Learn the Rules of Photography and Then Break Them
In this reader quick tip one of our forum readers CapturedinPrint shared this tip on breaking rules.
My tip is to learn the rules of photography and the tools of photoshop and then don’t be afraid to break them.
Creativity is going beyond the rules and creating something different and unique. I do this continually and am hired because of my creative style and fearless approach to photography/design.
The image shown below is not your usual crop but I’m continually approached by publishers that want to buy this image. So, play play play!!!
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14 Responses to “Learn the Rules of Photography and Then Break Them” - Add Yours
May 2nd, 2009 at 8:14 am
Ahhh finally, common sense prevails. Great post!
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
What a great suggestion, “play, play, play.” I did this here, and so far the results have been very positive…………….:)
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
This is some good advice. It’s important to notice that [i]learn the rules[/i] comes first. As I often tell people about photography, improv, and many other things that have rules: that’s so that you can break them more effectively!
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I love edgy, unusual crops! They often tell more of a story than the original image.
I think your pic works because cropping out half of the adult faces makes it really clear to the eye where the focal point of the picture is. Great shot
May 2nd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
haha, this is exactly like what i wrote on my Basic Photography Tutorial post some time ago. learn the rules, try to understand it, then find your own way to break it. rules are made to help the beginners learn photography easier. but to become a master, they have to learn how to break it to make their own style of photography.
great post, great idea
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Well that image still has a lot of symmetry to it…. it’s basically 2 faces and does not challenge the viewer, it just has a bit of a different point of view. It’s great to first learn and break rules though, but it’s hard for a lot people to learn these lessons and develop an unique style.
May 3rd, 2009 at 4:34 am
Rules of creativity are actually mere suggestions. They help us to understand what works graphically but creativity cannot be broken down into simple steps (frame like this and you can take a price winning shot). I think we need to stop looking for the easy solutions and use our heads and develop our own styles.
Good post!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Love this!
May 4th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Love the image!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:01 am
love the image and the encouragement to break the rules!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:33 am
My takeaway from this post is ‘In order to break the rules, one should know them first’. I guess it’s the difference between ‘getting lucky’ and make a conscious decision to make the image different. Great stuff nonetheless!
May 9th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Of course you have to know the rules in order to break them. There are certain situations when you have to be conservative, so you have to know the theory (!), and there are situations when you can let your imagination fly. I like this specific picture. High key plus washed colours emphasise the eyes. In spite of being simetric, the picture is well balanced. It has a good, strong subject and leaves you with a slight sign of question (with something to think about).
May 10th, 2009 at 1:35 am
It’s a pretty good photo.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:22 am
nice shot… great idea but the picture itself is nothing new from the rest of what we saw in the net… im not a professional photographer but i am an artist by heart… i know how to differentiate between commercial and non commercial shot, shots from the heart and shots for the pocket,, so all i can say is there’s nothing new with this picture…. i would like to see different from the typical pictures that’s revolving the net…….
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