually bought the domain name www.yelpyelp.com.) I wasn't sure Yelp would last ten years. In 2008, I was also trying to build my own innovative education company that would create better experience than existed at the time. As part of my research project, I wanted to learn more about the difference technology experiences of educators and other working professionals. 

Download ARWriteupBTF08

I also wanted to learn how to create better websites and online professional development for educators. In 2008, websites had less imagery. (Sites looked more like this post.)

Recommendations / Reflections

The internet is not yet a visual medium, though it has tremendous potential. Currently, text predominates. Imagery exists as an afterthought creating a “flickrization” of visual content. Some would argue that people spend much of their time “looking” at the internet;
Essential Elements of Effective Web Pages - 10 -
therefore, the internet must be a visual medium. People look at books. This does not make books visual.

Web pages often have too much text, poorly edited, with small font. Educational web sites are too much like text books, difficult to follow and boring.

Publishing a web page is simple. Publishing an effective website is more difficult than publishing a newspaper or magazine. A person must understand design, video, sound, photography, as well as any content, advertising and additional computer software. These fields each require years of study to master. Yet, people publish websites daily

Download Portfolio_Title_Pages_Fall_2008_Farley

 

On my final submission Abstract page, I found two comments that have reappeared throughout the last ten years. I was prepared to solve big education problems and I had just become a photographer.

I am always just becoming a photographer.

Process

I chose the iMET program, so that I could learn how to apply technology to large scale education problems. I have taught in several schools and I have worked with hundreds of teachers throughout the country as a visual arts educator. Now that I have completed iMET, I am prepared to solve technology problems I have witnessed.
During iMET I also became a photographer. This might surprise most of my classmates who considered me the class photographer; however, until recently, I was a visual arts educator who spent time with well known photographers. Now, after much work, I also consider myself a photographer

...

Edited on 8/16/18

When I wrote my thesis, I did not discuss my father's suicide (which happened on August 16th, 2004) or my experience with the anti-sexual assault movement. I am uncertain why I omitted the discussion. It was probably too early to discuss suicide and I had already grown pessimistic about any progress for sexual assault survivors. Despite the #metoo movement's recent success, I think that the way humans encourage silence will continue. I have been an outspoken advocate for decades. I don't know how to change the discussion. I think that too many people do not want to change the discussion.

On 8/8/18 I received a news article in my feed about Instagram titled "Someone Did It First" You Are Not Original On Instagram. This illustrates fear mentioned above about the"flickrization" of photography and the adherence to the 4 Rules of Media.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And a season for basketball

This post serves as my notes to the photography blog post at Bryan Farley Photography for the Craig Pitti Memorial held at San Marin High School on Sunday, November 5, 2017.

 

On the other post, I wrote about "A Season to Remember" and holding onto the next season. I may have used those phrases, because the memorial was held the day before the basketball season started and I found a link to a previous story titled "A Season to Remember." There might be an alternative explanation. The day before I published my pictures and words, I bought a new book "The Art of Misdiagnosis." On the first page of the prologue, the author mentions the "Seasons of Grieving." I don't know if I read the prologue in the bookstore or if this is just one of those coincidences. (The book's subtitle is "surviving my mother's suicide," so I guess it's not completely coincidental that the book mentions grief. )

Shock is part of the first season of grieving. I used the word shocked originally to describe the 2011 community's reaction to the championship season, but I changed the word to "stunned." Shocked might have been more accurate, but that word tends to shock people.

Many people wore Pitti Army t-shirts to the memorial. The phrase "Built to Last" was written on the shirts and bracelets. I wish I had asked if Pitti used Jim Collins and Jerry Porras' books in the classroom and/or in the gym. Collins teaches business and leadership to adults, but I think his lessons apply to high school students and teams. 

Educators and business people often mistrust each other, and with good reason. I don't usually think that business leaders understand K-12 education, but Collins might have a chance. Of course, the slogan on the shirt might have been about something completely different, but this is still worth reading.

I haven't decided if the gym looked different six and half years later. (The front door to the gymnasium looked "built to last" with some of the same chipped pain marks. Some of the people looked older. The emotions were different. 

In a Summer 2016 Adviser Update article, I wrote about the 2011 season. I mentioned how I captured moments and that I thought it was important for student journalists to be able to save the important memories for a future date. I had imagined that a yearbook program might want to prepare a yearbook for the 10 year reunion (or some future collection.) I was still imagining how high school students could manage an archive. Now that digital photography exists, there are new options. Students could retain their copyright and still grant the yearbook program some rights.

I didn't imagine that the yearbook would want to store photos for a memorial service when their 40 year old coach died.

Even though I had seen Coach Pitti since I left San Marin, I had not seen many of the other staff people. I photographed a rainy football game in Napa, but most people didn't make the trip.

I felt mixed emotions seeing old friends. At first I was excited to see familiar faces who had usually been happy in my pictures and then I remembered that we were at a memorial service. I was grateful to reconnect, but I wanted someone to tell me that we were really there for me to take more happy pictures.  I guess I was stunned.

I had a chance to talk to the father of the twins. He was the assistant coach in 2010-2011 and his daughters appeared in many of the images that year. This year he has taken over the coaching job. His two twin daughters are my daughter's age. 

 

At the end of the memorial, Craig Pitti's father spoke. He urged everyone to learn CPR and first aid. Saving a life is the most important thing that we can do. His comment reminded me of a meeting at San Marin when an educator opposed some potential legislation. The legislation was intended to save lives, but the educator did not want to do it. While I actually would have voted with the other educator, I cringed when the person said, "we have more important things to do than that." I still remember thinking, "What do we have to do that is more important than saving a student's life?"