Composing a Photograph
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
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Visual communication is the essence of composition in Photography. Understanding abstracts in context is fundamental to having something to say as a photographer. In this video we'll use some examples from Karl Blossfeldt and Henri Cartier-Bresson as points of reference to understanding the visual language.
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On my channel you will find videos about photography, cinematography, post processing tutorials for Capture One, Lightroom and Photoshop, photo assignments that YOU can participate in, the Artist Series and more. The Artist Series is an ongoing set of videos I produce as documentaries on living photographers. I am extremely passionate about photography and video and my goal in making these videos is to share my passion and enthusiasm with you! Don’t forget to subscribe and make sure to hit the like button and share this video if you enjoyed it!
Ted Forbes
The Art of Photography
2830 S. Hulen, Studio 133
Fort Worth, TX 76109
US of A - Věda a technologie
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"Opportunity is going to come along but only when you're prepared to meet it" really stood out to me.
Ready aim shoot .
"Success is where opportunity and preparation meet" - Bobby Unser
I literally just rewound the video so I could hear that quote again...that can be applied to so much in life.
I am a UX Designer working on apps and websites and whenever I am in a creative bind, I watch your videos and it helps me dish out some amazing designs.
As always Ted, I find your enthusiasm for photography to be so inspiring. Every time I listen to you talk about photographs, and photography it makes me want to grab my camera up and do something with it. Thank you for doing what you do so well. I follow many many photographers on here, but no one tells it like it is like you do, and no one else comes close to your passion.
Composition, perspective and personal style. The trifecta.
Facts 💯
I always tried to understand why that picture from Cartier-Bresson was so iconic. Thank you for bringing together so much knowledge about composition.
It’s a great feeling when you know you have the shot that has harmony
but they don’t come that often. Excellent video Ted.
That "filling the time" between what you might call the good stuff is part of what teaches us to be better photographers. Those shots teach us how to do the photography mind-set... the seeing, planning, camera set up, all of those little decisions that go into "the shot" that we're hoping and looking for. Thank you for your videos. They push me to keep hanging on to my camera... and chasing those cool shots.
one of the best explanation of art , abstraction, composition, photography and music i ever heard. This video desserve at least 500k likes. Thank you!
I believe Mr. Bresson might have seen another person using the ladder on the ground to avoid the water before the man he shot. I guess he was lucky to have that lightning striking several times on that particular spot, but he masterfully registered it. I love your channel, Ted. It is absolutely priceless.
A number of years ago here in Australia, Magnum had an exhibition of their founder's work. Bresson's wife was in attendance as well. The thing that struck me was looking at the proof sheet for this shot, that image is one of a roll of shots. Like yourself I had wondered about the serendipity of the capture, this frame just happened to be the best capture on the day. I like to think the title of the book should be 'Choosing The Decisive Moment' as can be seen with the number of shots of the nuns crossing the plaza, the cyclist at the bottom of the stairs etc. Being able to choose which image tells your story is the real art of photography. Thankyou for the work you put into these vids, you are a thought provoker of the best kind and give me hope that there are more like you in your country and not everyone is as we from other countries see on news casts and CZcams.
I've viewed this video a couple times now. It is always fresh. For me, it is putting in the work and the enthusiasm to prepare to be prepared. At first, you don't even know what you are preparing for. Then as you imagine more pictures you missed, you see how you could have been better prepared. Then you prepare to be prepared.
As a photographer who has been painting, drawing and playing guitar since I was a kid, your video brought a smile to my face.
I keep going back over your composition videos, even some now 10 years or older I guess. This is a million times more useful than gear reviews, but I understand they just don't get as many clicks. Thanks for making them anyway.
Boy, am I glad you quit the museum and started this channel. I only discovered the channel recently, but I've found much of your content informative for my journey. Much appreciated.
We need more people more channels to talk about this aspect of photography, where everyone is obsessed with gears. I am amateur photographer and I think we should focus more on this aspect of this art form rather focusing on the gears. just love the type of video you make really admire your work. I have a small CZcams channel and I have recently made a video about how photography is art I mean its controversial for lot of peoples but I have shared my opinions through this video and this video has way less views than other reviews and other stuff, but this is really the type of video I want to make so I have made it and yeah I just wish people more to focus on this aspect of this art form rather focusing on the new lens new camera new gears all the time. Just love your work Ted, thanks for all the videos 🌿
"Abstraction within context", powerful phrase... Excellent video (as always)...
