Composition in portraits

[ciaran]

More tutorials can be found on my website: theWonderOfLight Dot Com
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Let's start with the Fibonacci Sequence 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144

The Fibonacci sequence is the set of numbers aquired when one takes first the numbers 1 and 2 and adds them to get 3, and from that point on adds the the last two numbers of the series to get the next number in the series.

The magic ratio

The ancient greeks somewhere knew about this certain ratio which had interesting properties. They defined it by taking a line segment, and dividing it into two parts, in such a way that the ratio of the larger portion to the original segment is the same as the ratio of the smaller segment to the larger. This ratio is 1.618 (give or take a few decimal places).

If we look at the fibonacci sequence and divide the current result with the previous result, as we progress in the sequence, we can see that the answer quickly approaches the magic ratio.

2 / 1 = 2
3 / 2 = 1.5
5 / 3 = 1.66
8 / 5 = 1.6
.
.
.
89 / 55 = 1.618
144 / 89 = 1.6179 etc.

Right.. so enough of the maths. WHY DO WE CARE?

Well the magic ratio is a naturally ocurring number which was used in many places in the ancient world, including Da Vinci's art to the great pyramids. Indeed even in todays modern world, clever marketing people use the magic ratio to lure people in (measure the ratio of the length of a credit card to the height of a credit card for instance).

So my first tip, is to crop pictures/portraits to 1:1.618

Yes I know this violates normal printing standards, but just try it and see But there's more to it than that. First, take a rectangle which obeys the magic ratio, and draw a line from one corner to the opposite adjacent corner. Now draw two different lines, from each of the remaining corners, at 45 degrees until the intersect the other diagonal. This will create two "hotspots" see top left diagram below Our eyes, dont only find the magic ratio crop natually appealing, but we're also naturally drawn to these two points as points of interest. So if we're doing a portrait and can put the subjects eyes in these spots, we'll create a portrait that is naturally appealing to the eye see bottom left diagram

So my second tip is to frame a picture so as to ensure the subjects eyes fall on, or as close to a natural "hotspot" as possible

Back to the Fibonnaci sequence...

The Fibonacci sequence, can be applied to a spiral structure (see The Fibonacci Series - The Series - Fibonacci Spiral In Action) The resulting spiral can be seen in the middle top dragram. The spiral, appears naturally in nature in things like seashells, petals etc. As well as the spiral itself, we can see key intersection points, which again are hotspots which our eyes are drawn to. So by framing a photo where we place eyes close to or on these hotspots, again we create visually appealing portraits (bottom middle picture).

So my third tip is to frame a picture so as to ensure the subjects eyes fall on, or as close to a natural "hotspot" on the fibonacci spiral

Finally, if we superimpose both diagrams over each other, we can see both the spiral and the golden mean share the same hotspot. Hopefully I've already shown that placing a subjects eyes on these hotspots leads to a pleasing portratit. But there's one other thing we can try and do and that is to create a curve in the shot that follows the fibonacci spiral. Jawlines, hair, arms, backs.. can all be used to create the curve. My last shot (bottom right), I have framed the photograph so as the models hair and jaw line run parallel with the spiral.

So my final tip is to try and create a curve in your portraits using hands/jaws/hair that will run parallel with the fibonacci spiral

[JohnC]

If you are using Adobe Lightroom, you can change your crop guide overlays (View menu) to Golden Ratio or Golden Spiral like those above.

[Athena]

If I am not mistaken, there is an action or plug-in out there that will add these (plus a few others) to a layer in PS too. I'll see if I can find it.

edit: It's here. I've played with the free demo part - quite fun. I didn't opt to buy the full plug-in though.

[felix.reichardt]

Ciaran, very interesting to read and thanks for sharing this. I will take my time tonight and study this a bit further. First time I am hearing of it.

Athena: Also thanks to you for sharing the link

Karma to both of you.

[WestSideRailways]

This is some food for thought.....

[WestSideRailways]

Hi there,

Can you help me in getting this action to work

Have installed it in the plugins directory and it does not show up in elements6.

[Johnny Heinonen]

Damn man, I allways thought that you had this artsy "go by the feel" and "what looks good in my book" type of aproach. And now you tell me it is just a geometrical law that you obide. No magic, no nothing.. I'm disappointed..

Nah, I'm just f..king with you, I knew of the fibonacci (I read the Da Vinci Code, and checked into it). I just hope nobody starts to use this systematically (it would kinda loose the point of taking photos).. Keep on shootin'

[ciaran]

Originally Posted by Bill_Clinton

Damn man, I allways thought that you had this artsy "go by the feel" and "what looks good in my book" type of aproach. And now you tell me it is just a geometrical law that you obide. No magic, no nothing.. I'm disappointed..

Nah, I'm just f..king with you, I knew of the fibonacci (I read the Da Vinci Code, and checked into it). I just hope nobody starts to use this systematically (it would kinda loose the point of taking photos).. Keep on shootin'

I think the trick is to know and understand as much about composition and all it's various rules, but then forget it Everyone starts out learning something like the rule of thirds and then religiously frames shots using that rule - usually effective shots. Eventually you get to the point where you frame shots naturally, not really thinking about what rule, but more so just feeling what looks right. But I think this either comes from lots of practice (which is the case with me) or just naturally gifted.

[h8177]

Definitely very interesting read and thanks for the write up. Gonna try the plugins now..