Frame borders. Composition and highlighting the main thing (Georgy Rozov). Texture and patterns

Tone and its role in the overall composition of the frame At the beginning of the book, we named the main visual means of photography: linear composition, light pattern of the image and the tonal structure of the image. Now we see how the lines are interconnected in the general drawing of the photographic image,

Task 9 Determining the boundaries of the frame A. Shoot a series of reportage frames, sequentially telling about the ongoing event. Make it your goal to select the frame borders on-the-spot so that projection printing doesn't require any adjustments.

Task 12 Rhythmic picture of a frame In the materials of the photo library or among the pictures published in newspapers and magazines, find frames whose visual solution is based on rhythmic repetitions. Analyze these pictures in terms of copyright successes and miscalculations.

Many aspiring photographers don't care about framing at all. What is framing, why is it needed? That's what we'll talk about today.

First of all, framing is the refinement of the boundaries of the frame. And the ratio of the borders of the frame is called its format. The format can be very different, it depends on the creative intent of the author, and on the specific plot, and on many other things. The two main formats established in photography are vertical and horizontal. Less often you can find a square format, even less often round or oval. Inscribing the plot into a non-standard format is done during processing, but you need to think about the composition of such a frame already when shooting.

The boundaries of the frame, if the compositional decision is made correctly, should limit the most important thing that is in the space being filmed. If possible, from this space it is necessary to exclude all the details that do not work for the plot, which will distract the viewer when viewing the photo from the main thing that is depicted on it. In this case, you need to take into account not only the very nature of the plot or object that you are shooting, but also its position in space, its proportions. The shooting point is also important. Given all this, the photographer must distribute the "material" of the frame both in plane and in depth.

Often, inexperienced photographers shoot everything in a row, without thinking, mechanically press the shutter button. You need to choose a frame consciously. Never forget about the direction of shooting, the size of the plan, the illumination of the object and the distance to it, about the color scheme. Do not forget the main thing: in order to create a good picture that could be called a work of art, you need to know and correctly apply the basic laws of composition for building an image on a plane. But even here there are exceptions. Sometimes a spontaneously taken picture makes an indelible impression on the viewer. But this happens only when shooting something unusual, amazing, in a picture where the main role is played by the event itself (for example, some kind of disaster, fire, accident, a funny fall of an artist on stage).

Subjects that are relatively small in height and large in horizontal length are best shot in a vertical format. Objects of this kind well fill the plane of the vertical format frame. The photographer has the opportunity to include in his boundaries those furnishings that surround the object, which is the main one. All this makes the photo fuller, more convincing, enriches the picture. Portraits, tall buildings, bouquets of flowers in a vase are often shot in vertical format... But the horizontal format, in contrast to the vertical one, makes it possible to cover a much larger space. That is why the expanses of nature, views of cities, interiors of various buildings are usually presented to the viewer in a horizontal format.

The square format is quite rare. It should be used in cases where the space with such proportions is enough for the photographer to correctly build the composition of the frame in order to place all the necessary details on its area. If you have no reason to increase the height or width of the frame, build a composition in a different way, feel free to shoot in a square. But remember: if you have already chosen a square, you should understand that in this particular case, in this particular shot, the use of a horizontal or vertical format will lead to a violation of the natural ratio of the main object and the details surrounding it.

Any format should help, and not prevent the viewer from understanding the content of the frame, imbued with the mood that the photograph reflects. When you determine the image format, work with frame borders, do not forget one of the main rules. In the direction of movement, gesture, look, turn of the head, you need to leave some free space. This gives the composition of the picture a dynamic, makes it more lively, natural. This emptiness, perhaps even quite extensive, will not disturb the balance of the composition, will not cause a feeling of empty space. Quite the contrary: your picture will acquire completeness and balance.

If you are shooting a moving subject, never crop the frame so that the subject is very close to its edge, which is located in the direction of travel. This arrangement causes the viewer a very unpleasant feeling. Dynamics completely disappears, the illusion of deceleration appears, the object seems to unnaturally freeze in place, and does not move. A photograph that has a lot of space behind a moving subject looks just as bad. Here again, the balance of the frame is disturbed. Never forget these rules when shooting moving subjects! But even here it is impossible without exceptions. Violation of the laws of composition, and not only in such cases (shooting moving objects), is always possible, but it is very rarely justified. Unless when shooting some unusual story that requires a special creative approach of the author.

Carefully approach the choice of format and building the composition of the frame and when shooting a portrait. Here, special attention should be paid to choosing the optimal size of the space above the head of the person being portrayed. If it, this space, is excessively small, then the compositional and visual center of the portrait becomes not what we need - the face, but what we don’t need at all: minor details of clothing, for example, or unfavorably shown features of the figure ... Yes, plus everything, it seems that the head of a person, as it were, rests on the ceiling, which in this case is personified with the upper border of the frame.

