Floating Rock, Yachats, Oregon
Dead Center. A colleague of mine was given this nickname in college because she loved symmetrical compositions. The main subject always in dead center. I dedicate this image to her.
I am always teaching and preaching the Rule of Thirds and the Golden Mean. If my students learn nothing else about composition, they better know understand those. So why do I occasionally not use them? Because it works! When deviating from a tried and true technique, such as the Rule of Thirds, there better be a reason for it. In this image, there is. The outcropping rock on each side of center appear to point to the center rock and then the water coming forward breaks up the composition enough to add interest and direction. The edge of the water in the foreground give a defining edge that completes a circular composition, giving the viewers eye a place to go, preventing it from stagnating in the center of the image as so many dead center compositions do.
I love off center compositions that maintain a visual balance, however it is good to break it up once in a while and do something different. Just make sure there is a reason for it and that it works visually. Like I tell my students, “Rules were meant to be broken, but you better have a reason for it!”
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