Ed Weston… On Composition

Traffic Circle, Arenys de Mar, Catalunya, 2021 (A traffic circle is a pretty mundane human artefact. The arrangement of the elements in this picture, though, just makes me feel good… if a bit disoriented at the same time!)

“Good composition is merely the strongest way of seeing.”

—Edward Weston

The Rules

Some call them “rules“, others–more correctly–refer to them as “guidelines”.  You know them as, say, the Rule of Thirds, the Golden Ratio, balancing the image, the “proper” use of leading lines and diagonals, always fill the frame, simplify, don’t center the subject, and so on.

But, to paraphrase Gold Hat in the classic (and racist?) 1948 film, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: “Rules!? We don’t need no stinkin’ rules!”

Just follow Ed’s advice above… and…

…Practice By Composing Random, Boring Images!

Go for the mundane… staircases, cracks in the sidewalk, a traffic circle, a stack of crates, a pile of rope, your bookshelf knick-knacks, clouds, a collection of cigarette butts, shadows on the wall, lobsters, vapor trails in the sky–whatever.

There will always be many lesser ways to frame the scene, but only one or two really strong arrangments. (Often, but not always, these better images start to come out the longer you work a scene.)

And sometimes, breaking these “rules” will result in a much more attractive and interesting photograph.

So, that is Weston’s very simple point. Try to find the strongest way to lay out the elements of the scene inside your viewfinder in order to make the most powerful visual impact possible. 

How Do You Know?

All this sort of begs the question: How do you really know if a particular composition is as strong as it could be?

I would say… instinct. Intuition. How does it feel to you? Some images just make you feel something inside, whereas others leave you sort of flat.

Another option: take a poll of a cross-section of random folks… To which composition of a particular scene do they react the best? Listen to their Whys and Why Nots… some may not even be able to explain why they choose one image over another… other than it just feels better. In a word, once again: intuition.

Casa Vicens, #1, Barcelona, 2021 (A random stairwell processed in high key.)

Spiral, Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona, 2021 (The typical medieval spiral staircase… but, with the hand of a knightly ghost casting its eerie shadow…)

La Gamba Gigante, Barcelona, 2021 (Composing with moving objects–birds and lobsters, for example–might take multiple attempts… or some artful cloning.)

Mercat-Museu Chaos, Born, Barcelona, Catalunya, 2021 (Can chaos be “composed”? Can some sort of “order” be drawn out of a messy and confusing scene? What is the strongest way of seeing in these cases?) 

Urban Contrails, Barcelona, 2021 (Most photographers try to eliminate contrails from their pictures. Why not try to use them to compose? “Right place at the right time” is a big factor.)