Although I’ve been a photographer since my first serious camera (a Nikon F2 w/1.4F 50mm lens) since 1974, I really enjoy your videos. I’ve recommended them to some of my friends interested in taking photographs of their vacations, family and friends.
Celebrating the negative is a gem!
dude you're awesome. i'm a model trying to discover a more in-depth comprehension of photography composition so that my photos can have a bit more meaning. your videos have been amazing so far. so thank you.
This video is BEAUTIFUL!! Well done Ted!
One of the best part of this kind of composition knowledge is that it really works in any other art platforms too
Fellow musician turned camera man here! It's astounding how much applies from an editing standpoint. I'd have less than half the skill I have now for video editing if I never learned to edit music and understand composition of songs and editing timelines. This was a great watch I look forward to seeing more!
That photo is also my one and only art photo that I have hanging on my wall, as well. My wife loves it, but didn’t know why, now she understands what makes this photo so outstanding, and what attracted it to me. You also have the same ideas and concepts of photography that I am striving to achieve. My wife saw a lot of my attitude towards photography, as you have described in yourself.
Thank you for drawing attention to the importance of composition. Over the years, I've admired your ability to compose your videos.
This videos has become one of my inspirational videos from the moment i pushed the play button. Keep creating this deep and meaningfull content of yours!
Thanks for showing these dimensions of composition.
It reminds me to be aware of one's mindset and imagenary bounderies.
More of this! Thanks for taking the time to dig into this, much appreciated
Ted! This one is terrific! Watched, rewatched- and will repeat. Thank you!🙏👏
Thank you once again for a well-considered, well-prepared, concise presentation of a very useful idea. I always come away from your videos with more to think about.
Oh wow. No wonder I like your content. I found photography as another artistic expression and am an Audio Engineer and studio owner. You put composition in photography the very same way I would see music. Very well put.
Great video Ted, and great point. Most of my favourite photos, whether they are ones that I took or another photographer, were photos taken at the right place and at the right time. I mean that is what makes a photo special. If anyone with a camera could go to where you took a photo and get the same exact picture then it’s just not as valuable. But the key is that in order to be at the right place at the right time you have to be at the right place at the wrong time a lot. Then eventually some guy walks across your frame and jumps off a ladder into a puddle of water and bam! No one will get that exact shot ever again.
I agree Ted. You mentioned the Photographer's eye. I believe it is not talked about enough. I'd been shooting for many years when I realised that I saw things differently to most people. When I talked to other photographers with many years of experience, I realised that this was my Photographer's eye. You only get it by practicing "seeing", which means you just have to get out there and shoot. There are no shortcuts - you have to put in the hours.
Last night I was watching again some of your old composition content... Really important stuff... Then in the morning this video is up... Wow... I really enjoy them!!!
I've always been mystified by composition, so videos like this are great to exercise my brain. Thanks. I hope to see more over time.
You can talk and explain like no one else :) thanks for juxtaposing different art works and putting them into perspective.
I think I am getting addicted to your channel.
Also, I notice how my eye moves around a composition, how it returns to where it began, and what I notice as I look longer, deeper. I see harmony, unison, resonance, dissonance of shape. I imagine the sources of light, it’s directions, reflections, it’s quality. There are proportions that may be obvious, and subtle in compositions. The Kodak rules do not apply! I love that HCB said that sharpness is a bourgeois concept, and how he was photographic without depending on the spectacle of technique, as much as I have always loved the textures and colors only photographs capture in the moment, that derive from the composition, not the material of the medium. I agree that HCB brought surrealism into photojournalism, as he took Atget’s documentary impulses, and with the intense attention and energy of a hunter, carried them completely beyond any of those genres.
You’re the everyones favorite teacher i never had. Fantastic!
Great video. I especially liked the part about the moment of decision. It's a crucial part of photography when thinking about what specifically is communicated at that specific time. Love your vids.
There is actually an interview in french where Bresson explained that he didn't even saw the guy jumping.
He saw the scene bitween the fence, kinda frame it (With the fence half way on the picture and no possibility to see what he was doeing with the viewfinder) and shoot. The jump was pure luck / brilliant instinct.
The interviewer then said : "So it's pure luck" and Bresson respond : "Of course it's luck, it's always luck. You just have to be available, that's it".
Great video, I love to hear other peoples take on art work. My brain runs wild with certain images, paintings, architecture and quickly moves on from others, I'm never quite sure why one resonates with me, so its always intresting to hear another view on them.
