composition

 Why do certain photographs appeal to us so much while others do little to spark our interest? Sometimes it has to do with our emotional connection to the subject matter, but more often it has to do with human evolution and the way that we see.

David Brommer, manager of the B&H Event Space, has contributed to a recently published book entitled, "Composition: From Snapshots to Great Shots." I recently had the opportunity to talk with David about the chapter he wrote, and he provided me with some interesting and thought-provoking insights.

We need to be on the lookout for photographs that aren't yet available, but soon may be. 

We get a good composition when the right combination of subject matter and light coalesces in the viewfinder. Subjects are often moving. Light is often changing. We need to be thinking ahead to avoid missing shots.

As should be expected by now, there was yet another article in the NY Times recently that started me thinking (Watch out... this can be dangerous!). The article ('Bringing New Understanding to the Director's Cut', 3/1/10) discussed how the editing of a movie, i.e., the number of shots in each scene, how long they appear onscreen, the pacing, and the order in which they are bundled together greatly affects our perception of the movie. And that includes convincing ourselves we just saw a ‘terrific’ film, even if we didn’t find the film to be all that good.