Exercise 11 - Balance

As described in the task I have chosen 5 photos out of those taken before and looked at them from the balancing perspective. It was quite unusual for me, as I normally put together composition rather intuitively.  After looking at course materials I tried to analyze pictures as advised there:


1. The picture is a view on old town roofs. Although there are quite a few objects on this picture, the two biggest roofs make up the biggest part of the composition. The bigger roof on the left stands closer to the center and the smaller one is closer to the right edge. I guess, this is what makes this shot balanced.

 I am showing it as a sketch below as well:

2. The main object is quite clear on this picture. It contrasts in both size and colors with the rest of the composition. Misty weather in Shanghai and the color of the water takes background of the focus. The bigger object is closer to the center compare to the small piece of the fence at the right side of the picture and the city on the background is also about the same width.

The balance comparative sketch would look the same, though the type of the composition is different in this picture.

 

3. This picture is exactly like example from course materials. The only difference is that two objects that are balancing the picture are actually the background.

The sketch of the balance would look the following:

4. I am not very sure about this picture's balance. Two main objects are about the same size, but shape is a bit different. What, I think is adding to balance is road junction and part of the roof, from which the shot was taken. I am also doubting the balance between the city and the sky. It might be better to crop some of the sky to make the picture look more like a panorama. It seems like the sky is not adding any value to the picture.

 The sketch to this picture would look the following:

5. Here it is clear that the shot is equally divided into two parts. The original looks a bit bigger, but I guess this is only because of the angle of the reflection. I am not very sure, whether the diagonal is adding to the balance or not.

Anyway, the sketch would be showing the two equal objects.

6. The last shot has quite a few objects on it. Though, the main objects here are white stairs. The Biggest one is closer the center, than the smaller ones. Also, the lady on the left edge of the shot is balanced by the same size flowers on the right side. It might be worth to improve the composition by removing the very left part of the wall from it.

And here is the sketch:

It is clear for me now that the less objects os on the picture, the more obvious is the balance. Though, there are no definite guidelines in this.

I would conclude that it was useful in a sense that it has raised questions that I have not asked myself before. I will try to summarize them below and will dig into them later:

1. How does the balance work on the shots with several objects?

2. How should objects and background be balanced against each other?

I am looking forward to getting answers on these questions...