I once had an art teacher tell me about "Rules" in art and what he said was pretty spot on. It wasn't whether they are or aren't rules or that rules are made to be broken, per se, it was simply that you must learn the rules of art in order to know HOW to break them. They aren't concrete rules that must be followed but they are still something that needs to be taken into serious consideration by anyone who wants to create something with specific intentions. Break them all you want, but know them and use that knowledge to know when and how to break them successfully.
Thank you Mr Ted Forbes for yet another amazing amazing episode! You have helped me as well as many others so much in learning the true art of photography! Best photography channel on youtube so far!
I think its more a case of guidelines - sometimes (well usually) these ideas work beautifully, but there are those occasions when ignoring them can work just as well. May I quote one of the Masters? ' photography has no rules. It is not a sport.' Bill Brandt. Many thanks as usual.
Hey Ted, I am a regular to your channel and I have to say 'this' style of conveying your message is much simpler and beautiful than your new videos. The new ones have a faded tint look to them. I just liked your older and simpler aesthetic. Its about your pure beautiful communication and not the 'modern' aesthetic.
Loving this series Ted. It's really getting my inspired to try applying these principles into my shooting. Going to take a self-portrait now to try and apply this rule. Peace.
Rule is fine: a rule isn't just a demand, it's a principle, a pattern of how things work. A "law" is that too. The world is full of objectivity: all the scope of latitude regarding true beauty still falls within the sphere of that objectivity, so this is why "rules" of composition work- they're observations that comport in some fashion with how our visual intelligence has been designed.
The rule of space creates a sense of motion in a given direction. You should shoot your subject in a position where they are clearly moving somewhere or from somewhere. A speeding car would be shown with the space into which it will zoom, a flying bird might be shot on the right with the space they've covered to the left. Fun way to shoot :)
in composition, a balance is usually sought since it is natural to our whole, the good thing about ¨minor white mouvement studies¨ photography is that it achieves what is called a balanced imbalance, something that I often pursue in my art photographs, the mouvement is just an element in composition, but in this one there are lot more, like depth ¨dimention¨ by tonal contrast, dynamism created by the movement of course, as wel by the lines that are convergent to balance imbalance, they are semi diagonal ones with an unusual geometry for the eye, it is a very good photo. the rectangle seems to fall and creat tension at the right and the top dark area as well contribute to this balaned imbalance photo ;-)
Thank you very much Mr Red , this is very informative, this is what we really need to learn in photography , I would love if you can suggest some books to read about rules" guidelines " of photography in general thanks
people like to refer to the photography rules as "guidelines", but i disagree with that. If a photo is a great photo, it employs at least one of the rules. If you decide to "break" the rule of thirds, you're doing it because you're employing another rule. maybe symmetry, figure to ground, odds. You break one rule, to follow another. If you take a photograph that doesn't follow a single rule, I can pretty much guarantee that the photo is gonna be crap.
Randy Dowell - But if you're going to break the rules and not hold to them, there still are no rules. If you apply none of them, it doesn't mean you're not going to get a good image, that's just pretentious to say. - Also; Just because there are these "rules" and it can be applied to an image that was shot without thinking about any rules, that's just coincidence. Then the rules would be a byproduct of analyzing that randomly shot image, not the rules applied while shooting. - It's like someone carelessly slapping some paint onto a canvas and then putting it in an art-gallery and snobs going "Oh wow, look at the spacing of so and so.". - There are no rules, they're an afterthought. And thus, for subsequent works, they're guidelines. I don't really care, but as a creative I think the "rules" are just a product of overanalyzing things.
Negative space isn't just empty space, like in the wall street photo. In that image the spaces between the pillars are the negative space, not the whole top half of the images. Negative space is the in-between areas of an image and it doesn't have to be very empty. For example, the space in-between the branches of the silhouette of a tree are negative spaces, even though they are very small.
I'm addicted to your videos! I'm a new photographer, I just purchased a d300 nikon to start, I was wondering what could suggest I could read to further my knowledge in photography? Also, what is your camera now that's light and small for travel?
Its way more cheaper to be honest. Good analog SLR manual camera (Chinon, Yashica, Pentax etc.) with a lens is around 20$-30$ and roll of film is 3-5$. That's cheap. And the limits of the analog manual camera push the photographer to learn a lot, as TheEscape2012 has mentioned.
