Welcome to our P52! This project is designed to get you out with your camera once a week in a meaningful way. Each week I will post a prompt for you to consider. The prompts are merely suggestions, and you are free to shoot off topic if you wish. All images posted must be taken by you, be safe for work, and be taken with this project in mind. Please do not post archive photos. For a further discussion of the guidelines, please refer to this thread, and you can find the previous weeks linked there if you missed them. Feel free to join in at any time of the year, and you may go back to missed weeks if you still wish to participate.
Week 29: Center Composition
![2023-07-17_0001.jpg]( "2023-07-17_0001.jpg")
I’m going to start this week by admitting that I really don’t like center composition. I had a hard time shooting an example (so to make up for it I took three), and I didn’t easily find a lot of images in my archive that would fit the bill. I have trained myself to shoot for the rule of thirds, and often center comps feel boring to me. I do have a few cameras and lenses that require center composition, and I find myself working around that limitation often. Most of my Lensbaby lenses focus from the center but I’ve figured out ways to tilt and hold the camera to work around that. Otherwise I do a lot of cropping in post to move my subject where I’d prefer it.
![2023-07-17_0005.jpg]( "2023-07-17_0005.jpg")
Still, there are merits to center compositions, and it’s a worthwhile exercise to practice it every once in a while. Center comps work well for scenarios where there is a good framing element, or some other location that offers symmetry. Leading lines is another great technique to use in conjunction with centering your subjects, as it directs the eye where needed.
![2023-07-17_0003.jpg]( "2023-07-17_0003.jpg")
![2023-07-17_0004.jpg]( "2023-07-17_0004.jpg")
Other times you might use the center focal point, but frame your image in such a way that it feels weighted to a third line. In the two images below, although the center of the frame of each is where the eye is drawn for focus, the bottom of the images are more visually weighted, grounding the composition and giving the illusion of a ROT composition even when the desired focus is right in the middle of the frame.
![2023-07-17_0002.jpg]( "2023-07-17_0002.jpg")
Above all, using a center composition should help further the story of your image, and not be used just because you don’t know how to toggle to a different focal point. Use centering to make your story more dynamic and less static.
![2023-07-17_0006.jpg]( "2023-07-17_0006.jpg")
I’m going to work on this myself this week, even if it does end up just being with my zinnias!
Week 29: Center Composition
I’m going to start this week by admitting that I really don’t like center composition. I had a hard time shooting an example (so to make up for it I took three), and I didn’t easily find a lot of images in my archive that would fit the bill. I have trained myself to shoot for the rule of thirds, and often center comps feel boring to me. I do have a few cameras and lenses that require center composition, and I find myself working around that limitation often. Most of my Lensbaby lenses focus from the center but I’ve figured out ways to tilt and hold the camera to work around that. Otherwise I do a lot of cropping in post to move my subject where I’d prefer it.
Still, there are merits to center compositions, and it’s a worthwhile exercise to practice it every once in a while. Center comps work well for scenarios where there is a good framing element, or some other location that offers symmetry. Leading lines is another great technique to use in conjunction with centering your subjects, as it directs the eye where needed.
Other times you might use the center focal point, but frame your image in such a way that it feels weighted to a third line. In the two images below, although the center of the frame of each is where the eye is drawn for focus, the bottom of the images are more visually weighted, grounding the composition and giving the illusion of a ROT composition even when the desired focus is right in the middle of the frame.
Above all, using a center composition should help further the story of your image, and not be used just because you don’t know how to toggle to a different focal point. Use centering to make your story more dynamic and less static.
I’m going to work on this myself this week, even if it does end up just being with my zinnias!
