rule of thirds

[Darcy]

I was editing this photo of some menuki and the layout to me as I cropped it down was very interesting because it felt cinematic.

 

So I set the ratio to 2.39:1 and cropped it down, then superimposed a rule of thirds overlay. Rule of thirds is used in photography in order to isolate points of interest. One reason why people's snapshots look bad is that they put the focal point right dead center and aesthetically it's never appealing.

 

Both the lines and especially the intersections of the lines should follow natural points of interest. We like to say intersect these lines on the eye on a face portrait, or align parts of the body.

 

I thought this interesting because this little sculpture obeys the rule of thirds in a cinematic layout.

 

Part of why it's appealing.

 

[Brian]

Nicely demonstated and well spotted!

I think only people with a natural eye for art like photographers and people like Ford will spot that easily.

 

Oh...and let me add, when looking at the menuki.

 

 

Seriously!

 

Brian

[Dr Fox]

Darcy

 

The rule of thirds becomes such a second nature, that unless it is deliberately ignored, it is so easy to apply without thinking. I can't say the number of times I have had to close crop, or re-shoot because of the above.

 

Btw super photo.

[christianmalterre]

the "rule of thirds" immediately does "get discarded"...as soon you do have an artist obeying such principles voluntarily...(in art)

in photography it is essential(of course!)-me...(i have to confess...)do not that much care about(as i do not know how to take good shots)...

either way-nice and excellent post!

let´s considder....

LOL!

(Joke!)

Christian

[Justin]

Great menuki and great photo. Who is the artist Darcy? They look a bit Ichinomiya Nagatsune(ish) to me. Thanks for posting.

[Jean]

Very good picture and very nice menuki, Darcy

[Robert Mormile]

Seems to be something especially beautiful about one-third; perhaps related to π. Leonardo da Vinci played around with 3.14 quite a bit… Pi is an irrational number and 1/3 is “off-center”. Our system of counting is based on the number 10 and 3.14 is roughly one-third.

 

Robert

[Pete Klein]

I've tried, repeatedly, to apply this approach to eating pizza but always fail... :|

[Darcy]

Ohhhh someone will have to kantei them . I have some other photos I did recently that can use some kantei.

 

Shooting menuki is kind of interesting, I do a lot of portrait shooting and this above was actually the first time I tried shooting menuki. Shooting swords is highly technical and feels like you're doing physics. Shooting menuki feels like you're shooting humans and making art. I'm going to do more when I have opportunities. I need to refine the technique a bit.

[bubba-san]

Great photography and the shi shi dog menuki ...... wow . james

[Pete Klein]

Darcy -- any pics of the ura?

[Darcy]

They are tigers .

 

Sadly no ura photos at this time. I will try to get some when I have another opportunity to take a crack at these.

[Curran]

I can only say one of the painter influenced schools of Edo.

While the detail level isn't as obsessively high as in some kinko schools, the artist had that strong sense of balance and make the important points extremely strong (the incredibly expressive faces).

 

Cool stuff. You coming over to the Dark Side known as kodogu collectors?

[christianmalterre]

Yes Lord Curran

 

if but he should decide to join the dark side-he had to forget about the rule of thirds!

There´s only the rule of two!

:D

[Pete Klein]

ROFLMAO! Most excellent!

 

Just for reference when studying menuki the backs are the equivalent of the nakago. You can get a lot of information from them.

[John A Stuart]

I think maybe Darcy is reticent about taking pictures of backsides. That was the imp in me, sorry. Yes, great menuki, tiger cubs, but, leopard adult. The head of which has distinctly simian-like features, esp. the ears. Understandable in that some of the exotic species found on kodougu are replicated from paintings/sketches which may in turn be less than accurate. An example is the Jingo elephant. John

[bubba-san]

They are tigers .

 

Sadly no ura photos at this time. I will try to get some when I have another opportunity to take a crack at these.

 

Sorry, I only see out of one eye the other is just a blur , I wear a patch . the spotted one looks like leapard maybe the Japanese call all big felines Tigers ?,never seen a spotted Tiger ?..... an old one eyed swordsmith James

[Brian]

http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions_ind ... nd-leopard

I think the spotted feline was meant to represent the female tiger.

 

Brian

[John A Stuart]

That could explain it. John

[bubba-san]

Interesting , and very beautiful . James

[Darcy]

Yes, on the "leopard confusion." It's an interesting thing when you hear it the first time, and afterwards, scenes like this make a lot more sense because the roles become clarified. What is a confusing mix of leopards and tigers becomes instead a family.

 

The matching menuki is the father with a female cub. She appears to be attacking his tail as she climbs over him. His character is relaxed and indulgent while letting the little girl play. While the mother is quite fierce and snarls as she is reining in the little boy at the back. When placed together he appears to be observing her with maybe a bit of an amused expression.

 

Maybe some kind of commentary on parenthood. The father letting the little girl get away with murder and the mother disciplining the little boys. Notice that the little boys don't seem to be paying her very much attention either. I thought it was very charming.