How Can I Improve the Composition of My Photos?
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- čas přidán 28. 07. 2024
- I sit down with award winning photographer Allen Koppe and talk about composition in photography.
He shares his thoughts about creating these amazing photographs.
www.allenkoppephotography.com/
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To think I probably would never have known about Allen’s work were it not for The Photographic Eye! Thanks Alex! Beautiful work, Allen!
My pleasure!
Allen Koppe has the true Photographic Eye !
I stumbled across your channel via a Google search. Only seen three of your videos so far but really quite impressed and this interview didnt disappoint. Thanks for doing these and sharing. Paul
I liked the comparison of pristine architectural drawings to cluttered reality, and that visual artists can try to reduce noise
I didn’t realize I’d have this childlike anticipation on Christmas. I’m psyched.
"There is a lot of noise in this world" That resonated with me and really gave me the best insight into Allen's beautiful images!
Thank you Alex! This was a wonderful exchange of thoughts, and Allen's work is fabulous.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Beatiful photos of forms and not all the clutter we see in so many other examples. Extraordinary work!
What a fantastic body of work with sublime graphic quality, Alan!
Hi Alex , thank you for introducing Allen Koppe and his work. It’s a very enjoyable conversation.
"The pictures come to me" I like that
Great conversation. Looking at well composed images is just as important as learning “rules.”
Good to see an Australian photographer making a mark in this world. He does excellent work. Also, I really enjoyed your production today.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love Koppe’s photos. I’ll search to see more of his work. 👍
Excellent interview! Allen’s images are outstanding! Thank you for posting this
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, Allen's photography really resonates with me, thank you for introducing your audience to his imagery.
Our pleasure!
Catching up on your last couple of videos. This one was fantastic! Amazing images and wonderful conversation.
Thanks so much!
Outstanding work Allen Koppe. Thank you for sharing Alex, very insightful interview 🎉
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent work , and excellent advice given from Allen . I really like his photos ,and I think I would like them better in colour
Wow, just stunning work. So many questions about process and post-work, but I'll leave that for some future opportunity. Great work, Alex - thanks for all you do!
I agree, stunning work! I'd like to know how much post processing is involved. More about his process after capture of photo.
Thank you for watching
I flying 1500km from Hobart to Sydney on January 11, good timing watching this as I been trying to figure out how to best shoot the Opera House
Finally someone willing to admit that composition becomes @an abilty to use your 'gut' in composing at the time of capturing or editing. Who actually consciously says to themselves oh I have use the rule thirds, or the golden ratio, rule of odds, and when and how to use negative space. For me I set up the image that FEELS good and it is through the evaluation proess later I can see oh I used the rule of thirds, or golen ratio or balancing negative space or created leading lines or eliminated unnecessary elements. So it sis important to analyse the reason your images WORK as well as why they didn't work so your vision will guide you subconsciously yhank you so much for talking about this.
I hope to get to the point where I’m not consciously thinking about rule of thirds or leading lines or whatever. But I’m still very new at this and it’s not coming naturally.
Thank you for watching
Alex, thanks for that fantastic interview. I have to say, a couple of those images gave me goosebumps. I have always admired Irving Penn for his composition and simplicity. I have never seen Allen's work before, but it's certainly left it's mark on me. Have a great New year, both.
Glad you enjoyed it!
So glad you’ve introduced me to Allen’s work with this video! Love his work and will be indulging in every photo I can find!!
Amazing
I’ve been following Allens work for quite a while and his Opera series is one of my all time favorites on minimalist architecture photography. It was interesting hearing his views and advices. Great interview. Cheers
Thanks for watching
Thank you Allen for sharing your thoughts and what motivates you, simply fascinating an inspiring to someone who aspires to this level of accomplishment and fulfilment.
Thanks for watching
Great conversation, thank you so much!
Very enjoyable interview. Some great insights into the thoughts of a superb artist.
Thanks for watching
Wonderful interview / conversation! I was unfamiliar with Allen's work before this, and I really connect with it. I've also been trying to understand how I connect with my photography more lately, including things like "do I have a style?", and several aspects of this discussion helped me uncover a few things. All in all, a wonderful and insightful video 👏👏👏
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing material! This gives me so many ideas for upcoming photography trips. Thanks to both of you.
Our pleasure!
Absolutely stunning images.
Stunning photos! Getting to know about Allen was like finding a gem! I have never heard of him before or seen his work, so happy that you did this interview! Apart from being a brilliant photographer Allen seems to be such a nice person, humble. Earlier today I read that 1,81 billion photos are taken this year. To be able to take photos that stand out in that crowd is really impressive. Thank you ever so much for making these inspiring videos!
