Photographic Composition July 11, 2011

All the technical know-how, fancy lenses, and megapixels can't make a good picture without something more essential–composition. This 5-week class is designed for anyone who struggles to understand the basics of designing their frame in order to achieve the strongest possible expression. How many times have you taken a shot of a beautiful subject, only to feel flat when seeing the image printed? What are the mysteries that make one image astonishing, and another dull and lifeless?

This class will start with many of the basic compositional "rules": the rule of thirds, leading lines, vantage point, simplification/reduction, and negative space. The class will then proceed to learn when and why it is a good idea to break those rules. With some help from Bill Brandt, we'll introduce abstraction. With the help of Robert Frank, we'll learn potent, surgical framing. With a look at Lartique, we'll see the benefits of being more childlike with the camera. In short, we'll be taking risks.

Assignments and critiques will be an essential part of the learning process as you gain greater and greater control over the content and message of your images. As Alain de Botton writes, "Once I began to to consider everything as being of potential interest, objects released their latent layers of value."

Official Website: http://www.projectbasho.org/workshops/2011summer/photography-composition-class.html