But an excessively large space above the head of the person being portrayed adversely affects the composition. The fact is that in this case the balance is disturbed in the frame. The main thing in the portrait - the person's face, the plot center of the whole composition - in this case will be below the visual center of the picture. And this creates the illusion of instability of the image, its gravitation downwards. When the boundaries of the frame are brought closer, whether vertical or horizontal, the viewer's attention is focused on those objects that are in the center, which emphasizes their significance and importance. If the boundaries expand, then there is a feeling of spaciousness, freedom, lightness. For example, to emphasize the height of the bell tower you are shooting, you can narrow the width of the frame and lengthen it vertically.

Today, the possibilities of computer programs can significantly expand the creative possibilities of the author, give a huge scope for the flight of his imagination. With their help, you can seriously change the photographic image. But the possibilities of this computer processing should not be overestimated. Do not forget that the basis of photography, which is interesting to the audience, is laid precisely when shooting. And all its subsequent processing serves mainly to improve what has already been filmed.

When composing a photograph, the photographer proceeds from certain sizes and formats of the picture plane, a rectangle bounded by the frame frame, within which the depicted part of the object or the entire object is placed. Moreover, each element of the composition is located in a certain place, the scale of its image is set, the relationship with other elements, etc.

Frame sizes can be different, as well as the aspect ratio of the rectangular frame of the frame. This ratio determines the format of the image. There are two main groups of photographic image formats - horizontal and vertical, with a wide variety of aspect ratios within each of the groups. There is also a square image format, which is somewhat less common in photography practice.

In some cases, but extremely rarely, when cropping an image, curved lines are used to limit it, enclosing the image in a circle, oval, etc. However, these formats are not widespread and do not appear during the shooting process, but only in the process of printing a positive or finalizing the image.

The ratio of the vertical and horizontal sides of the picture is determined primarily by the nature of the object being photographed, its proportions, as well as the author's creative intent, his pictorial interpretation of the topic.

Photo 32. V. Tarasevich. Green Street

Thus, it is not by chance that V. Tarasevich chooses the vertical format for his photograph "Green Street" (photo 32). The vertical format of the image here is suggested by the height of the subject itself: indeed, as if smoking pipes of a giant factory go into the sky. With the frame height set, it was possible to expand its vertical boundaries and compose the picture in a horizontal format. But then the angle of view of the lens would cover a much larger space, and the emphasis on the traffic light with its green light would disappear in the abundance of the material shown. And along with this, the clarity of the expression of the theme would also be lost, since it is revealed here precisely in the active comparison of two elements of the composition - a giant plant in the depth of the frame and a traffic light in the foreground - and is read succinctly, like a poster: "Green street to the seven-year plan of Soviet industry! " The vertical format therefore helps express the content of this shot.

The horizontal format of M. Alpert's image "Slope tracing" (photo 33) was also taken not by chance: the frame, stretched horizontally, allows you to cover a large area where gigantic canal construction work has unfolded. Along the way, it should be noted the exact linear composition of the image and its conciseness - a concise and clear expression of the content.

Photo 33. M. Alpert. Slope tracing

M. Alpert's picture "Academician N. P. Barabashov" (photo 34) is arranged in a square format, in which the frame of the frame outlines the space sufficient to accommodate all the most important elements of the composition. There is no reason to increase the height of the frame and compose it in a vertical format, and the horizontal format of the picture would lead to the loss of the correct ratio of the main subject of the image and the secondary details of the composition.

Photo 34. M. Alpert. Academician N. P. Barabashov

The vertical aspect ratio is often used when taking half-length portraits. A characteristic example of such a composition is photo 35. In this case, the frame of the vertical frame outlines the picture plane, on which the elements of the composition are well placed - the figure of a girl and the details of the situation that characterize the scene.

Photo 35. A. Zhukovsky (VGIK). Masha

The vertical aspect ratio is also often used when shooting close-ups. Consider, for example, the portrait of the Hero of Socialist Labor Nikolai Mamai (photo 36, by A. Garanin).

Photo 36. A. Garanin. Hero of Socialist Labor Nikolai Mamai

In terms of the manner of execution, the portrait is close to a reportage: without feeling the presence of the photographer at all, we seem to see a moment of living reality. Apparently, the working day, the hard working day of the miner, has just ended: the face of Nikolai Mamai is still stained with coal, drops of sweat still shine on it. But before us is a smiling, cheerful, happy person, satisfied with the results of his work, a noble person of our country - an advanced worker and public figure.

