Great mood and tones in this image. I like it a lot. Took me a while to notice the child in the background, but that makes it even better.

so nice capture ...

I like it. It captures your attention and in some ways it is an outstanding image. But with the woman dead center the composition is not as good as it could be. I think you would improve it a great deal if you cropped a little off of the right hand side to move her out of the center of the frame.

I really like this one,I think the child in the back following really adds to this image.

I dont agree with a previous comment. There is nothing about this picture that I dont like. I could try to justify why. For instance, saying that the composition is dynamic because the background is not uniform but it is not needed. Lets face it. It is simply a marvelous image... I dont know if everybody realize it but, the fact that it is a selfportrait makes it an incredibly good work (can I join your fan club ;-)).

Now, I'll go and see what else you have in your PF. Alejandro

Oh, I did not recognize your name first. Do you have any regular, lets not say bad, picture?

Love it. I would do it this way if i were to do it. You might like the one you did better its all about what you like.

Midhun that is exactly how I would have cropped it. But to each their own.

I know this is not a democracy... anyway, FWIW, I still prefer the original (by far)

.. I love it...

The very 5 photos in ur portfolio shows ur skillset... really gr8 U R CREATIVE! ur crop is perfect it gives more depth and explains it more

the crop loses space, room, depth...

bella!!!! misteriosa e creativa....complimenti

love it

Carina, I too would have cropped it on the right. But I would not have ended up with the stunningly emotive composition that you have made. This is one of those times where the Friendly Suggestion of Thirds has been successfully ignored. One millimeter more of crop would have been too much.

yes.

My gut reaction also was to crop the right, but after more careful consideration, I agree with Andre that this image would suffer for it. Perhaps the real lesson of the "friendly suggestion of thirds" (I like that) is that it's easier to make a pleasing composition if your subject is off-center than if it is centered. That this photo succeeds so well with a centered subject is a testament to how well all the various elements work together.

For the benefit of those not familiar with the "rule" of thirds, it works more or less as follows: If you divide the frame into thirds vertically (with two straight lines) and horizontally (with another two lines), your four lines will intersect at four points. Those four points are excellent places to consider putting the subject and focal point of your photograph.

Beatiful picture, Carina. And an interesting row of comments it has generated! Thanks for sharing.

Love your work

I love it, just the position of your body as a frame for the child is great. Congrats.

Poetic.

Looks like small aperature/low light combination. Was it a struggle to keep Ariel still?

The theme is lovely but I must agree with Larry. This composition would have been way too stronger if she was not too centered.

thanks everybody , i also think that it could be better if there would be some more distance between the two bodies, but at the moment of the shot i had no control of what was happening behind me , it was very lucky that ariel opened her arms :) i did not tell her what to do , just more or less at what distance behind me i wanted her to stay ... for this and all my other self portraits i use a remote

best regards, Carina

Clearly to crop or not to crop this photo is a matter of opinion. I've visited the portfolios of people who are calling for a crop, and there's no denying that they all know how to compose a picture. Midhun's crop is pretty much what I would have done myself. It creates a very different picture, still quite lovely and with a composition that feels somehow more comfortable (but perhaps only because centered subjects make me UNcomfortable). What I think is lost in cropping is the way the curve of Carina's body follows the boundary of the large dark area on the right. I wouldn't crop less than Midhun did, though--a LITTLE off-center is probably the worst place for a subject.

As the image stands, I think it has a very cinematic feel--I've noticed lately that subjects are often centered in movies. This may be just to avoid problems when the film is "formatted to fit your TV," but the tradition may subconsciously help this photo. For whatever reason, I still think it's remarkable that this photo works so well with the subject centered--I can't remember the last time I dared to put a subject there myself.

The rule of thirds is not just some arbitrary idea someone dreamed up. Since the time of the ancient greeks artists have been using it. Images composed using it are simply more pleasing to the human brain than images that are not.

Rules may be made to be broken. But honestly its a very very rare image that succeeds in the breaking. I love certain aspects of this image but the arrangement does not do it justice. No matter how lovely the model or how attractive the pose, a dead centered model is poor composition and detracts from the image.

