San Antonio

One of the aspects of the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone is that control over the composition is a bit hit and miss - just like it is on a cheap plastic film camera.  I really like this result which admittedly is a loosely planned happy accident.  Everything just worked out here, fairly typical rule-of-thirds composition, lots of contrast and tension between the positive and negative spaces...the more I look at this photo the more I like it.

As a general rule elements in a photograph should be wholly within the field of view.  Things that are cropped off tend to look like the photographer wasn't really paying attention to the composition and they can draw the eye away from what is supposed to be the focal point.  However breaking this rule can sometimes actually draw the viewer into the frame as our minds want to know what the photographer chose not to show us.

The lesson here is that clearly understanding the 'rules' empowers one to break them and in so doing more dramatic images can result.  The American photographer Richard Avedon (my new favourite portrait photographer ....google him to see some staggering portraits) once said:

'I’ve worked out of a series of no’s. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no’s force me to the “yes” '.