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This was the beginning image of a project to document the new concert hall in Orange County. The construction company painted the outside dimensions of the building for visualization. My vantage point was a nearby high-rise about the 17th floor. The men were talking and I placed them in the upper convergence area of the upper horizontal and the left vertical thirds.

The line meanders from the lower area of convergence to the men, giving some visual tension and drama to the scene. The whole project was a blast and I can hardly believe the beautiful building that replaced this parking lot.

Today we stay with composition. This was taken during one of my photojournalism classes at UCLA for the staff of the Daily Bruin. We walked out on a bridge and looked for promising subjects. There was the usual hustle and bustle of a college campus, but sitting off to the side was a coed having her lunch. Slight tilt of the horizon helped to include the small walls that point toward the subject. For me, they point or lead the way to the subject, who I placed in the convergence of the upper horizontal and the right vertical third. Patience is not only a virtue but neccesary when creating your images. I waited for numerous pedestrians who walked through the frame, hoping the student wouldn’t finish her lunch and leave. Watching and waiting are always good skills to have in your bag. Try to look for a good situation and build the various piece(compositon, lighting, etc.)to make a great image.

Not as blustery as Christopher Robbins saw, but enough clouds and wind to make an interesting image outside London. This store is just down the highway from where A. Milne lived and wrote Winnie the Pooh. I actually walked through the 100 acre woods. A charming place but not as picturesque as you might hope for. So, I was looking for an iconic image to give a sense of place. No Pooh bears around, but a cute little sign and some dramatic looking clouds. I exposed for the sky, composed the image with the sky dominating the frame(1/3 2/3 rule) and placed the sign near the upper convergence area(the intersection of the upper horizontal and the right vertical third). The exposure for the sky created a silhoutte of the buildings and the sign.

One last shot of Paris(photographers never tell the truth). I approached the Eiffel Tower from across the Sienne at sunset. It is everything you have ever read or been told of. It dominates the skyline for miles around. Up close, it soars above the river Sienne. A breath-taking site that has to be seen.

For the past 20 years tilting the horizon has become a “cool” trick to insert to make images look edgy or hip. I think it can be a great tool that can be utilized when a photographer needs to add more information to the frame and/or to place part of the subject into a better portion of the frame to improve the composition. Here the top of the tower would have fallen outside any of the normal areas of convergence. So, I tilted the camera horizon to place it(the top) into the upper area of convergence(the intersection of the right vertical third and the upper horizontal third)to make this interesting and hopefully memorable night shot of the Eiffel Tower. Again, Bonjour!

Another image from the city of lights, but in the daytime. Taken from the top of the Arc de Triomphe looking out towards the Sienne and the Eiffel Tower(enough name dropping?). I couldn’t resist the fluffy clouds that hung so majestically above the city.

So, here’s another travel photo built around composition. First, I wanted to highlight the sky and the clouds. I used the the 1/3rd - 2/3rd’s rule and placed the horizon in the lower horizontal third of the frame. The Eiffel Tower is placed in the convergence area of the lower third and the left vertical third. Je t’aime, Paris.