Repeating Diagonals - and Episode 46 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Am I just repeating myself, or am I necessarily reinforcing good compositional practice?

Way back in the distance of time, somewhere between the Paleozoic and Jurassic eras – or a few weeks into Lockdown as we now refer to it – I talked about the use of diagonals in composition as part of Episode 3 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres.

Having explained it (quite well, I thought) already, I now often make reference to the concept without going into too much detail. I talk more like it's just a given that everyone now knows and understands.

However, recently Sandra left a comment in the Facebook group saying, "I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that using angles in composition has been mentioned in relation to a number of photos and I was wondering could this be covered in greater detail in the podcast? Thanks"

Sandra wasn't watching my podcasts back at Week 3.

And as I thought more about it, I realised 95% or more of the regulars who tune in, submit images, and leave comments, weren't around at the beginning either.

When the podcasts began it was almost exclusively my friends – people I had known for years – who watched them, along with a few local camera club members who knew me from talks I had given.

I remember being very disappointed when numbers started dropping off.

The novelty value was disappearing, and there's only so many evenings friends are going to give up for you if they're not overly interested in your topic of passion. I mean, I have a good friend who's a poet. He's a great mate but I'm not interested in poetry, so if he was doing a 90 minute podcast on it every week I doubt I'd be able to watch more than a couple.

A few months in and I was down to single figures in the number of people watching live, but I had gained 2 or 3 who had discovered the podcasts and were absolutely hooked. These are the people it's really aimed at.

Slowly but steadily more people have found the podcasts. And while some stay for a few weeks then their curiosity is sated and they don't return, others have begun to tell their friends and I'm noticing new names of people joining the Facebook group, tuning into the podcasts and saying hi or submitting an image for Critique.

This means nearly all of those who have joined me in the past 8 months or so, haven't seen all the podcasts where I went in-depth into the various compositional and lighting techniques that are a foundation for good photography.

And even those who did see them may well appreciate a reminder and a bit of reinforcement.

Just because we watched something once, nearly a year ago, doesn't mean we're necessarily going to remember it, and all the implications that follow from it.

So last night I talked in-depth again about why understanding diagonals in composition is such a powerful tool for photographers.

And I think I can now let go of the fear that I'm just repeating myself.

Mind you, I also had a repeat of Episode 21 last night too – when I began the podcast and it turned out my voice was all high and squeaky, as though I'd been sucking helium.

Once again, a Microsoft Update and mucked about with some of my settings and I had to go in and change them, live on air.

I edited most of that out for the YouTube version, which is embedded below.

---

0:00 - Dealing with a high squeeky voice after a Microsoft update...
1:22 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
5:55 - Introduction to the "Rule of Thirds"
11:54 - Introduction to the use of Diagonals in composition
35:35 - Introduction to the Critique Section
37:50 - Critique of images submitted to the Facebook Group, "Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres"
1:24:17 - How gaps end up exaggerated in photography
1:28:16 - Understanding how images are viewed in online photo competitions
1:43:08 - Coming up next week
1:44:38 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Also consider subscribing to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to help me build the numbers.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then do join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres  Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/