The portrait is light and free in composition, the lines of which, despite the fact that this is a close-up, do not close within the boundaries of the frame and go beyond it, making way for movement; this makes the portrait especially dynamic.

The portrait is built on a relatively short range of dark tones, and such coloring of the image is the most conducive to conveying the situation, the scene of action.

Summing up, it can be noted that, choosing an image format, the photographer simultaneously solves the issue of filling the picture plane, its rational use for expressive disclosure of the subject and plot of the image. For example, when shooting an architectural structure that has a significant height, but a relatively small horizontal extent, it is most often necessary to use a vertical image format. True, this is true only if the composition does not include additional elements that can fill the free spaces of the horizontal frame. In the absence of such elements, the horizontal format will be less suitable for shooting this object than the vertical one, since a significant part of the frame in this case will remain unfilled, and the picture will give the impression of a compositionally unfinished picture.

The horizontal frame format is used when shooting objects that have a significant horizontal extension with their relatively small height. Such an object well fills the picture plane of this format, which also makes it possible to include objects of the environment surrounding the main subject in the composition. This enriches the picture, makes it fuller, more convincing.

When determining the image format and setting the frame, some points are taken into account that have become elementary rules for the composition of a picture. These include, for example, the following pattern: as a rule, some free space is left in the frame in the direction of movement, turn, gesture or gaze of a person.

This pattern has its own rationale: the space left in this part of the frame, as it were, makes room for development, continuation of movement, the object seems to pass through the left space in subsequent moments of time. Building a picture with this pattern in mind is very important for the overall liveliness and dynamism of the photographic picture.

Indeed, only one short moment, one phase of movement, is recorded and transmitted in the picture, which is far from always sufficient to characterize the entire movement as a whole. The free space left in the frame in the direction of movement complements this characteristic: the viewer gets an idea of ​​how, in what direction this movement will develop in the future.

Even significant spaces left in the frame in the direction of movement or gaze of a person do not cause a feeling of unfilled emptiness or imbalance in the picture. These spaces seem to be filled with the expected movement of the subject, the developing movement, and this balances the entire composition system: the frame looks complete, compositionally complete, balanced.

And, on the contrary, an unpleasant sensation is caused by such a cropping of the image when the frame border appears directly in front of the moving object; it seems to become an obstacle in the way of the developing movement. In this case, the movement seems to slow down, and the dynamics of the picture disappears.

The same dissonance is the free space left behind a moving object. The viewer evaluates it as accidental in the picture, not justified by anything; the balance in the frame is also disturbed.

For these reasons, in most photographic compositions, the placement of moving objects is carried out according to the principle discussed above. But at the same time, under certain special conditions, this regularity can be violated if the achievement of a certain pictorial result conceived by the author is pursued. For example, a frame border that appears directly in front of a moving object can emphasize its sudden and abrupt stop or suggest that the movement in the frame arose completely unexpectedly, etc.

However, these exceptions only confirm the general rule, since they show that its violation gives an effect diametrically opposite to that which is necessary to reproduce smoothly developing movement in the picture.

When determining the boundaries of the frame in portrait compositions, the amount of free space above the head of the person being portrayed must be very accurately set. In the event that this space is too large, the plot center of the composition, which in the portrait is always the face of a person, shifts to the lower part of the frame and diverges from the visual center. At the same time, the harmony of the composition is lost due to the violation of the general balance: such an image is unstable, as if it has gravity downwards.

For the same reasons, it is undesirable to leave too little space above the head of the person being portrayed. In this case, the head seems to rest against the frame of the frame, and the visual center of the frame coincides with the image not of the face, but of the figure of a person, costume details, etc., that is, minor elements in the portrait composition that should not attract the attention of the viewer, but which In this case, the emphasis may shift.

It is also obvious that the choice of frame boundaries is associated with the solution of certain expressive tasks, since the photographer achieves different artistic and emotional expressiveness of the image with one or another cut of the image. Thus, a sharp convergence of the boundaries of the frame leads to the fact that the viewer's attention is focused on a certain detail of the subject. Thus, this detail acquires significance, becomes essential and should reveal to the viewer one or another characteristic feature of the object being photographed. Widely spaced frame borders create a feeling of spaciousness, freedom, lightness, etc. The frame format, narrowed and at the same time sharply elongated upwards, conveys the height of the subject, emphasizes this height.

Often during shooting, and especially when shooting with a small-format camera, the photographer determines the boundaries of the frame only approximately, with the expectation of more accurate framing of the image during projection printing, during enlargement. Indeed, printing provides some opportunities to refine the boundaries of the frame. However, these possibilities should not be overestimated.

