Thoughts on Photography | #10 - Rules - Peter Poete Photography

I recently decided that I would like to start another very short column in addition to the book reviews – and I’m calling it ‘Thoughts on Photography’. Here, I will share a few personal thoughts on photographic topics from time to time – with as little text as possible (max. 3 minutes reading time) and few example images – perhaps just one. There will be no logical or strictly sequential order to the topics. But perhaps some inspiring or even controversial thoughts over the time… we will see. Feel free to share your thoughts with me…

#10 – Rules

We all know them well enough, the so-called rules of photography. No converging lines, no crooked horizons, no blurred images, no lost shadows and no blown-out highlights…

And I’m not even talking about the real holy grails (is there even a plural form for that expression?) in art – and, in part, photography. The golden ratio, leading lines, negative space, centred image composition and symmetries… and so on and so forth…

Anyone who has been involved in painting or photography for any length of time will eventually encounter these concepts. And yes, some of them are clever and important ideas. Again, yes, many of them can improve our images and often do. It can make sense to follow certain basic rules of composition. Not because of the rules themselves, of course, but for the sake of the image… especially in landscape, architectural or still life photography, some rules of composition are essential.

QED, rules of composition do matter sometimes…

But… rules aren’t everything.

The so-called rules of photographic composition are, in my opinion, invalid, irrelevant, immaterial.
Ansel Adams

As you can see, even the great masters see it this way. Although I don’t believe that Ansel Adams, of all people, never adhered to basic rules of composition. 😉

Anyway, at least for my type of photography, only two rules have proven to be practically always true in all the time I’ve been doing it. The first is very old and simple, but it doesn’t translate well directly into English – however, it rhymes in German: Vordergrund macht Bild gesund! (The foreground makes the picture healthy!)

All photographers who try to capture a beautiful landscape with a wide-angle lens for the first time will understand what this means… but this also applies to many other genres.

These kinds of pictures can be as boring as can be…

You can always find a foreground that makes pictures look more interesting…

The second, in turn, is the famous and much-interpreted statement by one of the greats – who sadly died too young:

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.
Robert Capa

As always, the exceptions prove the rule in both cases. Although I consider Robert Capa’s words to be one of the most important statements ever made about photography. Go close and get personal…