Breaking the Rules

For this photo set, I had to break the rules. This was difficult for me, because once you become accustom to the rules of photography, you don't notice them. Breaking them feels like you're setting yourself up for failure, when in reality you make you photos more engaging.

My theme for this project was being out of focus. I wanted to capture how it feels when you try and forget about what you need to do, your responsibilities and expectations. Sometimes, caring about yourself means not caring about yourself, if that makes sense. To relax, you have to forget about what you need to do, even if that stuff is for your benefit, like keeping your grades up and eating healthy. I wanted to capture this. I decided to go about this by showing people who are overpowered by the surroundings of the photo in a peaceful, relaxed way.

I started, naturally, with a photo of my friend Meghan, perfectly framed by a tree branch, yet out of focus. I asked her to look off to the left, to clash with the rule of thirds and draw the eye to the tree branches. I also wanted to break the rule of framing, to make the subject the subject of the photo, but not what's most important. The photo is also unbalanced, to make Meghan look cramped in the picture, and like there is open space available, but she isn't there. Instead, she in contempt being in the photo, but not in focus. I like how Meghan looks a little sad, but you can't quite tell, because she's out of focus.

When I took this photo, I was struggling to get the sky and the trees properly exposed. Instead, I decided to make the overcast sky look good, resulting in the trees looking far too dark. Then, I stepped back to get Brandon and Meghan in the photo, despite them being underexposed. The photo fits my theme because the viewer is intrigued by what Brandon and Meghan are doing, but they can't see it, because it's too dark. Instead, they see the much less interesting sky. I think it feels like Brandon and Meghan are trying not to be in the photo, by bringing focus to the sky. I also broke the rules by putting the horizon and the subjects off the rule of thirds.

For this photo I wanted to make something very off balance. I started by having Meghan hold something very large and bulky -- she chose a tree branch that she named Carl. Meghan sat on the ground with Carl, and I made sure the framing was how I wanted. A little to far to the left for rule of thirds, one feels both drawn and pushed from the subject of the photo. I really like this effect, because it feels like Meghan should be the main focus of the photo. Holding a tree branch is a little weird, and one feels like there's a story there, but we don't get to see it. Instead, we see that, but also a blank landscape, that almost draws more attention than the subject, which fits the theme of my photos.