Photo Composition and Fine Arts

Lessons of an Anonymous Frenchman

Let his Romeo and Juliet describe their
photo composition techniques

When you first view this nineteenth century image of Romeo and Juliet, its apparent simplicity might fool you. But, compositional techniques abound in this image. And they all conspire to isolate Juliet as the subject, leaving poor Romeo in the lurch, while giving you great ideas to improve your photo compositions.

French, Romeo and Juliet, C. 1860-1870 Oil on canvas, 33 1/ x 27 inches (85.1 x 68.6 cm) The Dayton Art Institute, Gift of Mr. Robert Badenhop, 1954.13

Scale

Perhaps the first thing you notice about this composition is size of the room surrounding Romeo and Juliet. The voluminous gallery overpowers them. Perhaps this is a metaphor for the larger struggle that envelops them - it implies a meekness to their plight. If you look at it that way, then you can see how scale and proportion help to tell the story of your subject.

Light and shadow

More than any other aspect of this picture, light and shadow do the most to draw your eye to the subject. These also make clear that it is Juliet, not the pair of lovers, who is the subject of the painting. Juliet's dress is the brightest object in the picture. Even if you look away from her, your peripheral vision will bring you back to her, but not to Romeo. His dark clothes serve to blend him into the background.

Bilateral Symmetry and Centering

Here is the key deception in this painting: the composition has bilateral symmetry, but it is off-center. To see this, look at where the edges of the floor meet the bottom corners of the frame, or at the size of the ceiling arches on either side - they are not the same.

While the couple is centered in the room, Juliet is at the center of the composition. Roll your mouse over the image to see the vertical centerline that slices Juliet nearly in half - poor lass. This is one more way of emphasizing Juliet as the subject.

Interior Perspective

The lines of interior perspective bring your eyes to the couple. The grid in the floor pulls your eyes inward toward the center, and the ceiling elements draw your eye downward.

Rule of Thirds

It is hard to say whether the painter was aiming to use the rule of thirds, or whether it just worked out that way. That is why this is last on the list.

Ted's Digital Photography Tip Plan your Photo Composition You can imagine that when preparing to paint you would start your composition with a grid to place your key objects. Similarly, you can look at your photo compositions in an organized way before you shoot. It doesn't have to be a thirds grid, but imagine an organizational structure that will help the user see the picture the way you want.

• Romeo and Juliet occupy only about 1/3 the image height
  
  
• The ceiling arches intersect the back wall at 2/3 of the image height
  
  
• The width of central painting and its frame, in the background, is 1/3 of the image width

The goal of looking at Romeo and Juliet is to show how multiple dimensions of composition align in a single image. As you look to improve your photo compositions, look to improve them one step at a time. Pick one or two dimensions to start.

For example, explore scale. Then, explore symmetry. Then, look to put the two concepts together. The more you do this, the more second nature it becomes. As you add additional dimensions into your repertoire, you'll be able to draw on the compositional techniques most appropriate to the image your are trying to capture.