OK - I've got a photo that I really like - it's simple and possibly even boring in the eyes of some, but it was one of the first shots I took on Sunday on my trip out to Erddig because I simply loved it!!! 

My problem is...... I'm terrified to post it in case it gets totally slated for the composition (I have no objection to critique and always welcome it in my comments on each upload, but this one scares me!!)

Basically the photo is of portrait orientation with a "row", almost like looking down a corridor, with the end point being right smack in the centre of the picture!!!  I know, I should have crouched down and took it from a different angle, but hindsight is a wonderful thing they say!!

I did debate cropping at the top, this can't be done at either side or the bottom any more than already has been (which wasn't much!) but if I crop off the top, does that then mean that the picture doesn't conform to the rules of photography with regards to ratios??

I actually don't like it if I crop it as I lose most of the sky in the shot if I do, so I'm now "damned if I do, damned if I don't" - unless you all tell me that there are certain occasions where perspective applies and therefore, the rules don't??

Your advice would be really appreciated before I brave to upload this tomorrow night!!

Thanks

Chrissy xx

rules are there to be broken... the pic sounds fine to me. 

here is a pic from my favourites galllry similar to what you described (as far as i can tell)... it breaks the compositional rule you were talking about, but because of it it makes a fantastic image:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1313288

Post it - if you like the pic it doesnt matter what others might say ;)

Hey Chrissy,

It is your photo and you like it, therefore thats a good enough reason to post it. Like Rich said rules are there to be broken. Go for it!

Regards
Pat

I'm not aware anyone has written any rules !

Magazines and some photographers have gotten bogged down in what they say is a rule of thirds.   It is fashion !  

Were the landscape artists of the 18th & 19th C less of an artist when they chose centralisation to emphasise feelings of space and concentrate the viewers gaze upon a focal point.  In my mind they aren't !

Whatever happened to the renaissance and the Golden Mean ?  That is not thirds - though some regard the rule of thirds as a dumbed down version of the Golden Mean.

There are many reasons to center things within an image, please don't restrict yourself with bogus rules made by people who are better at selling magazines than taking photographs.

Post your pic and be proud of it.

Composition is all about balance, Chrissy... It could very well be that the top half is just right to give the bottom half the breathing room it needs. The 'rules' are just general guidelines for classic, general purposes... artistic expression has a tendency to fall outside of these purposes. ;o))

Thanks you guys for the advice - I WILL post it now. 

I've been holding back for the last three nights - I'm just starting to take some pride in my photography (not that it comes up to any of your standards - you guys that have already posted in this thread that is!!) but I didn't want to upload something if I knew it was wrong, no matter how much I liked it!!

But we will wait and see how it is received tomorrow - I'll be a brave girl and upload it, but if they all pick on me............................... LOL!!

Only joking, I can take it!!

Thanks again. xx

Attached Link: Rules of Photography

I feel your pain Chrissy. Take a look a the link. It seems like it was taylor made for this thread. Great photos that break the 'rules'.

Thanks Kort - so basically rules are not really rules, they're merely suggestions or guidance to help with most shots, but there will always be exceptions?!

Well, I personally think that I'm an exception LOL, therefore, I don't see why my photography can't be!!

Oooh, look at me, getting all strong and decisive about my work now - too big for my boots maybe??

I would however, joking apart, appreciate your views on my upload tomorrow - I don't expect you to leave comments, but if you could reply in this thread with your honest opinions that would be great - this is not a gimmick just to advertise my photos either!

The photo is entitled, aptly, "Perspective".

Thanks again.

Chrissy xx

screw what the rest of the world thinks...

art is about expression..

I like your philosphy there Bruce - and so masterfully put too!!! LOL!

I can't wait until tomorrow night now to see who says what about it and indeed, if anyone even notices!! xx

(Not that I'm bothered, because I'm not now - it's mine and I like it!!) xx

that's the spirit! :)

Broke the rules? Oh NO!! I can't bear to look...but I have to do just that.

OK, it's not gone too bad so far as comments and critique go although, I was sooooooooo disappointed that I didn't crop the right hand side as suggested by Rich and Kort - I hadn't cropped the original at all down the sides - that was as it came out of the camera.  I should have noticed that myself, but well picked up on (Can't get away with anything around here can you!! LOL!)

Anyway, with that and the advice from Olivier regarding symmetry and perhpas making it a square crop would have made it truly symmetrical, I've given it a go and would like to know your thoughts on it - I would never have dreamt of doing a square shot like this, but it is unusually good, I think?

And just to confirm, the very last blad of grass before the dark base of the tree IS the perfect centre (I measured it in PS!!)

Thanks again for your comments.

Chrissy xx

The square crop doesn't work so well for me. The center of the image is now the clump of grass as you have said - I preferred having the tree as the center.   Cropping the side is an improvement - personally I would leave the format alone.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you, it's different and unusual, but to me, some rules are there for a reason - square doesn't have the same impact on me as the original portrait style shot. But it was a good test to see just how central I'd managed to get the perspective point in the shot when stood there shooting - and with the exception of a minor crop to the right, it was pretty much smack on!!  That is something I'm pleased with - getting the composition just about spot on before taking it into PS  (note the pat on my own back there!!! LOL!)

Chrissy xx

Some shapes are simply more pleasing to the eye...ask the ancient Greeks.   Square is difficult to pull off and make it work well.  I have seen it done but not that often.  You are determined, Chrissy. Keep at it, will ya?  : )

Sorry..the "ask the Greeks" applied to the Golden Mean mentioned perviously, essentially proportions found appealing to the eye in general.       The rules are not hard rules but "rules of thumb", suggestions which usually work quite well in aligning components of a composition.  Still, the content of the compo must rule in the end...quite likey you will find that most pleasing crop,etc. then notice it does somehow fit those rules...simply pleasing to the eye.  Then again, masters as mentioned previously have broken the "rules" and done so by their masterly work.   Content has much to do with the use of rules, it appears to me.

Macros are a point of that.  Typical macros often throw all rules out the window in favor of the close detail of the shot to make it work and amaze.  Then again, a few macros which are better balanced...are indeed more than just another macro and something more beautiful to behold.

Sure, I bend and break the rules all the time..still, much of what looks best in 
final render does fit the rules to some extent.   Look at some of your best shots and see.       Tom.

Thanks Tom, but do I actually have any "best" shots? LOL!!
No, only joking there - I know ALL of my shots are brilliant - well they were in real life anyway - (God, I'm over-tired now!!)
I agree with the macro thing though, I've just been looking at a tut on how to do a good crop for compositional purposes and the main subject was a macro of a butterfly - there was no rule of thirds in that shot, in fact, the head was smack in the centre of the image - but it looked fantastic!!
Yes, I've learned a lot from this thread and thank all of you for your input - I'm so glad I posed the question now.
Thanks everyone. xx