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The homestead...


That bridge.


A night shot with the Fuji XPRO

That Bridge: 28mm f/1

The bridge leading to the homestead?

Quite a nice set! I like all of them.
They are all so different. Good framing
and colours.

Look again. bridge taken with a 500mm lens at F8 from the other side of the harbour.

The fact you aren't standing dead centre of the bridge is distracting to me. The point of the shot, to my eyes, is the symmetry but its thrown off by the perspective.

Matt. K wrote:Look again. bridge taken with a 500mm lens at F8 from the other side of the harbour.

Hmm. Yes, it looks like a long lens shot, but not according to the exif:



Guess this is a result of the adapted lens not talking to the Fuji. I thought you can dial in the adapted lens focal length (haven't tried)

The Nikon lens on a Fuji Xpro via an adaptor. I think you can set some info on the camera but I haven't done that so the exif will be a bit messed up.
Rooz. I get what you are saying but dead center perfect symmetry can be very placid. Perfect visual balance means little or no visual tension. Play around with that concept and I'm sure you'll agree.

What make of tripod did you use for #1 Matt?

Rooz wrote:The fact you aren't standing dead centre of the bridge is distracting to me. The point of the shot, to my eyes, is the symmetry but its thrown off by the perspective.

I have to agree here!

Matt K.
K for KING of visual tension

Rooz wrote:The fact you aren't standing dead centre of the bridge is distracting to me. The point of the shot, to my eyes, is the symmetry but its thrown off by the perspective.

I tend to agree with Chris. In this case, I am not sure where the tension is. This is a photo, augmented by the treatment, where symmetry adds to its beauty.

Chris, (Sirhic)
Benro stratosphere. Took 3 hours to get it up!
Symmetry masters.....I guess it's personal taste when it comes to that particular technique.

Matt. K wrote:Chris, (Sirhic)
Benro stratosphere. Took 3 hours to get it up!
Symmetry masters.....I guess it's personal taste when it comes to that particular technique.

Symmetry masters ? lol hardly. I'm not particularly good at it but I recognize the beauty of it when I see what others see.

I'm not sure what tension this shot causes other than wanting to fix the perspective ! I would ask you...do you think this tension you speak of is of greater value than the symmetry ? To me it looks like its unintentional like you couldn't get the right position cos of some reason, perhaps if you had more of an offset it would be more appealing...But certainly understand that it's personal taste.

I'm not sure what tension this shot causes other than wanting to fix the perspective ! I would ask you...do you think this tension you speak of is of greater value than the symmetry ? To me it looks like its unintentional like you couldn't get the right position cos of some reason, perhaps if you had more of an offset it would be more appealing...But certainly understand that it's personal taste.

I'm not anti symmetry and have often used it.....usually when some other element dominates the image such as texture or colour or strong subject ...as in this image, (not quite symmetrical but you get the idea)..


or when required to produce imagery of a formal style such as in groups of military personell, where the VIPs sit dead center front row and the group is framed to be symmetrical...same number of people each side.

However, in the bridge picture I decided that to make the image symmetrical would reduce it to a mere pattern. The visual tension I am speaking of...perhaps the best analogy is the following. Consider you have 1 frame of film left and a man is about to commit suicide by leaping off a very tall building. You could photograph him just as he leaps...shows he has a long way to fall. Or you could photograph him just as he is about to hit the ground illustrating that death is imminant. Or you could photograph him when he is exactly half way through his fall, which would mean visually he is suspended in space almost weightless. Either of the first 2 options would create more visual tension than the last. Giving equal space to all of the elements in a symmetrical image usually reduces tension and creats a placid image.
Does that make sense to you?

Fantastic explanation. I appreciate you taking the time.

Matt, I also appreciate the explanation. For me, and this is my opinion only, the analogy falls short for two reasons:

1. The hypothetical man, his motives and actions create a context that adds more to the image than just the components of the image.
2. The shot of the bridge depicts the patterns created by the engineering components if the bridge. They are symmetrical because of the engineered design.

This, to me is why symmetry works in this shot and less so in the hypothetical image you mentioned.

Matt, I also appreciate the explanation. For me, and this is my opinion only, the analogy falls short for two reasons:

1. The hypothetical man, his motives and actions create a context that adds more to the image than just the components of the image.
2. The shot of the bridge depicts the patterns created by the engineering components if the bridge. They are symmetrical because of the engineered design.

This, to me is why symmetry works in this shot and less so in the hypothetical image you mentioned.

Thanks for your ideas Patrick. Whilst I slightly agree with you my point is that perfect symmetry is predictable...IE, the moment you see it you no longer need to explore it for other elements....and that placing pictorial elements symmetrically creats an image with little or no 'visual tension', that is...the kind of tension that out of balance elements create. I agree that my analogy was a bit stretched but the point that I was trying to make was that if the figure was shown exactly half way in the fall then there would be an equal visual 'pull' up and down. The figure would lose its power, or weight within the context of the other elements. My personal preference is to rarely attempt to create perfect symmetry unless there is a very strong reason for it. That is not to say I don't appreciate imagery that exploits symmetry well. There is nothing more beautiful than a snowflake. And I understand the tendency for many to attempt to create order out of nature and symmetry is a tool that achieves that. I'm certainly thinking about your comments so thanks for the post.