A Practical Composition Guide – Patterns

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In continuation to my series on Composition this post is about seeing and capturing ‘Patterns’ natural or man-made. Patters are all around us so when it comes to composing images it requires a unique perspective to understand how to best capture these patterns.

How to identify and compose when you patterns capture your attention?

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Zoom In Tight

Get rid of the distractions and zoom in tight as much as you can. By doing this you will emphasise the pattern and remove any surrounding distractions that may be there.

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Create Perspective

Use the pattern to create perspective in image, large to smaller. Rotate your camera 45 degrees to either side to help create the perspective and depth in the image. Doing this will emphasise any leading lines and draw the viewer into the photograph.

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Break in Pattern

Another technique is to look for a break in pattern when you do see a nice pattern appearing. Below is a great example of such situation where the break in pattern creates a fantastic composition.

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Combine both pattern and symmetry!! There is nothing that says you can’t combine the two, in fact these two work very well together. Just see the following examples where pattern and symmetry work nicely to create great images.

Nature also provides us some great looking patterns and symmetry can be used to accentuate them.

Hope you found this post useful and gives you inspiration for creating some amazing images. Be sure to share your comment and spread the word!!

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”https://photoinsomnia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/symmetry-pattern.jpg” alt=”Symmetry and Pattern” title_text=”Symmetry and Pattern” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”on” overlay_icon_color=”#f29f1a” hover_icon=”%%51%%” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”] [/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”https://photoinsomnia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Patterns-2.jpg” alt=”Symmetry and Pattern” title_text=”Symmetry and Pattern” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”on” overlay_icon_color=”#f29f1a” hover_icon=”%%51%%” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”] [/et_pb_image][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”https://photoinsomnia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/symmetry-pattern-2.jpg” alt=”Symmetry and Pattern” title_text=”Symmetry and Pattern” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”on” overlay_icon_color=”#f29f1a” hover_icon=”%%51%%” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”] [/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]