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Rule of Odds

Lesson 46 from: FAST CLASS: Fundamentals of Photography

John Greengo

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Lesson Info

46. Rule of Odds

Next Lesson: Visual Drama

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1

Photographic Characteristics

06:36
2

Camera Types

02:53
3

Shutter System

08:51
4

Shutter Speed Basics

10:06
5

Camera Settings Overview

16:02
6

Camera Settings - Details

06:05
7

Sensor Size: Basics

16:26
8

Focal Length

11:26

Lesson Info

Rule of Odds

all right, here's a new one for my classes that I haven't talked about before. It's one that has been talked about because when I do talk about composition, I do my research and I go out and I see what other people say about composition, and this is one that I don't agree with. But I will tell you about it anyway. It's just good to be aware of. I think there are some things to talk about and think about when it comes down to the rule of odds. And this states that images air just better when you have an odd number of subjects in there. So let's kind of explore how this may or may not work. So if you have a solitary subject, I think that could make for a really strong photograph, because it's very clear what your subject is, what's going on, and you get a good, nice, close up view of that subject. And so for people, for animals, this works out really well now, The next step, I guess, is if you can't have one, then you have three. Now, little secret note Here three is my favorite number. ...

I love three threes, a great number. And so it's. It's a nice small grouping that you can easily understand. It's not too big a group. You're not wondering how many. You just immediately pick it up, and it's a small little group that we can all identify with. And so I think images with three subjects are very strong and soas faras, the rule of odds goes, yes, I completely agree that three subjects in a frame can be very interesting. And there's a lot of fun that you can have with three subjects in a frame because there's a lot of ways you can line them up and play with them. So I think that saw this one in one of the quizzes before. And so three subjects. Yeah, that's a nice, playful number that can do a lot of things with. It may be my favorite shot with 33 subjects in it right there. All right. Three is just a great way. There's a lot of things that you can do with it. All right? So I'm all for three. I love three. That's good. I really dio Okay. Well, what about this? I took this early in the morning, and I like this shot and I think a lot of people I showed it to a They really like that shot. It's kind of a cute shot and perfect as in it as a test example here. Scientific Test Example. Now I did not have to Photoshopped this one of the Cubs got up and left. So tell me, is this a better photograph than the one with four in it? If the rule of odds was true, three is better than four. Well, then it should be better. But that big empty spot just seems to me a whole lot better when it's filled with four there. And so I don't believe any particular number is better than another number. But there are things that are different about one versus two. When you have two, you'll have a relationship potentially between the two people will be looking at. One will commit. The other are these friendly. Are they not friendly together? Mom and cub? Okay, there's a nice relationship that's going on. You ever seen penguins hold hands before? All right, so there's a nice thing about two. She would this be better with the 3rd 1 I'm sorry. I think three would be a crowd in this couple here. I think two works perfectly good. I think to is a great number to have in a shot. And so there's lots of examples were having to works really well in a shot. And so that's why I don't believe in the rule of odds. I think one's good. I think two is good. I think three is good. I think four could be good. There's lots of different examples, but there is a different type of thing that's going on when you have 1 to 2 or you be unfair to the two. Can you have four and have it be good? Absolutely. It's still a reasonable number. With four. You can have symmetry, so there is that you can work with. And so that's a good element that you can add into having for. It's still a small enough group that you can easily kind of keep track of what's going on now. What about five? Well, you can have five as well. Five gets to be a little bit more. Six gets to be a bit more. At a certain point, you start losing count, but 12345 And then it starts just becoming a larger group, depending on how long you're studying that particular subject there, and then it just starts becoming a pattern onto itself. And so each number has its own little benefit. But I'm sorry I'm not buying into the three is better than four or three is better than two. They each have their own good thing, and I think you'll find that whatever works just it works for other reasons. There's other things going on that's compelling, that photograph to be better and so you can shoot that tight shot and get that single animal. You can have two shots and have that nice relationship. Or you can start having a very easily used small group or a larger group, or is larger. Group is you wanna have and it really doesn't matter. In some cases, it's it's gonna be a good shot if it's a good shot. For other reasons.

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