Such an excellent talk on composition! Wow, so much more than the rules of thirds. I've grown up with SEEING the world around me (through the lens) and this video is specially eye opening. Thank you!
Great vid. Thank you.
I'd love to see more videos in which you specifically go over the geometrical aspects of the picture and why certain things work, some others don't and why some work better than others.
I was thinking the same thing. More deep dives into famous photographs!
Thank you for the most honest and knowledgeable video.
Love this, I've been photographing stand up. Comedy in clubs for 10 years and heavily borrow from My 20 years of photographing skateboarding, one quick and one almost still, the anticipation and the timing I got. From. Photographing skateboarding gives me a serious edge photographing comedy.
Thank you for your insight. We need more photography content like this.
Love this Ted. I was trying to select an EDC camera and I thinking a lot of the same things. Preparation meets opportunity was resounding. Thanks my friend. Thanks for your contribution.
Fantastic analogy with music. Thank you.
Love the discussion.. I think my Favorite Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph is the blurred bicyclist riding by the stairs, but the photo you're talking about is certainly iconic.
I'm a musician that has taken up photography as well, I played the trumpet, and I heard the very accomplished studio trumpet player Malcom McNab use that same phrase/analogy, "When preparedness meets opportunity." to playing a musical instrument and being successful at it. I guess the take away as far as photography goes is keep shooting/practicing.
I agree....it's light, shape, color, and perhaps even texture--all made sense of by the context of the composition. I still remember your Saul Leiter video and his use of red objects...always stuck with me. Red on its own is just a color swatch but with Saul it became something else entirely. It became remarkable. Composition is making abstract concepts mean something so that black and white, or red as a color aren't just colored squares somewhere but an idea, a feeling, a message, an emotion--because someone saw the thing that caught their eye, and composed the shot in such a way as to create meaning and message with their composition.
Absolutely love this type of videos.
He done a fine jobs on gears videos but I just love it when he does video on photography, its so informative and well explained. Made me want to go out and take a snap (even while still under the lockdown 😷)
Your much to modest Ted. “Just analysing there work!” This is such a good vlog, seen it 3 times!
Your a storyteller. If you are, you a one of the better teachers out there. Trust me, i no.
You realy shoot give lecture on a academy of photography. So much to learn fron you. Thank you ever so much.
I really enjoyed this. I didn't want you to stop. Thank YOU
This is so great. If it weren't for my subscription to your channel, with my busy work life, I would probably never touch my camera. Now I'm doing a project, for myself, that matters using composition that makes sense to me
I love that photo. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insight !
Thank you very much for your contribution, Ted! A great video on image composition and the perfect moment in photography. The photo example of HCB - by the way my favorite photographic icon - invites us to discover the numerous formal redundancies in the composition. An extremely grateful example of composition, which, with the references to Dali and Tanguy, would reflect on the common and contrasting between photography and painting. For the topic of visual communication in art lessons, this video - also with reference to music - is an ideal and soothing impulse. I would be curious to observe how the students react, even if I am really no longer a teacher myself.
Love the abstract analogies Ted and the comment be prepared to meet that photographic opportunity.
In the turbulent flow of photo gear reviews we are exposed to it is soothing and relaxing to de-escalate and dive into the basic concepts. Take a fixed and go compose without distractions.
This is such a profound video Ted. You have touched upon so many topics that are deeply thought provoking and inspirational. Thank you so much!!
I definitely have sat somewhere for a long time waiting for subjects to align with my composition.
Once I heard a photographer named Steve McCurry said "I would rather die than regretting not getting a good picture" which motivates me a lot to push myself to talk to a person on the street who I want to photograph confidently
10:50 Wow! I didn't see that until you pointed it out. Amazing shot.
Great video. Thanks! I love when you go through your photo books
Enjoyed your analysis of that photo. I've seen that image a thousand times but saw a lot more in it during your discussion. Would be interested in more videos like this.
Great and spot-on! Let us learn from your humble wisdom and Cartier-Bressons genius.
There's a piece of deep philosopy there. Luck and good fortune = succes is making yourself accessible to it.
A lot could be said here.
Awesome! I've learned so much from your videos, thank you. Also as a fellow musician who recently got into photography I really love the way you explain things. It makes a lot of sense to me. This video in particular, for obvious reasons. 😊👍
Ted, this was excellent. You have expressed what I have been struggling to understand. There are too many photos out there that have absolutely no meaning. Too many photos that have not been thought thru before taking the image. Too many you tubers showing photos of nothing. Thanks.