The Side Show, by Georges Seurat

Larry: Here are a couple of famous Seurat paintings with centered subjects. These may not be the best counterexamples to the rule of thirds--I actually dislike these paintings (and therefore found them memorable) in larger part because the subjects are dead center--but they do illustrate that it's possible to create long-lived visual art with a centered subject.

Models, by Georges Seurat

Here's the second Seurat painting.

I will readily admit that centered subjects make me uncomfortable. What I don't know is whether that's because I've been taught the rule of thirds and have learned to react against centered subjects, or because of some instinctual preference (shared with all humanity) for off-center subjects. Seurat reportedly worked extremely carefully on the compositions of his paintings, and they have survived the test of time. Although I personally dislike the compositions of these two paintings, it would be presumptuous of me to tell Seurat he could improve them by moving his subjects (or cropping).

I will agree with you that I am not real wild about either one of those paintings. And I notice that in one of them paintings the central figure is counterbalanced by two other figures. Figures that incidentally look to be about 1/3 of the way in from the sides.

I am sure that there are works of art that violate every rule in the book. But they are definately in the minority. And just because a famous name is associated with it does not make it good. Honestly I can't think of a single example of a painting (or a photograph) that appeals to me in which the artist deliberately violated compositional rules. But hey like the Navy says, whatever floats your own individual boat. If we all liked the same thing what would we argue about?

About a week ago I heard a mathematician on radio talking about symmetry and oddly enough he addressed this very subject. Its been fairly well established that a preference for the rule of thirds is more than just something you are taught. Its hard wired into us.

rules for nothing, or you feel the mood or you dont feel it....

What would we argue about, indeed? Particularly since we both agree on the Seurat paintings (though for what it's worth, I wasn't just calling on his name in defense of these paintings; the many decades of art critique the paintings have survived are more significant than his name). We very nearly agree on the rule of thirds, too: I'd say it's easier to make a pleasing composition if you follow the rule than if you break it, you'd say (if I may put words in your mouth) that it's almost impossible to make a pleasing composition if you break the rule.

We appear to disagree on this particular photo. This one floats my boat as-is, and I think I find it particularly remarkable because it successfully violates the rule (more successfully than Seurat's paintings--in my opinion).

Se arte 蠲iuscire a trasmettere emozioni allora in qualche modo la fotografia 蠡rte e certamente lo 蠱uesto scatto. Pervaso di una sottile ambiguit࠴utta femminile. La curiositࠩnvece 蠭aschile: posso sapere come 蠳tato realizzato?

only a guideline for people that do not have the talent of Carina... Yes, I know, the rule of thirds is a simplification of the golden ratio which has been used (a lot of times without knowing it) since ancient times. Yes, it makes images pleasing. It does not mean that every element has to conform with it, or that the ratio can only be related to the total image. I would bet that this image conforms to it in several places: Ultimativelly, the human body has already those proportions... So, why bother? Specially when it is a portrait. Even more if the photographer has the obvious talent of Carina.

The more I see this image, the more I like it... the more I read this discussion about the rule of thirds, the more bohring it becomes.

From the comments i see that few people like the crop and few like the other. One of the reasons i tried the crop is not the rule of thirds perse. My idea was to get more attention to the kid and the lady. I felt in the original, the attention was more on Carina and her relation to nature.

Abbey Road

Following on from 'rule of thirds', what rule is used in this caption?

Personally I've never bothered with any rule of anything where composition is concerned. I just know from life experience what looks good and what doesn't.

If you are a programmer of sorts dealing with mechatronics and artificial intelligence for smart cameras I guess such concepts could be useful to know. But for me it's of no use whatsoever. Visual comfort and ways of achieving it comes natural to me.

Incidentally, have you seen that new camera that Konica Minolta in collaboration with Sony is developing?

Early reports indicate that it will have a 'composition' mode function as part of its rich feature set.

