Photography 1: The Art of Photography

Project: Points
Exercise: The relationship between points.

For this exercise I found two normally occurring situations in which there were two points, and then took the pictures quite naturally.  In these photographs it is the relationship between the two points that dominates the composition.  An implied line and direction is set-up in the picture.  A vaguely defined space is created just around the two points.  One point will attract more attention than the other, because it is bigger, appears nearer, or is closer to the centre.

Cows.jpg; Nikon D300;18-105mm lens; F13; 1/100s

The point created by the cows in this picture is the stronger of the two.  Although both points are close to the edge of the frame, the cows are brighter and larger than the other point.

BoatAndCottage.jpg; Nikon D300;18-105mm lens; F11; 1/50s

The boat in this picture is the stronger point.  This is because it is nearer to the camera and is close to the centre of frame, although near the bottom edge.  There is a reasonable balance in the image between the cottage and the boat, both being approximately the same size.


For a special case, in which both points attract attention equally, I photographed someone's face full-on, in extreme close-up, just including the eyes.  The picture was composed so that the eyes are equidistant from the centre of the frame.

Eyes.jpg; Nikon D300;18-105mm lens; F8; 1/15s

For this photograph, in order to avoid using the flash, I used a wide aperture.

In this image the eye does not resolve the composition.  The two points attract attention equally.

What have I learned from this exercise?

With two points in a composition, it is the relationship between the two points that dominates the composition.  The eye is drawn from one to another, in turn.  This sets up an implied line and direction in the picture, and also creates a vaguely defined space just around the two points.  Commonly, one point attracts more attention than the other.  If the two points attract equal attention the eyes cannot resolve the composition.  The resulting unresolved tension often damages a composition, but it can also be a useful device in activating an image.