UNDERSTANDING BALANCE
Digital Photo: Composition Unit
Mr. Gonzalez, Tehachapi High School
Assignment: do a series of pictures that show an understanding of informal balance, formal balance,
and radial balance.
Goals: Learn to be smart with the way you look through your camera, and use the frame as a tool to
create an interesting, balanced composition. Examples:
Asymmetrical balance
Symmetrical balance
Radial balance
Project Guidelines:
1. Try to stick with a simple subject so that the way you’ve used balance is obvious to any
viewer.
2. Getting in close is a good idea, so you can isolate details and make clear to the viewer what
your subject is, and eliminate unnecessary negative space.
3. Edit your image. Make sure there is nothing in your pictures that doesn’t belong there. If it
doesn’t contribute to your idea, get rid of it.
4. Watch your edges. Look carefully at the borders of your LCD screen before you shoot.
Lines that cut through corners, confusing detail along the edges will draw the viewer’s eye
away from the point of interest. Don’t be afraid to crop – it creates more interesting negative
spaces.
5. Make a conscious choice about whether to hold your camera horizontally or vertically.
6. You can find something to photograph, or set something up. If setting up a subject, make
sure you are photographing in bright enough light to avoid camera shake.
7. Be creative.
Technical requirements: Make sure your mode dial is set on AUTO. Your flash will fire
automatically or not, depending on the light.
If your picture is not sharp, or for some reason is not correctly exposed, you must re-shoot it or
choose a different subject. Pictures with major technical problems will bring down your grade.
Filing: File in your “Composition” file, in a subfolder called “Balance.”
- 3 NEW pictures are required, each showing one of the different kinds of balance.
Photographs from home will be part of your grade.
- Each picture must be labeled with the type of balance (abbreviated) along with your name.
Example: agonzalez asym, agonzalez sym, agonzalez rad. Unlabeled pictures will not be
graded. No SS.
- Delete any pictures that are repeats or of poor technical quality – they will count against you.
- Pictures must be in black and white and saved in JPEG format.
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Website project PDF required.
Which is which?
Photos by Jenna Hall, 2011
Vocabulary:
Balance: placement of colors, light and dark masses, or large and small objects in a picture to create
harmony and equilibrium.
Composition: the arrangement of objects within the frame of a photograph.
Formal balance: a mirror-image composition, where what is found on one side of the image is
found on the other side. Can be accomplished with one object located in the center of the image, or
with equally spaced objects throughout the composition. Also called symmetrical balance.
Informal balance: a composition in which each side of a vertical or horizontal axis contains similar,
but not identical shapes. Can be accomplished by using the rule of thirds. Often pictures are
instinctively composed this way. Informal balance often creates a sense of movement and direction.
Also called asymmetrical balance.
Negative space: the space between one object and the frame of the photograph, or between two or
more objects in the frame.
Positive space: the space filled by an object.
Radial balance: a circular style of composition. It occurs when objects radiate from a central point
in an image, like the spokes of a wheel. Radial balance tends to be dynamic and energetic.
Rule of thirds: a system of composition or balance that is based on the ancient Greek ideal of the
Golden Mean. The frame or view is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, and
important pictorial objects or subjects are placed wither on one line or at the intersection of two
lines.
Evaluation:
Your grade will be based on your understanding and fulfillment of the requirements above, along
with technical skills, creativity and effort/attitude.