52 Frames: Week 23: Triangular!

Three’s company or a crowd… 🤷🏻‍♀️  – but in photography, we can use 3 “lines” to make a Triangular Composition – three lines in an image to create either an “actual” triangle shape, like a harsh shadow on the street, or hands raised above ones head, or a “perceived” triangle shape like posing a group of people in your frame, or cutting your frame in half with some diagonal shape (your subject’s limbs placed diagonally in your frame can make great perceived triangles in your frame’s composition). Other ways perceived triangles can be utilized in your composition could include the way a lamp casts light onto your subject, or a leading line taking you into the frame.

This challenge is NOT a request to find a triangle toy, or a triangular OBJECT and take a photo of it. This is a compositional challenge, as its name implies: Triangular COMPOSITION. Just like for the Rule of Thirds challenge, for example, wasn’t a request to go out and find tic-tac-toe boards!

Triangular composition is one of those “guidelines” in photography composition, that can enhance interest in your frame, if or when you can incorporate it. The purpose of this challenge is to first train yourself to SEE it. Once you understand where triangles take form in composition, you can then craft your own frame utilizing one of these techniques.

you can achieve triangular composition in many ways: by placing your subject’s hand on their ear, by catching the harsh mid-day shadow on a street, by capturing a long, straight road, that disappears in the distance.

This challenge is not (necessarily) referring to the “golden triangle”, the focus is more on these scenarios where you can identify regular ol’ triangles in your composition.

Be creative : let’s not be obtuse  in looking for the right 📐angle. We’re all equilaterally🔺capable of acutely 🚩 good photos.