Composition Suggestions – No offense taken, for sure

Chasing the sunset at Callaway Road

July 25, 2008 – Susie B, an artist, e-mailed me a quite wonderful message in which she was gracious enough to offer an important idea about my photography. She said good things about my sense of color and sensitivity to light, which I appreciated, and then added this suggestion – that I move the center of interest away from the actual center of the photo more frequently.
 She noticed, she said, that in many of my photos the center of interest is right in the middle of the picture plane (as above), which works sometimes.
  “It just needs to be deliberate when that happens,” she said. “You might try the theory of thirds, dividing the plane into thirds vertically and  horizontally, then placing the center of interest in one of the four spots away from the center.”
  Then she added that I might also consider the theory of Western view (as in Western civilization) that we read from left to right, so Western viewers sometimes need something to draw them that way.
  What a great idea and helpful message. When you think about it, it makes quite a bit of sense.
 Susie is quite right, I always center the photo on the subject reflexively, and how much more interesting to move that focus, and more challenge. Scary, too.
  At the end of her message, she said she would not be disturbed if I didn’t take the suggestion, and would still enjoy the photos and the blog. I can’t imagine being disturbed by such an intelligent and useful thought, and I can’t wait to try it out. It is rocketing around my brain.
  It means being more thoughtful about composition, as well as color and light, and it is also braver in an odd way because you can’t just rely on the center of the photo to carry it, which can be lazy, but actually compose it in a more balanced way, something I do mostly by instinct, but rarely consciously.
  I can’t believe how sensitive to light I am, or understand why. I am beginning to learn how to capture color, but just.
  So I like this idea very much, and it is important, and I can’t say how grateful I am that somebody with this kind of knowledge would pass it along. Thanks. It’s the sort of thing that can take you to another level.
  Maybe I should have paid attention to some of those teachers.