Exercise: Balance
In this exercise I had to choose some of my already-taken photographs, and decide how the balance works in each one.
Photo 1
First picture is an indoor portrait of a man reading a document on his laptop. He's the main element in the photo, big and close to the center of the photo, but is balanced by a small one, his computer, located further from the center. I think the weighing scale should look something like this:
Photo 2
The second photo is one of a building and the sky, reflecting in the water ( a pond in the park). It is a symmetrical arrangement, the balance is pretty obvious. I think the building balances nicely with it's own reflection, as do the two tones of blue, separated by the green shade of the vegetation.
Photo 3
The third photo represents a bridge, which I photographed from a low angle, so I could fit it's whole image in the picture. It's also symmetrical, but in a different way than the second photo. I tried to find a photo which would have the maximum symmetry, as the example photograph in the course, but I didn't find exactly the same thing. This one is the closest to maximum symmetry, that I could find. The supporting cables of the bridge radiate towards the sides in all directions, but up. The weighing scale looks like this (I think...).
Photo 4
Photo no. 4 is another portrait, of three people, in a symmetrical triangle arrangement. The two people on the sides, sit a bit higher than the one in the middle. And they're both wearing light colored clothes, while the man in the middle is wearing dark clothes. I think the scale should like like this:
Photo 5
In the fifth photo, I have an old, traditional japanese house, in a park, in Yokohama. This is the main element. The second important element is the red tree (momiji, as they call it). Although their images overlap somehow, in the frame, I think there is a good balance between them, and with the rest of small elements. The weighing scale looks like this:
Photo 6
Photo no. 6 is of a sunset. I didn't think much of the balance when I took this photograph, it was more on ... instinct. I can't be objective anymore, I looked at it so many times ... So maybe I can't describe it correctly. I think it would have looked slightly better if the sun were just a bit more to the left. Otherwise I think the big tent like structure is in balance with the sun, both in color and somehow in shape. They both have a high "element" and a low one. (the tent has it's rounded top, and than it goes down, as the sun's body appears up and it's reflection downward in the picture...). It would have been too symmetrical if the tent's "lines" had gone straight down and not slightly to the sides, in this "diagonale" way. So the weighing scale should look like this, I think, as the two main elements are not in a "perfect" balance.
Photo 7
I chose this photo as well, because it's out of balance. It has two main elements, but one is located too much to the right of the frame (the big cargo ship) and the other one (the water) lower in the frame, in front, with it's white formations. Those formations work as leading lines, guiding the viewer to some small elements in the distance, mainly to the light house or tower like structure, with it's small, red top. But I don't think the photo looks bad, even if it is out of balance. It kind of emphasizes the size of the ship (in contrast with the size of the buildings in the distance). And I think a contrast emphasizing photo should be out of balance...
I learned a lot from this exercise. I always look for symmetry and balance when I take a photograph, but I never analyzed my photos in this way before. So it was very useful and "organizing", for my mind.
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