Our pleasure!
Enjoyed very much. I have been trying to understand and compare photography styles where on the one hand there is a particular focal point in the image and a “story” but on the other hand the eye is drawn to and rests on the whole of the image where there is a feeling rather than a story (Allen’s style ). I think that the opposing preferences in creating and viewing each style has something to do with the left hemisphere of the brain, the focal point and story preference , and the right hemisphere, the whole of image and feeling preference.
gorgeous images with fluid tones. wow
While Allen was responding, it felt as though he is speaking my mind and thoughts.
Wonderful to find such an artist. Thank you
You're very welcome
The concept is very interesting. Despite of working on a different genre of photography, this channel makes me drive off of my comfort zone. Brilliant work!
Btw wondering your thoughts regarding Abstract photography.
I’d buy a book of his work so fast my head would spin! Beautiful images, very Michael Kenna esque.
One of the most inspiring photography videos I've seen
Wow, thank you!
Great interview Alex and great questions- I love Allen’s style of work. A true aspiration.
Love his work! What an amazing guy. Great interview to an insight of how he approaches photograpghy
That was awesome. Get to see an Aussie getting some air time and those photo's were incredible.
Sublime, beautiful work and a wonderful website, enjoying his subtle colour work too. One shot grabbed me on his website out of all of his amazing work, "Southern Nights". Thanks for this episode Alex.
Your welcome.
Very inspiring simplicity and minimalist photography
Amazing interview! So much inspiration!
Very beautiful photos
Wow - what incredible images! Really resonate with me and abour to disappear down a big rabbit hole 😂
Fascinating - thanks for sharing. I dont really have this minimalistic vision but I could still appreciate this
Fascinating interview with a fine photographer. I was particularly interested in how Koppe is trying all sorts of angles and viewpoints until things feel right to him and it is parallelled by an excerpt from a short essay I read very recently:
"The photographer's eye is perpetually evaluating. A photographer can bring coincidence of line simply by moving his head a fraction of a millimeter. He can modify perspective by a slight bending of the knees. By placing the camera closer to or farther from the subject, he draws a detail - and it can be subordinated, or he can be tyrannized by it. But he composes a picture in very nearly the same amount of time it takes to click the shutter, at the speed of a reflex action.
Sometimes, it happens that you stall, delay, wait for something to happen. Sometimes you have the feeling that here are all the makings of a picture - except for just one thing that seems to be missing. But what one thing? Perhaps someone suddenly walks into your range of view. You follow his progress through the viewfinder. You wait and wait, and then finally you press the button - and you depart with the feeling (though you don't know why) that you've really got something. Later, to substantiate this, you can take a print of this picture, trace on it the geometric figures which come up under analysis, and you'll observe that, if the shutter was released at the decisive moment, you have instinctively fixed a geometric pattern without which the photograph would have been both formless and lifeless.
Composition must be one of our constant preoccupations, but at the moment of shooting it can only stem from our intuition, for we are out to capture the fugitive moment, and all the interrelationships involved are on the move. In applying the Golden Rule, the only pair of compasses at the photographer's disposal is his own pair of eyes. Any geometrical analysis, any reducing the image to a schema, can be done only (because of its very nature) after the photograph has been taken, developed and printed - and then it can be used only for a post-mortem examination of the picture. I hope we will never see the day when photo shops sell little schema grills to clamp onto our viewfinders; and the Golden Rule will never be found etched on our ground glass."
If you recognise the writer, congratulations. Both he and Koppe have cemented a feeling I've had building for a long time; that compositional analysis is best used after the fact, to help understand why this or that composition works, not to build a composition before pressing the shutter. I'm less likely than ever to look for a composition that fits any "rules" than to look for something that looks right to me.
(if you didn't recognise the writer, it's Henri Cartier-Bresson from his book _The Mind's Eye_ )
Stunning images, brilliant composition. They really resonate with me.
Fantastic…. Great to recognise area and sites close to me in Sydney!
Thanks! Wonderful discussion. I tend to lean towards the simplistic ... peeling away the noise. It was nice to hear the dialogue, the story behind some of the images, and too view some of Allen's work.
Stunning photos!
Loved listening to you guys talk, and would love to see more conversations with more photographers in the future! You rule Alex
Thank you
A really true portrayal of composition beyond just rules. Thank you and Merry Christmas 🎄
Thank you! You too!
A great interview, Alex. I must say I hadn’t heard of Allen until I watched your video. What an amazing photographer.
Many thanks!
