I understood this exercise completely when I read it through and looked at the examples, but applying it to my own work brought me to a bit of a stand still. I’m not sure why I couldn’t ‘see’ the balance in my own work, but I think what I have shown below is almost correct, or at least I hope it is!
The examples in my course content showed pictures that explained how placing the subjects carefully created a balance between them. Two symmetrically placed windows at either side of the frame meant that the equal size and weight at either end balance the equilibrium of the photograph. A larger object placed towards the centre would balance a smaller subject at the edge of the frame.
I hope my own examples explain this in a much clearer way, although I’m not sure I’ve got it entirely right. It’s hard to judge your own work, especially images that have a lot of detail and elements in them. Photos with clear and precise subjects are easier to find the balance in them. The following photographs I chose at random to challenge myself to find the balance regardless of how simple the image was. Please click on the images to see a larger version with the extra details I have added.
These first two pictures share a similar balance in that the largest focal areas lay on the right towards the centre, and the smaller to the right. The balance can be seen in the diagram of the scales. The first shot has a definite diagonal line running through the it that really emphasises the link between the two focal points, even though one is actually just a square of the background, but the line through the centre of the picture draws your eye right to this background point and back to the front again. The second photo does not have this visual line running through it, so does not show the balance of the image in such a dramatic way, but the large square area of field behind the fence balances the iron roller in the foreground. Even though there is only one main subject in both shots, the areas of background sort of become a secondary focal point to help balance the weight of the image.
This photo was by far the easiest to judge the balance as the stain glass windows are symmetrical to each other and placed centrally. Also there was nothing else in the picture to help confuse the eye. The scales below show the balance in this shot.
The next two pictures are similar in balance to the above examples, just the larger elements are on the opposite sides of the scales, or they are at a diagonal.
The last picture I chose was the hardest one for me to find the balance in. I could see what was happening in the shot, but I was finding it very difficult to express it because of the angle and the placement of the subject within its background. In the end I managed to show what I think is the main balancing elements, but I’m still at a loss as how to draw this onto a set of scales correctly. I’ve attempted it, but I’m not confident with my answer.
I think that the foreground of this picture is the larger of the two weights to its scales, and it almost has a diagonal focus towards my dog Clancy in the middle ground, who is the slightly smaller weight. With this in mind I think the scales should look something like this:
It’s similar to the first shots, but the line of sight is from the foreground to background, which makes it much hard to distinguish where the balancing weights of the photo are. I like this photo because it looks naturally balanced, but I found it very difficult to explain why!
It is definitely much easier to distinguish balance with a picture that is more simplistic in composition, but even images that are not symmetrical can be balanced if positioned adequately. I seem to have a natural eye for this kind of balance, but struggle to be able to explain it at the moment. I need to look at my composition much more critically before I am able to explain simply why certain shots are more balanced than others. Sometimes the reason is obscured by other factors in the photograph that are less important than I first thought.
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