Michael Freeman On... Composition

by Michael Freeman

Overview

Fifty years after the publication of the hugely influential bestseller The Photographer's Eye, Michael Freeman returns with fresh ideas that reflect on the way the medium has evolved in the 21st century

Composition is the single most powerful tool in a photographer's armory. Unconstrained by any outside influence, it can be a pure expression of individuality, and this is what makes it so important. Freeman details both why and how composition works, from perception to visual imagination, including many practical compositional templates — varying from the Walk—in to the Frame Break to the Fibonacci Point — ready to be applied to a range of camera situations. 

—    All—new content from the master of photography guides
—    Concise and easy—to—follow format clearly explains the vital ingredients of composition
—    Real—life examples of composition in practice ably demonstrate the key elements
—    Unique visuals and illustrations cut through the jargon and make the subject simple

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781578360
Publisher:	Octopus Books
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Michael Freeman, professional photographer and best—selling author, was born in England in 1945, took a Masters in Geography at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and then worked in advertising in London for six years. In 1971 he made the life—changing decision to travel up the Amazon with two secondhand cameras, and when Time—Life used many of the pictures he came back with, he embarked on a full—time photographic career.

Since then, working for clients that include all the world's major magazines, most notably the Smithsonian Magazine (for which he has shot more than 40 stories over 30 years), Freeman's reputation as one of the world's leading reportage photographers has been consolidated. Of his many books, which have sold over 4 million copies worldwide, more than 60 titles are on the practice of photography. For this photographic educational work he was awarded the Prix Louis Philippe Clerc by the French Ministry of Culture.

Freeman's books on photography have been translated into 27 languages.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Chapter 1 Design Is Good for You 8

Order, Direct, Interest 10

Impromptu or Managed 14

How We Look at Pictures 16

Design Tools 22

Viewpoint 24

Optics 26

Chapter 2 Deep or Flat 28

Perspective: Diminishing 30

Perspective: Linear 32

Perspective: Aerial 34

Flattening & Compression 36

Immersion 38

Focus Depth 40

Squaring Up 42

Flat Lighting 44

Chapter 3 Framed 46

Subject & Frame 48

Tight 50

Placement Zones 52

Slimmer, Fatter 54

Orientation 56

Square 58

Widescreen 60

Basic Division 62

Diagonal Division 64

Chapter 4 Secret Geometry 66

Rabatment 68

Golden Section 70

Fibonacci Points 72

Musical Harmony 74

The Ever-Present Triangle 76

The Uncommon Circle 78

Repeating Rectangles 80

Mondrianesque 82

Quartering 84

Static Lines 86

Angular Energy 88

The Flow of Curves 90

Chapter 5 Hidden Influences 92

Salience 94

Visual Weight 100

Foreground Stretch 102

The Need For A Subject 104

The Need to Group 106

The Need to Continue 108

The Need to Complete 110

Balance 112

Chapter 6 The New Order 114

Neatness 116

De-Crowding 118

Gaps & Slots 120

Enclosing 122

Group Control 124

Full Arrangement 128

Mirroring 130

Anchoring 132

Chapter 7 The Director's Chair 134

Pairing 136

Matchmaking 138

Slow Reveal 140

Pointing 142

Focus Pull 144

Chapter 8 Swimming Upstream 146

One-Corner 148

End-to-End 150

Dispersed Attention 152

Field Pictures 156

Constructivist 158

Tilt 160

Reduction 162

Separate Planes 164

Layering 166

Conceal & Obscure 168

Free Format 170

Index 172

Acknowledgements & Picture Credits 176