A Little More on Tangents on Off the Wall Friday

 So last week, I introduced tangents in composition.  They are basically where two lines touch in an annoying visual way.  The reason, I think this is so important is so many times we create a composition that feels almost right butttttttttt not quite.  We then start deconstructing the whole composition to find the problem.  A lot of times, it's simply that the composition contains tangent lines and it's throwing off your eye.   

In a search online I found some befores and afters.

Before

After

Notice the before feels all squished together.   The line of the pan becomes very important taking the viewer's eye from the real focal point - the apples.  In the After, there is now room to breathe between the elements in the composition.  The line of the pan fades a bit and the apples take their rightful spot as the focal point.  All that with just a slight adjustment.  Cool right?!

The other thing to notice here is that it's not just the elements of the composition - the pan, the cup, the apples.  It's also the negative space around them.  Want to see the negative space?  Squint your eyes a bit and look at the photos.  Now objects simply become shapes in the foreground and the negative space is the field they exist in.  Without the tangents, the negative space stays connected and flows from one area of the composition to another.  

Who knew there was so much interest in a frying pan, a mug, and some apples?!  

One more - just to show you how much better it is without the tangents...

What I like about this example is that you KNOW the after is better but you just can't put your finger on why...it's the tangents!  

I was just thinking, after learning about tangents, it just gives me another thing to worry about when making a composition!  #somylife!!

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