According to the Royal Spanish Academy (SAR), balance is the state of a body when conflicting forces acting within it compensate by destroying themselves.
In other words, can we make sure that something is balanced when it is compensated, stabilized, equalized, stays at 0, does not fall or how do you want to interpret it ?. So far, isn’t it? Now, how do we translate balance on a visual level?, how do I know if something is balanced in an image ?, how do we apply it to our compositions?Is it necessary that there is always balance in them or can we play with the imbalance?
- In photography (and photography says painting.
- Graphic.
- Audiovisual.
- Advertising.
- Architecture.
- Etc.
- ) we talk about balance through the relationship of the elements that appear in the scene and their visual weight.
- What is visual weight? Visual weight is the degree of attraction of the element in question.
- Which is determined by the contrast of light that is established between the different elements that make up it.
- That is.
- A large star attracts our gaze more than a smaller one.
- Or the Red color attracts us more than the celestial blue.
- Also.
- In any balance.
- The direction in which the elements move comes into play.
- Either literally or simply subjectively.
We’ve already moved a little bit on the features that an article must have to have more or less visual weight or a level of attraction, let’s take a closer look at them:
Color: According to color theory, colors are divided according to different characteristics, each of which also has the peculiarity of having a visual weight less than or greater than its opposite.
Size: The larger the size, the more the visual weight of the object will also increase.
Framing situation: The elements at the top of the frame are perceived as heavier, due to the so-called ‘psychological weight’, this weight is explained by the unconscious way in which we relate to the objects around us through our perception of gravity. In other words, since we perceive objects with gravity, we always tend to understand them by their attraction to the earth. In addition, by the way we read, we explain that the elements to the right of the frame have more psychological effects. Weight. We have already pointed out that the way we read images is the same as the way we read text; from left to right.
Contrast: Everything you contrast by differentiating from the rest has more visual weight as it catches our attention Imagine a scene with lots of yellow screws to which we add an orange ball?What do you think stands out most?
Texture: A rough texture comes off more with the naked eye than a smooth surface, for example.
Light on dark: Light elements on a dark background weigh more than dark elements on a light background.
Subjective feeling: Depending on how it affects the observer the most, their weight increases or decreases from another of greater or lesser impact.
Isolation: An isolated figure stands out more than a group of shapes
Distance: An element placed in the distance is perceived with more weight than a nearby element.
You should consider when analyzing the visual weight of scene elements, as the characteristics of the elements are combined with each other.
Not only are we contemplating the visual weight of a scene, but where it is projected, as this directionality of the elements gives us, like weight, a more or less large impact on the balance of the scene.
Shape: The shape of objects is projected through their lines, different directions, and forces.
Theme: If we recognize the object in question, in many cases we can discover its directionality simply by its shape, for example, a face, a plane, a car, etc.
Movement: Beyond literal movement, we can generate a sense of movement depending on where we place the weight of the image, think, for example, of the law of the gaze in which we leave the space in the direction in which the gaze of our protagonist. is directed, or in negative space.
It also remembers how we read and how it affects us in the way we perceive images and, therefore, in the way we compose (left-to-right compositions are more natural for us).
So far we have seen that all elements of the scene have more or less weight, depending on the level of visual attraction they generate, but beyond the weight of the elements of the scene and directionality, how to achieve balance in an image?
Just as a balance is balanced when the weight on both sides of the center axis is the same, we have already commented in the introduction that the balance is based on the compensation of forces so that the result of it is 0, compensated or stabilized There are mainly three ways to compose according to the balance:
Static or symmetrical compositions: They are those that place the visual weights on each side of the central axis (imaginary) in such a way that both sides attract the gaze equally, thus expressing calm, balance and rest (and, eye, boredom in some cases?)
Dynamic or asymmetrical: when we use different visual weights on both sides of the frame we say that it is asymmetrical, the result are dynamic and vital compositions.
Unbalanced compositions: If all weight is placed on one side of the shaft, it is said that we are facing an unbalanced or extremely unstable composition.
After the myriad of concepts we leave a few lines up, the most important thing is that you act instinctively, your eyes know perfectly well what weighs more or less, why do we work with our own human perceptions?Try to avoid excessively symmetrical (reflect) compositions and seek balance in more dynamic compositions. For example, the third-party rule is a more dynamic composition type that is also very balanced, but not only. Are the rules to break, and so are the balance?You can convey many feelings with unbalanced images: overflow, chaos, etc.
I recommend that with a simple sheet of DINA4 paper with a line in the middle and some objects of different shapes and colors, you try different positions of objects in the plane and see for yourself in a simple way, the weights, directions and balance of the elements. Once you’ve made it clear, in the real world, will you have many more distractions but also many more emotions?
I hope this has been helpful to you and that you can keep some of the concepts to enrich your images. Oh, what if you think someone could benefit from the article, cheer up and share?Thank you very much and look so soon.