Allen's work is quite good. I find it inspiring, as I do yours, Alex. Thank you for sharing it, and this conversation with him, with us.
Thanks for watching.
Stunning work
Inspiring, insanely impactful images by Allen. Great video
Thank you
Excellent interview Alex. Allen has a great story and stunning images.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I enjoyed that a lot, thanks to you both, Alex and Allen. Great style.
Our pleasure!
Great work, just loved it. Calming simplicity.
Many thanks!
what a humble gentleman... I'm as impressed by him as much as I am arrested by his work.
Great interview, love Allen’s work! Very inspiring.
Thanks
Absolutely fantastic images and interesting thoughts on hie process, thanks and Happy New Year.
Happy new year
Thank you! Very inspiring!
You are so welcome!
Great talk.
Merry Christmas Alex. Thank you for introducing me to Allen Koppe’s work. I am looking forward to your work in 2024
Thank you
Wonderful images.
Great video Alex. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. ❤
My pleasure!
Alex thanks for this interview. Great photos and a lot of inspiration
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very interesting new format of interviewing another expert fotografer
Thanks for sharing this, Alex. Allen has an eye for sure. A fellow Aussie, too. Very inspirng work for me.
Awesome, thank you!
Wow , not come across Allen’swork before so thanks very much for the interview , his images are very much up my street
Our pleasure!
PS, I loved Allen’s photos. He’s got the eye, for sure!
Excellent video and interview! Allen's work is reminiscent of Michael Kenna. Great compositions.
Thanks for watching
You’re right, it isn’t romantic, but that’s why we take the picture to live in that world, at least I do! Great interview, and I love your channel!
Thank you
Well done !
Thank you
Photography is a skill indeed
Nice. Thanks for this.
Our pleasure!
Beautiful work, Allen! I’ll follow on Instagram
Thanks for sharing.
Your welcome
Do more interviews. You’re good at it!
Thank you
Thanks
good photography content
I would like to know more about how hard it is to have a photo business, or to make money from it, esp. if one is not a businessperson. I'd also like to suggest that the title say something like "Interview with Allen Koppe". I try to never miss your videos but I'm more likely to quickly click on a photo interview video. This is exciting stuff!
Thanks for your comment.
Merry Christmas folks.
Merry Christmas
Wow Allen is a genius.
I like to think that explaining "what make image interesting" (especially to beginners) can be tricky (been there, done that. I've spent lots of time reading art & philosophy materials trying to answer this question, and still clueless). That's why some general guidelines like rule of thirds, leading line etc were created (and perhaps with good reasons). As an analogy, remember quadratic equation from high school math days. The quick way to solve it is the "ABC formula". Easy to remember. But if you want to understand what happens behind the scene, you need to understand some algebraic manipulations.
Making photographs just for the sake of following those rules sometimes felt boring 😅
lovely
I think waaayyyyyy too many photographers allow compositional rules/habits to utterly distract them from choosing interesting subject matter.
Photographic norms are always half-baked. It's up to the individual's personality and energy to properly bake them.
But I'm biased towards photojournalism and situations, so certainly underappreciate excellent static, shapes-focused photos.
Hi Alex, I'm from Australia and was very proud to see an interview with Allen Koppe. I do think he would make a excellent Architect that's for sure. I have photographed the Opera House hundreds of times but not like that. I photograph it like a Tourist, but these photos are so special. I've picked up some great Composition tips from this video, and he is a great man. Thanks Alex for introducing us to Allen Koppe. 😊
Your welcome, thanks for watching
@@ThePhotographicEye Thanks Alex 🙂
Wow brilliant photography. Does he have a book?
Very nice images! I am curious how much of them is editing(taking stuff out like he said) and how much is real photography
Well, I think there is lot more going on there than anything that might happen in photoshop (not that that matters to me). Brilliant stuff.
Yes
It does not take away from the art as a photographer but the pictures are heavily processed maybe a little bit more than Ansel Adams in the darkroom. I'm sure Adams would have processed them more had he been able to access the digital darkroom.
I have a controversial question. I say controversial, because I do not mean to disrespect to the artist. It is a hurdle I have in my own mind. At 4:10 and 4:15, the photographer took a couple of marvelous pictures. They are framed well and obviously he knew how to take the picture. Now the question. How do you separate the art of the structure from the art of the picture? It seems taking a picture of someone else's art is complex because you want it to be a complement. However, the art is actually the item being photographed.
Refreshing to hear an artist not talking pretentious BS.
I did a search for a book of Allen Koppe’s photos and found none, alas.
Check out the work of Michael Levin. He has a similar style.