Hey Ted I hope you doing well there. I got a simple question I once asked to my pro photographer and he can't answer it "what kind of photography I can do to make the best of my crop censor (the censor is great but so small) camera with 30mm lens / 80mm equivalent on full frame camera. I got lots of difficulty to framing and composing my photo. Thanks Ted, I just really confused right now..
The root Latin word for "Rule" means a “trellis” - it is a trellis that provides support for a vine or in the abstract, a principles for human flourishing. It is not an absolute but a guide.
If I may butt in and make a suggestion - how about one the Bryan Peterson books? He has a new one out - Bryan Peterson's Understanding Composition Field Guide which might help you.
so funny to hear you managing feedback on "rules" lol, that shouldn't be a difficult concept to grasp. like you said it's a guideline you should be aware of. but even for people who aren't scholarly, it's the same in sports, or trades, or other professions. athletes run drills, because those are the normal patterns in the game, but when they're playing a game they adapt the drills to the innovations that happen in fast paced plays. or if you have to build a house, you usually want a concrete slab and a box made of 2x4s, but you can build a treehouse out of straw and clay if you want to!
Ted, I have watched many of your videos and I like the kind of subject matter you cover. But please slow down, take a breath, and script your shows more carefully. You would do us all a service and you might retain viewers longer. Not meaning to troll you, just some well mean8ng advice. Thanks for dealing with the subjects you do.
Stop saying that rules are not rules all the time. I know you enjoy it but anyone watching this kind of video knows that already. If they don't they could have it explained to them in less than a half of a minute one time. Everybody else is saying that all the time in the other composition videos anyway. It is not necessary to waste time with it anymore.
This channel is a treasure!!! I think these old videos have so much more quality than the gear-focused new ones..
I will say I am addicted to your videos.
I once had an art teacher tell me about "Rules" in art and what he said was pretty spot on. It wasn't whether they are or aren't rules or that rules are made to be broken, per se, it was simply that you must learn the rules of art in order to know HOW to break them. They aren't concrete rules that must be followed but they are still something that needs to be taken into serious consideration by anyone who wants to create something with specific intentions. Break them all you want, but know them and use that knowledge to know when and how to break them successfully.
Love your older videos
Less susceptible to the new ones but at least you made a huge contribution so deserve the $$ a decade later
Thank you Mr Ted Forbes for yet another amazing amazing episode! You have helped me as well as many others so much in learning the true art of photography! Best photography channel on youtube so far!
Thank you Mr. Forbes for sharing your knowledge on photography. I have learned a lot from your videos. I love your channel.
Great videos, please continue!
I think its more a case of guidelines - sometimes (well usually) these ideas work beautifully, but there are those occasions when ignoring them can work just as well.
May I quote one of the Masters?
' photography has no rules. It is not a sport.' Bill Brandt.
Many thanks as usual.
Excellent stuff Ted. Lots to think about after this post!
Hey Ted, I am a regular to your channel and I have to say 'this' style of conveying your message is much simpler and beautiful than your new videos. The new ones have a faded tint look to them. I just liked your older and simpler aesthetic. Its about your pure beautiful communication and not the 'modern' aesthetic.
Another superbly done episode on photography. Thanks.
Loving this series Ted. It's really getting my inspired to try applying these principles into my shooting. Going to take a self-portrait now to try and apply this rule. Peace.
As usual, up to your high and passionate standard.
Cheers and keep it up.
Loved it and really enjoyed it. Waiting for more.
I enjoy your channel. Great work. Thank you!
Thanks ❤️❤️❤️
Really love these lessons
Rule is fine: a rule isn't just a demand, it's a principle, a pattern of how things work. A "law" is that too. The world is full of objectivity: all the scope of latitude regarding true beauty still falls within the sphere of that objectivity, so this is why "rules" of composition work- they're observations that comport in some fashion with how our visual intelligence has been designed.
Great episode as always Ted! Thanks for making this
The rule of space creates a sense of motion in a given direction. You should shoot your subject in a position where they are clearly moving somewhere or from somewhere. A speeding car would be shown with the space into which it will zoom, a flying bird might be shot on the right with the space they've covered to the left. Fun way to shoot :)
in composition, a balance is usually sought since it is natural to our whole, the good thing about ¨minor white mouvement studies¨ photography is that it achieves what is called a balanced imbalance, something that I often pursue in my art photographs, the mouvement is just an element in composition, but in this one there are lot more, like depth ¨dimention¨ by tonal contrast, dynamism created by the movement of course, as wel by the lines that are convergent to balance imbalance, they are semi diagonal ones with an unusual geometry for the eye, it is a very good photo. the rectangle seems to fall and creat tension at the right and the top dark area as well contribute to this balaned imbalance photo ;-)
great work... period!
