Looking for book on art of composition

Kbone · May 10, 2002

I'm interested in finding a good book that gives extensive detail on the art of composition, rule of thirds, "golden mean", color and texture in composition, angles drawing the eye to subject, the whole kit and kaboodle. Anyone have any suggestions? I prefer something that is strictly dedicated to composition in great detail, not just a chapter in a general photography book.
Thanks,
-Kevin

Steadman Uhlich · May 10, 2002

Find a book on fine art painting composition.

Look at paintings by the old masters.

Then.....forget it all and look at the images in any magazine and recent advertisement. Tastes change.

Steadman

Wild_Man1 · May 10, 2002

Ahhhh tastes may change but the divine proportions remain constant! I have not found one book or sizeable chapter devoted in any of the art and composition books. The best I have found is actually in a book dealing with the art of the American longrifle - will look up the title and get back for you - it provides examples in basic composition,on longrifles and furniture.

Good Luck,
Chuck

Tomrok · May 10, 2002

I confess my ignorance about "rule of thirds" & "golden mean", but please check my latest message on "Reading Material?" in this forum. The book I recommended ("The Art of Seeing") may be helpful. Check my galleries (I'm not selling anything - just a hobbyist). If my pics are lousy and break all the rules of proper photography, disregard my suggestion.

Tom
http://www.pbase.com/tomrok/galleries

mike b in oklahoma · May 10, 2002

Check out "Photography for the Joy of It" by Freeman Patterson. Check out the reviews at amazon.com to see descriptions of the book. Not quite as formally into composition as you talk about, but a lot about how to take attractive photos, especially on lighting and the different types of light.

Mike B. in OKlahoma

mike b in oklahoma · May 10, 2002

I just went and looked at the "Photography for the Joy of It" listing on Amazon, and noted that the same author has a second book, "Photographing the World Around You : A Visual Design Workshop". I have not read the book, but it sounds like it may be more what you are looking for. "For the Joy of It" is still worthwhile, though!

Lest I appear to be pumping Freeman's books, I should say that he has no idea I'm alive, I have no connection with him or his publisher, and I am compensated the same (zero) whether you buy the book or not! But I found his first book useful and readable.

Mike B. in OKlahoma

Sean90542 · May 10, 2002

Take a look at a book titled "Photographic Composition" by Tom Grill and Mark Scanlon. It's 140 pages and deals only with composition, nothing else. I really like the book, in fact I own it and give myself excercises to practice good strong composition in any circumstance.

If you find something better let me know!

Rob

David Eppstein · May 10, 2002

I own this book. It's filled with lots of examples of different types of shots and different compositional techniques to achieve them.

Another composition book I have is "Design & Composition Secrets of Professional Artists", from International Artist Publishing. Sixteen painters show a half dozen or so examples of their paintings and describe in their idiosyncratic ways what principles and design processes led to their results.

Despite being oriented towards painting (which I am not much interested in), I think I like the painting composition book a lot better. The tricks and techniques of Grill and Scanlon are all useful to know, but if they're all you know your photos will come out too cliched. The painting book will teach you that there are as many different ways to think about composition as there are people, and help spur your creativity.

Christiane ROH · May 11, 2002

Hi Kevin,

It's relatively difficult to find good books dealing only with composition in photography. I've some books in French (my main language), but none in English. However my favorite one was translated from English; the problem is that it is out of print in English..

Author : Michael Freeman
Title : "L'image" (there is a second volume entitled "La lumière")
Edition : Paris, Editions VM, 1994 (2d edition) (1st edition 1989).

For the original book in English the inside cover says :

First edition in 1988, by William Collins Sons & Co Ltd

May be that you'll be able to find a copy in bookshop specializing in second hand books ?

That author is present in Amazon, because he has made photographs for other books (travel guides, cook books and the like).. So have a look there.. In particular to :

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0817440135/qid=1021101966/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/002-0766205-9624856 which may be somewhat similar to the one edited by Collins.

More in general and for his other books :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-uk&field-author=Freeman%2C%20Michael/026-7678119-6538044

(the complete title of the second volume is in that list too).

BTW, he has recently published a guide on digital photography.

--
Christiane

Kbone · May 11, 2002

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I'm going to look into each of them to see which best suits my needs.

I'll try bibliofind for the out of print English translation that was suggested. Can usually find just about anything used there.

This forum is fantastic for things like this. I really appreciate the time that each of you took to respond to my question.
Thanks a million!!!
-Kevin

Kbone · May 11, 2002

Great looking photos in your gallery. Looks like we are neighbors. I live in Waterbury, CT. I travel all over the state for my job and have spent time in nearly every area you show in your New England section.

I am planning to take a drive out to Norwich some weekend for a photo adventure. There are a lot of run down urban landscapes in parts of the town that look like something out of a Dickens novel. I currently own a G2 which is a very nice camera but doesn't quite fit the vision I have for this particular project. Think I'll wait until I get my D60. Hopefully that won't be very long.
-Kevin

Ken C · May 11, 2002

Well I second the recommendation for Freeman Paterson's books. If he has a really good memory he might know that I exist, as I attended one of his seminars recently. Likely not - just that his views on visual design are very sound and worth knowing about.

Regards, Ken

Tomrok · May 11, 2002

Hi neighbor! Thanks for checking. I'm still waiting for my D60, too. I said it somewhere before and I'll say it again. If that camera doesn't show up, I might wait for the next model (or the one after that) and go back to using my Olympus C-3030. I tried film recently and I don't like working with it anymore.

A little photo tip (you might already know): it's all in the details. Look for the little things most people pass by.

Tom

Tomrok · May 11, 2002

Hi neighbor! Thanks for checking and the compliment. I'm still waiting for my D60, too. I said it somewhere before and I'll say it again. If that camera doesn't show up, I might wait for the next model (or the one after that) and go back to using my Olympus C-3030. I tried film recently and I don't like working with it anymore (but I'll probably change my mind again because I like the wide angle lenses).

A photo tip (you might already know): it's all in the details. Look for the little things most people pass by.

Tom

Jan Brittenson · May 12, 2002

Donis A Dondis: A Primer of Visual Literacy (MIT Press).

This may or may not work:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262540290/qid=1021192899/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-1424400-1517421

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Looking for book on art of composition

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