{"id":114992,"date":"2018-10-09T10:26:31","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T17:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=114992"},"modified":"2018-10-09T11:27:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T18:27:15","slug":"vector-arrow-photography-composition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/09\/vector-arrow-photography-composition\/","title":{"rendered":"Vector (Arrow) Photography Composition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Study vectors (arrows) to make better compositions:<\/p>\n

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Dear friend,<\/p>\n

An interesting idea:<\/p>\n

\n A lot of compositional concepts in photography come from mathematics– specifically, geometry.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I stumbled upon this idea purely by chance– by looking at geometry and mathematic textbooks at the house of my friend Alexander Amy, and my other buddy Kevin.<\/p>\n

One of the concepts I want to explore with you is this notion of a ‘vector’ (AB\u00e2\u02c6\u2019\u00e2\u2020\u2019), also known as a ‘Euclidean vector<\/a>‘ (discovered by our friend, the geometrician Euclid– from his book, ‘Elements<\/a>‘).<\/p>\n

What is a vector?<\/h2>\n

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The word ‘vector’ comes from Latin, which means “carrier, transporter.” It comes from the word, ‘veho’– which means “I carry, I transport, I bear.”<\/p>\n

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So essentially, a vector is an arrow that (in the terms of photography or composition) transports or directs your eye a certain direction.<\/p>\n

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Why vector?<\/h2>\n

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I like the idea of ‘cross-pollination<\/a>‘ — the basic concept that we can mix different fields of knowledge to discover new ideas.<\/p>\n

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For example, one big interest I have at the moment is this:<\/p>\n

\n Math\/Geometry x Photography\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The terminology ‘vector’ is useful because it concertizes something we already know in photography:<\/p>\n

\n When we look at a picture, our eyes are directed by vectors (arrows).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let us examine deeper.<\/p>\n

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Eye Contact<\/h2>\n

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You can draw a vector (an arrow) that follows the movement of the direction that your subjects look at.<\/p>\n

Vectors get very interesting when you have a scene with multiple subjects looking in different directions, like this scene in Citizen Kane<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Vectors with visual elements<\/h2>\n

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Another scene from Citizen Kane: Note the low angle composition, and the elements in the background which point in different directions– outlined with vectors (screenshot tool with MacOS Mojave):<\/p>\n

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What direction is the thing going?<\/h2>\n

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If you imagine your subjects as vectors (arrows)– ask yourself:<\/p>\n

\n What direction is it heading?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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A tip:<\/p>\n

\n Add some negative space in front of the direction the vector is heading:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Vectors which come out towards you<\/h2>\n
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Vectors which come towards you, or go into a picture. The vector on the left (X) means the vector is going straight into a picture. The vector on the right (\u00c2\u00b7) symbolized the vector is coming straight towards you.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the great things about studying vectors is this:<\/p>\n

\n You can have vectors (arrows) which go INTO<\/em> a picture (symbolized by (X)), or vectors which come OUT TOWARDS YOU (symbolized by the mathematical notation: (\u00c2\u00b7)).\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For example, let us look at this picture:<\/p>\n

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Outlining the eye which is coming towards you as a three-dimensional vector:<\/p>\n

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Imagine the poster in the background as this three dimensional head (seen from the side):<\/p>\n

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Apologies– not doing a good job explaining this. Let us move on.<\/p>\n

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Vectors in three-dimensions:<\/h2>\n

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An easy way to imagine vectors (arrows) in three dimensions:<\/p>\n

\n Stick out your three fingers like this– and have them point in opposite directions (x, y, z) axis.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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How objects are rotated in three dimensions:<\/p>\n

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Applied to the real world — let us see this scene from Citizen Kane<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Think to yourself– who is closest to you in the frame, and who is furthest away?<\/p>\n

With edge detection added:<\/p>\n

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Now see the vectors added with the eye contact, and also the hand pointing:<\/p>\n

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Layers and vectors<\/h2>\n

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One of my favorite Citizen Kane<\/a> scenes– note all the epic layers, and the different vectors in which the subjects are looking:<\/p>\n

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Composition 101 ><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"ERIC<\/p>\n

Master composition for yourself:<\/p>\n

Photography Composition Tips<\/h2>\n

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