Post 191: Composition 21. Look at Your Edges for Distractions

Composition: Look at Your Edges for Distractions

This is Part 21 of my series on Composition and the final "rule". Let me know if you have enjoyed them!

Photographers learn to look at the entire frame before snapping the image. And obviously in editing, they crop the image to avoid oddities at the edges of the photo. A partial person walking into or out of the image is left out when possible.

Positive space is generally referred to the subject(s) that should be the focus of the viewer's attention.

Negative space can provide the frame around the subject(s) in the image.

Trapped space can occurs when an object in the image and the edge of the frame collide, which can result in a strange shaped light space. Remember, our eyes are drawn to lighter areas of the image as well, so that trapped space can be a distraction.

Cropping and editing can go a long way in taking out these odd areas and put the focus directly on your subject - aka the reason you took the picture in the first place.

 

Hopefully the cropping from these photos will give you an idea of what this all means.

 

Photo by Psk Slayer on Unsplash 

 

 

Photo by Justin Buisson on Unsplash  

 

Some photographers take the all or nothing approach to focus on their subjects - or include all or include nothing. I see it as get EVERYTHING in the original photos and crop it up! How about you?

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This is the very last part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoyed the posts! Let me know in the Comments.

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.