34 thoughts on “Does an OFF CENTER composition have balance?”

  1. bulldog

    The off center is what makes it balanced.. to me the photo is almost perfect.. you have your subject towards the side where a persons eye will gravitate to, without it being the main subject and the rest loosing interest… this off center makes the eye roam to take in the surrounding beauty that was captured as well, the reflections, the colours even the in focus grass on the edge catches the eye… to me… Great photo…

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  2. Tammy

    This is perfectly balanced…between the heron and his reflection and all of the other reflections it makes for one heck of an image! This one is frame deserving!

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    1. PC PHOTO Post author

      Actually what you said / saw makes perfect sense to me, the magnitude of the cypress tree reflection is the part I liked best about this one! 🙂

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  9. ivorphotography

    Fab photo. We had a blue heron make it across the pond and it took up residence near where I lived many moons ago, when I was but a lad. We kept it secret so the ‘twitchers’ didn’t descend. Beautiful bird, beautiful shot.

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  11. munchow

    The off-centred composition is what makes this photo stand out. Otherwise it would have been rather boring. It’s balance for a number of reasons. The heron is looking towards the empty space to the left, which adds visual weight to that side. In addition the few straws all the way to the left helps balancing the picture. All in all makes for a balanced and beautiful composition.

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    1. PC PHOTO Post author

      Your words expressed the feeling I had the moment I pushed the shutter button. I had considered cropping the grass on the left side and when I tried it the whole scene looked unbalanced – glad I went with the original! Thank you for taking time to truly look at and describe this photo!

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  13. Linda

    Patty, where do you live to get such lovely photos? Looks like Florida? But what do I know. Anyway, this and your earlier photos are so interesting, with the flora and fauna.

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  14. elmediat

    A very effective composition. I would consider positive & negative space.
    If you imagine a straight line from the upper left hand corner to the lower right , left segment of image is negative space and the right segment ( with the heron) is positive.
    Now imagine a perpendicular line from the centre of your first imagined line. This line will connect to the upper right hand corner of the image. The point where the two lines meet is where the eye rests. The eye follows this perpendicular line into the positive space. The line crosses the bird’s head. The angle following very closely the angle of the bird’s dipped head.
    That makes the image well balanced and effective. 🙂

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    1. PC PHOTO Post author

      Thank you for taking the time to give such a thorough comment! I struggle with negative space and seem to have captured it without trying 🙂

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