Gary Winogrand had a lot great insights in to photography, and has been deeply inspiring me with my photography experience. I wish he didn’t pass away so young.
Hello Ted ! I really love your videos !
I would like to share something with you about the Cartier-Bresson’s book : « the decisive moment » is the title of the english version only, because the original french title « images à la sauvette » is kind of untranslatable in english. It means something like « pictures taken on the fly », which doesn’t really share the idea of getting « ready to shoot that one moment of time ». The main idea was more something about the furtivity I guess.
Sorry for the bad english and thank you again !
Brilliant and thought provoking as ever. Thanks Ted.
Awesome Perspective.
Love your passion and teaching
I like the known to the unknown direction. The music beginning helped a lot. Thanks
I play guitar and am a vocalist myself ...can relate to every word you said from the start just like a ship slowly sinking in the sea!
Thanks very much, a great reminder to be prepared and ready for photography opportunities.
Most inspiring and encouraging. Thanks so much. I needed this.
This is a good video, I found it helpful to focus mostly on the one image. Thx.
I watched a lot of your videos (there all good) and that was extremely useful. Thank you very much.
Another great one. That´s the way to go. Please, keep that route. Congrats.
..oh, and the cherry on the top is the example of HCB, my photographer of choice, simply the best of all times.
For Henri Cartier Bresson composition always came first. That's was his original background. When he was young he'd 'frame' his picture then shoot or wait for something or someone to 'complete' the picture and then shoot. Later on he didn't need to do that, he had an amazing eye and sense of composition that was second nature. I talked to some of his friends, who were not photographers, and they told me that they'd be walking together and while having a conversation all of a sudden he'd move a few steps away and shoot a few pictures within a few seconds and nobody would notice, then he went back to the conversation and they wondered what was to be photographed there. Then they saw the images and wondered how he managed to see it. In other words, I don't think this picture was staged, I think he saw an opportunity and waited for someone to walk in or something to happen and later he'd see such an opportunity from far while having a conversation and just captured it as soon as something or someone moved into the right direction. He saw everything and was always ready. Anyway thanks for another great video! Cheers!
Great content Ted. You scared me a bit some time ago with a lot of content based on gear. This is the type of content that made me a subscriber quite a few years ago! Cheers!
Lots of food for thought. Thank you Ted
Thanks for this! The music simile really resonated with me.
Terrific. Took a great deal from this video. Many thanks.
Brilliant and informative! Thanks for great content!
Fourth time I've watched this video. I learn something new each time. Outstanding work Ted. Thank you.
Is there a transcript somewhere?
AS always, thought provoking
Which template do you use for your new website? Please share. Thank you.
Ted on Top form 👌
I need to watch this again but it’s getting so
Close my own ideas 👍
I have been watching a lot of photography youtubers over the last 18 months and have noticed many accomplished photographers, past and present, also have a music background, just as you do. For instance, Ansel Adam's formal training, as a lot of people know, was in classical piano. You touched on this correlation briefly in this video. My question is - do you think some people are more inclined to be better at photography due to previous, unrelated, education and/or talent then others?
There is a framework, and it's big. It's in the arts. It's in the philosophy behind it. You'll find a lot of it comes from Cinema. But also ideas about classical and modern art. With that said I love you're idea about abstraction not making any sense until you input something for it to work against, by creating harmonies and disharmonies, tension and resolution.
Excellent discussion as usual Ted.
Enjoyed this a lot. I've always wanted to visit the location of that HC-B shot. It's relatively easy to find approximately using Google Earth and aligning the apices of the station buildings, the clock tower and the fence lines. Incredibly, everything is still there except the circus poster (and the puddle). It was only when you showed his negative with the iron railing down the left side that the exact location is obvious - he was inside the private garden of a large building, at the corner which looks over a road junction (now a roundabout). Perhaps he had an apartment in that building and would sit in the garden thinking about that scene and what would make it 'work'. Even more determined to visit now when travel is easier.
I really enjoyed this video Ted. Thanks from Australia 🇦🇺
Excellent video Ted! Thanks
Thanks, that's full of really thought-provoking stuff.
This is a great video. I started reading John Berger Essays to get more like this. I really want someone to do a video that takes us through the process of seeing to shooting to post. Ok, its a few videos. Lately, I've been finding Hopper paintings inspiring.
Love the lesson, thank you.
Really enjoyed this
The look of this video looks like what apple cinematic mode video should be.