Let’s talk about the power of circles, triangles, curves, lines, and patterns in our photography. Let’s talk about how deliberately composing your images around geometric shapes can command your viewer’s attention and pull their eyes deeper into your scene. Never forget that it is the strength of your composition that forces your audience to see exactly what you want them to see in a photograph.
For this lesson to make sense we need to think in the abstract. When you watch this video, instead of just seeing the surface details in my images–the rocks, the trees, or the roads–try to see these objects as shapes within the rectangular frame. Think about shapes as much as you think about the color, or the light, in a photograph.
You will find these elements of design–the circle, the triangle, curves, and lines–everywhere once you start looking for them. As you become aware of the power of each type of geometric form then you can put these shapes to use as the building blocks for stronger photographic compositions.
Composition is the artist’s way of directing the viewer’s vision in a planned derandomized fashion. –Bruce Barnbaum