I didn't coin the phrase "rule of thirds" so we can call it the "guidelines of thirds" if you want. I am perfectly okay with that. And if there was any way those guidelines were followed in this image, well I certainly don't see it. The proportions of the human body have little to nothing to do with the placement of that body in a photograph.

You ask why bother with composition. Its simple. You bother with composition because your images will be inferior if you don't.

If I were Carina I would take a look at the portfolio's of the various posters and form her own opinion as to whether she should listen to them. Who knows maybe she will decide she should ignore us all.

I don't want to keep debating this subject so I am not going to. Nobody is going to change anyones mind anyway.

This is very special, and what fortune to have the clarity of the woman and foreground, and the misty memory of girlhood behind her. and also the path ahead for the girl to walk into . . . :)sweet . . .
I thought you might like to see this one with another special connection I liked of mother-child.
Thank you.

thanks Mel for the link, i will have a look :)

Wonderful shoot!! Great the atmosphere....I would like keep the front person a little bit right and left more space on her left...

Hhhmm, I think that if you are consciously composing to set of rules or guidelines then you will take the same picture over and over again. The aim is surely to create balance?...

What I like about this, over and beyond the great tonality (a hint of warmth added in PPing), is that the postures of the figures reflect the shapes of teh landscape around them. They have become a part of the landscape.

Also, I would say that this is far from a 'simple' composition in so far as there is a clear sense of depth and layering together with tonal graduation across the frame from right to left.

What I particularly enjoy in your photgraphy is your ability to use space within the frame...many of your pictures have that great 'looseness' which looks simple to achieve, but is in fact bloody difficult. (I am constantly seeing it in others work, but not in my own).

Finally, there is a sense of spontaneity to your daughters movements in the background. An element of chance here I guess, but I like how she fills the crook in you body and further how her arms reflect the shape of that tree behind. She is free and you appear not to be. ;-)

Best wishes- Andy

The bushes on both sides form a "tunnel" that envelops the woman. The woman seems to have "emerged" from the child - totally beautiful!

...thank goodness, to every rule. The reason that this photo is able to "break the rule-of-thirds" is BECAUSE of what makes up the composition. To me, the alluring aspect of this shot is the mysterious haggard trail, winding downhill to an end that we can only imagine. There is a feeling of careening down a difficult-to-negotiate path....and it only feels right, placed in the middle of the shot. I'm probably not explaining my thoughts very well, but with all of the elements of this photo coming together, I can honestly say that I never even noticed the breach of "the rule".

I am so happy that I have come across this website. I am familiar with Carina's work, and have long considered this particular shot, My Favorite Photo. It has everything.... and it is dripping in atmosphere, mood, and intrigue. Perhaps a simplistic overview, but so often I feel that overanalysis is OVERrated. This shot pleases my eyes, my heart, and my imagination. ~Brad

Holy moly---I haven't seen so much talk about rules since I was in school. I think this is a great self portrait and I agree with the comment about the bodies working with the background---very true. FOR ME, the subject needs to be centered in this case. . .especially since there is a light and dark contrast going on. It's almost like ying and yang. It looks as though the innocent child dressed in light colors is coming from "the light". She is entering the stage of her life where she will test herself and bound carelessly toward "the dark side". . .whereas the subject (dressed in dark colors) has been there and now turns her back on it. It's a lucky thing that their bodies work together in their poses---almost as if the mother is surrounding the child and attempting to block her from entering the darkness. The classic mother and child relationship. And a dry creek bed runs through it. . . :)

hello Bradley ... !

Sarah, interesting story.. :)

Can't do without superlatives here - the most poetic composition in your portfolio so far and the best self-portrait I have seen :)

My best Regards...

I like this shot!

absolutely beautiful and finely crafted work. a rare treat.

one of my all time favorites!!

The person is NOT the centre point - that is why this works. The child who 'fits' into the womans womb (it's what she is looking at after all) is the key to this picture. This make the woman and child one - but also off balance. The woman is struggling to stand up with the weight of the child and as such she also takes up the space on the right - falling space if you will - the dark side.

Close but no cigar. I bet you wanted to stand a bit to the left with a longer lens. I know I would have!