Are there more composition rules?

An interesting question was posted under yesterday’s review of “Beyond Thirds”, an e-book written by Andrew S. Gibson on exploring the composition in different terms then just “rule of thirds”. I decided to write a post with my thoughts. But most of all, I want to open the discussion, hear other people’s thought and suggestions of additional “rules”.

For now, I am ready to say- no, there are no more so easy to apply, ready-to-use rules. All the concepts of contrasting for example warm and cold tones are suggestions, nobody will tell you that blue needs to occupy 65% of the image to balance a yellow flower. And then there are images with single color palette, and they work just as well. The leading lines can be coming from either sides of the frame, not even corners.

In a sense, the “rule of thirds” and “the golden ratio” are unusual. But we learn and apply it, as it far easier then exploring the details and subtleties of the visual balance and deign elements. “Beyond thirds” is a great primer to deeper understanding of the image creation from bottom up. I am aware of two other books to explore further on the subject. The classic is “The photographer’s eye” by Michael Freeman. Another book worth checking is recently published “Photographically speaking” by David DuChemin.

How about you? Do you know of any other “rule of composition”? What are your suggestions of books or other resources to learn more on composition?

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