In the process of printing, the general composition of the image, conceived and mainly carried out by the author during the shooting, can only be somewhat refined.

So, in a number of cases, during reportage shooting, it is impossible to approach the object at a sufficiently close distance from which it would be possible to obtain the size of the plan required in this case. You have to photograph from a considerable distance, and this causes inaccuracies in the composition. Basically, they consist in the fact that the central part of the subject occupies an insignificant part of the frame, and its edges are filled with virtually unnecessary material, in which even the main subject of the image is lost. Such inaccuracies in the composition are easily eliminated in projection printing: the appropriate degree of magnification of the image achieves the desired size of the plan. Random and unnecessary details that do not participate in the overall compositional solution of the theme and are located at the edges of the frame are easily excluded by framing.

However, printing errors cannot be corrected due to the incorrect determination of the height of the survey point or the incorrect offset of the survey point away from the center position. The disadvantages of the composition here are in the unsuccessful placement of its individual elements relative to each other, in the incorrectly found ratio of the main object of the image and the background areas on which this object is projected, etc.

A number of other compositional inaccuracies also cannot be eliminated during the printing process, if they are made during shooting. For example, a frame taken without taking into account the subsequent cropping of the image and the proportions of the future image often cannot be corrected when printed. In this case, the picture may leave a lot of empty space that is not filled in the horizontal or vertical direction. The exclusion of this space by cropping when printing leads to a violation of the proportions of the image, to frames that are unreasonably elongated in height or width and, therefore, compositionally unfinished.

Thus, the questions of the compositional decision of the picture should be thought out and carried out by the photographer mainly in the process of shooting. Compositional inaccuracies that the photographer expects to correct during the printing process should also be visible to him when shooting and should be allowed only if the limited possibilities for correcting compositional errors in printing allow him to make the necessary corrections later.

Summing up, we can conclude that the composition of the picture begins with determining the direction of shooting, the distance from the shooting point to the object, and the height of the camera. These techniques with a lens with a given focal length and with a given format of the negative determine the boundaries of the frame and one or another size of the plan. These are the primary techniques for the constructive construction of a photograph, the composition of a photographic picture.

Further work on the composition of the image, in the broad sense of the word, - on its tonal construction, on the image of space, the volumetric and contour forms of figures and objects, the textures and colors of the subject - is directly related to the lighting of the object. Therefore, it seems expedient in the next chapter to set forth precisely the issues of lighting in photography, so that in the future, when analyzing more complex pictorial and compositional tasks, freely operate with this material.

10 simple rules for building a composition in a frame.

1. Contrast

How to draw the attention of the viewer to your photo? There should be contrast in the frame:

• A lighter object is photographed against a dark background, and a dark object against a light one.
• Do not photograph people on a yellow or brown background, the color of the photo will be unnatural.
• Do not shoot people against a colorful background, such a background distracts the viewer's attention from the model.

2. Accommodation

Important plot elements should not be randomly placed. It is better that they form simple geometric shapes.

3. Balance

Objects located in different parts of the frame must match each other in volume, size and tone.

4. Golden Ratio

The golden ratio was known in ancient Egypt, its properties were studied by Euclid and Leonardo da Vinci. The simplest description of the golden ratio is that the best point for the location of the subject is about 1/3 of the horizontal or vertical border of the frame. The location of important objects in these visual points looks natural and attracts the viewer's attention.

5. Diagonals

One of the most effective compositional premiums is the diagonal composition.

Its essence is very simple: we place the main objects of the frame along the diagonal of the frame. For example, from the top left corner of the frame to the bottom right.

This technique is good because such a composition continuously leads the viewer's eye through the entire photo.

6. Format

If the frame is dominated by vertical objects - shoot vertical frames. If you are photographing a landscape, take horizontal shots.

7. Shooting point

The choice of shooting point directly affects the emotional perception of the picture. Let's remember a few simple rules:

• For a portrait, the best point is at eye level.
• For a full-length portrait - at waist level.
• Try to crop the frame so that the horizon line does not divide the photo in half. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the viewer to focus on the objects in the frame.
• Keep the camera at the level of the subject, otherwise you risk getting distorted proportions. An object viewed from above appears smaller than it really is. So, shooting a person from the top point, in the photo you will get a small person. When photographing children or animals, lower yourself to their eye level.

8. Direction

When building a composition, always keep this in mind.

9. Color spot

If there is a spot of color in one part of the frame, then there must be something in the other that will attract the attention of the viewer. This may be another color spot or, for example, an action in the frame.

10. Movement in the frame

When filming a moving subject (car, cyclist), always leave clear space in front of the subject. Simply put, position the subject as if it had just "entered" the frame, not "left" it.