For this week’s Food Photography Challenge, I wanted to play with composition. While sticking to photography composition guidance often results in nice shots, sometimes we get a better shot if we ignore those guides and rules. As always, you need to know the rule to be able to break it and I wanted to break the rule of thirds this week.
Is there a better way of breaking the rule of thirds than placing your subject in the center of the photo? I wanted to use the corn on the cob to break the photo with a clean line and that’s what I did. The line at the top of corn creates a nice breaking point. However, to keep the photo from looking odd and unbalanced, I had to balance the top and bottom part. How to do that without making it look cluttered or even messy? The answer is in symmetry. I tried to balance the bowl of strawberries at the top right with the pasta at the lower left part of the photo. After that I tried to balance the plate with the rest of food (at the bottom of the photo) with the flowers and bread in the back. That way the corn is still in the center of the photo but well-balanced with the symmetrically arranged items that surround it. Of course, I decided to keep the corn on the cob in focus; everything else had to be out of the focus. What do you think, how did I do? I’d be happy to hear your opinion/ critique!
After I was done with breaking the rule of thirds, I couldn’t help myself… I had to take another, not so closely framed shot.
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Now, this month’s giveaway winner … the lucky reader who will enjoy editing her photos using Smart Photo Editor is…
Emily of www.thenalongcametheboy.blogspot.com!
Congratulations Emily!!!
Emily, please, e-mail me to claim your prize!
It’s Time to Join Food Photography Challenge!
Please, feel welcome to link your food and beverages shots to Food Photography. The rules are simple:
1. Make your photograph about food or beverages.
2. Tell us about that photograph: share a photo tip, recipe, or a story behind it.
3. Submit the URL to your food photo post or a specific Flickr image, NOT your home page or album URL.
4. Please, include a link back to my blog in your post or Flickr image description. You can grab the button below or use a text link. Note: Linked photos without the backlink will be removed.
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Mira Crisp
Hello! My name is Mira and I take pictures, blog, and drink espresso! As a portrait photographer I take pretty pictures in Ft. Walton Beach - Crestview - Destin, Fl. area. I blog mainly about photography and image enhancement and I am enjoying it a lot. I'd love to hear from you, so please feel very welcome to leave a comment or two.
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4 Comments
Great post! I think the important thing when you break photography rules, is to make sure you do so on purpose and for a specific artistic reason, and not just because you were being thoughtless! Shoot with purpose!
Jaymi, you brought up a great point: shooting with purpose. I think in order to get a great “thoughtless” photo, one has to input a lot of thought into the process. I love your comment!
I do agree with Jaymi. Though, I do break the rules you talked about a lot. It’s not that I don’t know them… it’s my own style and preferences that make me to do that
I’m thinking about a job in photography and i like to travel.. There are numerous fantastic careers in photography and i want to know which one gives you more traveling.. . Thanks..