Thank you. I have gone out sometimes without a camera and looked at odds, etc. Fun really.
Thank you very much Mr Red , this is very informative,
this is what we really need to learn in photography ,
I would love if you can suggest some books to read about rules" guidelines " of photography in general
thanks
people like to refer to the photography rules as "guidelines", but i disagree with that. If a photo is a great photo, it employs at least one of the rules. If you decide to "break" the rule of thirds, you're doing it because you're employing another rule. maybe symmetry, figure to ground, odds. You break one rule, to follow another. If you take a photograph that doesn't follow a single rule, I can pretty much guarantee that the photo is gonna be crap.
Randy Dowell - But if you're going to break the rules and not hold to them, there still are no rules. If you apply none of them, it doesn't mean you're not going to get a good image, that's just pretentious to say. - Also; Just because there are these "rules" and it can be applied to an image that was shot without thinking about any rules, that's just coincidence. Then the rules would be a byproduct of analyzing that randomly shot image, not the rules applied while shooting. - It's like someone carelessly slapping some paint onto a canvas and then putting it in an art-gallery and snobs going "Oh wow, look at the spacing of so and so.". - There are no rules, they're an afterthought. And thus, for subsequent works, they're guidelines.
I don't really care, but as a creative I think the "rules" are just a product of overanalyzing things.
It's funny because I believe you are both right.
I love your videos man!
Negative space isn't just empty space, like in the wall street photo. In that image the spaces between the pillars are the negative space, not the whole top half of the images. Negative space is the in-between areas of an image and it doesn't have to be very empty. For example, the space in-between the branches of the silhouette of a tree are negative spaces, even though they are very small.
Excellent.
Seeing this just now, very interesting!
Cool topic, but I didn't really get what the 'rule' was. I just understood it was to help balance space. If anyone knows, please tell me.
As always, very informative thank you.
I'm addicted to your videos! I'm a new photographer, I just purchased a d300 nikon to start, I was wondering what could suggest I could read to further my knowledge in photography? Also, what is your camera now that's light and small for travel?
+Stephanie Arranz get yourself an analog camera...this way you learn the most
TheEscape2012
Nah man, its way more expensive.
Its way more cheaper to be honest. Good analog SLR manual camera (Chinon, Yashica, Pentax etc.) with a lens is around 20$-30$ and roll of film is 3-5$. That's cheap.
And the limits of the analog manual camera push the photographer to learn a lot, as TheEscape2012 has mentioned.
I like your glasses, what brand are they?
Hey Ted I hope you doing well there. I got a simple question I once asked to my pro photographer and he can't answer it "what kind of photography I can do to make the best of my crop censor (the censor is great but so small) camera with 30mm lens / 80mm equivalent on full frame camera. I got lots of difficulty to framing and composing my photo. Thanks Ted, I just really confused right now..
The root Latin word for "Rule" means a “trellis” - it is a trellis that provides support for a vine or in the abstract, a principles for human flourishing. It is not an absolute but a guide.
If I may butt in and make a suggestion - how about one the Bryan Peterson books? He has a new one out - Bryan Peterson's Understanding Composition Field Guide which might help you.
thank you
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Philosophies perhaps?
so funny to hear you managing feedback on "rules" lol, that shouldn't be a difficult concept to grasp. like you said it's a guideline you should be aware of. but even for people who aren't scholarly, it's the same in sports, or trades, or other professions. athletes run drills, because those are the normal patterns in the game, but when they're playing a game they adapt the drills to the innovations that happen in fast paced plays. or if you have to build a house, you usually want a concrete slab and a box made of 2x4s, but you can build a treehouse out of straw and clay if you want to!
Ted, I have watched many of your videos and I like the kind of subject matter you cover. But please slow down, take a breath, and script your shows more carefully. You would do us all a service and you might retain viewers longer. Not meaning to troll you, just some well mean8ng advice. Thanks for dealing with the subjects you do.
10 minutes lmqo
Stop saying that rules are not rules all the time. I know you enjoy it but anyone watching this kind of video knows that already. If they don't they could have it explained to them in less than a half of a minute one time. Everybody else is saying that all the time in the other composition videos anyway. It is not necessary to waste time with it anymore.
I love your channel, but why do you talk like so fast like a care dealer??