Lesson 41. Experiment with Balance and Tension

Like so many things not directly related to the mechanics of photography, it took me a long time to wrap my brain around the issue of balance, much less the need for it in the first place. But balance is, ultimately, not something we can opt out of. Our photographs will be balanced—statically or dynamically—or they’ll be imbalanced, but the balance in an image will affect how people experience your photograph. It is a key consideration in composing your photographs, so the sooner you pay attention to your own sense of balance and learn to play with it, the better.

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Nikon D800, 200mm, 1/200 @ f/7.1, ...

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