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Phil Douglis | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Nine: Composition -- putting it together tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Gallery Nine: Composition -- putting it together


Some believe that photographic "composition" is purely a matter of aesthetics. I don't take this approach. Making a beautiful image, one that follows all the "rules of composition", is not the way I shoot. Rather, I use composition to organize my pictures for meaning. How and why I relate things to each other within my frame, and how I emphasize the point I am trying to make, is more important to me than making a classically beautiful image. I always try to keep my viewers in mind. I hope that my composition will simplify the image for them, making it coherent. Our cameras see unselectively. We must make them see selectively -- eliminating random chaos, rather than passing it on to the viewer. I use a number of methods to structure my images to make them express what I want to express. Here are examples generally selected from my archive of digital travel articles posted at http://www.pnd1.smugmug.com/

This gallery is presented in "blog" style. A large thumbnail is displayed for each image, along with a detailed caption explaining how I intended to express my ideas. If you click on the large thumbnail, you can see it in its full size, as well as leave comments and read the comments of others. I hope you will be able to participate in the dialogue. I welcome your comments, suggestions, ideas, and questions, and will be delighted to respond.