Tarkine Rules
“Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools”
I really hate the term ‘the rules of composition’. Are there really any rules? More like loose guidelines as to how visual language works. It’s really how we frame things as to how we use them. If we frame stuff as rules then tend to bind ourselves to them. We need to think and define them better so that we can be flexible in them.
Solon nailed it when it comes to art in my opinion. They are just for guidance for the experienced and are incredibly helpful for those with no knowledge or skills.
If you do use a set of rules I challenge you to break them, restructure them and find ways around them.
Hopefully you’ll easily figure out the difference between those you shouldn’t break, like wandering around at the top of a cliff looking through your viewfinder, and the ones like ‘don’t put anything in the centre of the frame’.
That rule used to appear in the inside of Kodak film boxes. Shoot with the sun over your shoulder was another.
I was thinking that the above photograph broke the centre of the frame rule. But as I look very closely I notice it’s not exactly the centre. Does it actually matter? Well of course not.
All that ever matters is that good artworks work and they capture our attention.
Which rules limit you? Food for thought I think.
We closed the first issue subscriptions last night for Len’s Journal. I am proud to announce that our first issue will be printed in a limited edition of a hundred. It’s an incredibly special moment to know that many will be printed. It will be off to the printers next week and I can’t wait to post them out to everyone who has supported us. It does look beautiful and I can’t wait to hold it in my hands.
The cover is from my favourite place to photograph. The Tarkine in Tasmania. With three meters of rainfall per year sunshine is the rare exception. Soft moody light in the most luscious greens you can imagine are the norm. I can’t wait to get back there.
With things being settled here atm, I am going ahead with my Tarkine Photography Tour. It’s in June if anyone wants to come, as I have one spot left on it, or room for a couple. https://www.lensschool.com/workshops-tours/tarkine-photography-tour-2021
I am running one next year too… https://www.lensschool.com/workshops-tours/tarkine-photography-tour-2022
All photographs The Tarkine, Tasmania. Text and photographs copyright © Len Metcalf 2021
Dip Falls, The Tarkine, Tasmania
Tarkine Mists. Tasmania
From the Pieman River. The Tarkine, Tasmania
