**** Hello, this is Rick Allen. Welcome to another podcast in the series on “Elements of Design.”  Today’s topic will be on Visual Balance. 

Those of you who know me, also know that I have had the great privilege of working with individuals whose job it is to visually understand how the mind assesses its environment, and how it will react to that input.   One set of colleagues are scientists, who can mathematically assess an image, and determine where, for example, a company’s brand might best be located in order to have the most significant effect on a viewer.  An entirely different set of colleagues are artists and photographers, who - although highly trained in their own craft - tend to operate more on an instinctive or intuitive level.  So while the scientific specialty of visual attention modeling may be relatively new, artists have been interested in composition and elements of design for literally thousands of years.

**** Closer to home and to photography, the concept of visual balance is fundamental to composition.  Visual balance can be defined as the resolution of tension arising from opposing graphical elements, so as to provide a sense of equilibrium or aesthetic outcome. 

For the purposes of this podcast, we will consider only two forms of balance: one that is symmetrical and one that is not.  But before we get into the meat of the discussion, we’re going to let Aidan and his brother Callum teach us about balance.

**** In this first photo, Aidan is playing on a rocketship see-saw toy at the park.  When he gets on the toy, of course, it is fully upright. 

**** Aidan knows if he shifts his weight forward, then the rocketship will rock back and forth, and the more he shifts his weight, the more the toy will gyrate.

**** Aidan doesn’t inspect the equipment to know that the toy is secured to the ground. He only knows that the upper part of his body moves more than his legs and feet.

**** This is a good example of asymmetrical toy design, where the center of balance is not at the center of the toy.

**** Imagine for a moment, if the center of balance for the coil were at the center of the toy or worse yet the center of gravity of the child on the toy.  Aidan would then find it very difficult to set the toy into motion, and he would probably not play on this piece of park equipment very often - maybe only once.

**** Aidan and his brother Callum also have a rope chair, suspended off the back deck.  If one person sits in it, you can spin around and perhaps with a little effort, sway back and forth. 

**** Callum sits in the chair before getting his brother to hang off the side.  Because Aidan’s weight is more than the combined mass of his brother and the chair, gravity shifts Aidan to the center line and Callum off center, something he clearly enjoys. 

**** If Aidan wants to get his brother to laugh even more, he must extend his body - hence a portion of his weight -further away from the center line.

**** I pose a question to you.  How is it that children understand the mechanics of lever arms and balance points?  The answer is that there is an almost instinctive level of understanding of how balance works.  We learn these principles even before we walk. 
 
How does this relate to photography??

**** Well, even though we may speak of balance of composition in a picture, we instinctively use language drawn from our physical world: gravity, weight, and scale, precisely because our minds respond to balance in ways similar to the laws of mechanics. 

**** This is an image which clearly denotes calm.

**** So I knew that centering the horizon line along the vertical would form a 50:50 or balance would make a preferred composition.

One needs to be careful with such compositions, because if there is an imbalance of elements from side to side, the mind may see a need to correct this.  Whether we are talking about elements of tone, color, or shapes, the mind’s intention is to find a visual center of balance.

**** Take this image for example.  I wanted to create a symmetrical design, because that is clearly the intention of the architect and the horticulturalists.  But I could not get high enough to both maintain perfect symmetry as well as see the reflections of the lights in the center reflecting pond, so I moved slightly off center.  But the mind instantly knows there is something not quite right, and the composition fails.   

**** Asymmetrical balance uses shapes and other design elements in an  unequal manner, so as to provide some tension in the image.  Back to the image of String Lake.  Clearly, I was not going to be able to make this image work in a purely symmetrical manner.  So I chose to create an imbalance comprising one small triangle on the left with a larger one on the right.  Similarly, I needed to create a vertical asymmetry as well.  I couldn’t place elements into the sky, but I could find a branch that also had a triangular shape and place it into the foreground.  And indeed, anyone who would have seen me on this shot would have laughed as I madly ran around the shore of this lake looking for some kind of branch I thought would work.  And you would have laughed even harder as I ran out into the lake to position it, praying to the gods to settle the water down, only to find out that it didn’t work in the viewfinder.  So I had to run out into the water again and reposition the branch.  Eventually, the water did settle down, and I got my shot.

**** Here is another example where I wanted to simultaneously show some sense of tension, but in a symmetrically balanced manner.  Dan is leaning forward in the image, apparent from the placement of his feet relative to his body. 

**** The majority of the composition is carefully and symmetrically balanced. 

**** The strobe was also carefully positioned behind his feet in order to create a perfect symmetry of reflection off the walls of the elevator.  The success of this image is dependent upon how symmetrically balanced the viewer sees the composition.

But these are just suggestions for how to achieve visual balance.  The purpose of introducing the concept is that these principles work particularly well in certain circumstances.  But alas, most of the world doesn’t so easily allow for such strict placement or interpretation.   Even more to the point, it is hardly the intention of many photographers to create entire portfolios only denoting calmness or harmony.  Artistic expression frequently pushes the viewer to unresolved tension. 

**** Consider how tension works in this unbalanced composition.  Aidan is about to show his lack of mastery of mechanics.  He started out well on the far end of this log, precariously balanced over a rock.  But depending upon his sense of balance, the log could instantly flip over.  No one has to tell us what to look out for. We instinctively know there is potential for imbalance here, and indeed that is probably why Aidan chose this log to walk on.

Interest in any image is often directly proportion to the amount of work the viewer expends in understanding the picture.  If the balance is too perfect, the composition may be perceived as static or worse.  In the absence of balance, the mind tries to compensate for any obvious asymmetry, thus creating visual tension, which can itself make a picture more dynamic. 

As I said in my last podcast, some of the most interesting photos are far from technically perfect.  As photographers and retouchers, our results manifest with more interest when we understand when and where to use balance and when and where not.
 
This ends another podcast.  I hope you will comment on what you like and didn’t like using the Comment button on the top menu bar.  I also invite you to Submit an image for review, either to show off your own skills, to challenge any of my thoughts, or to ask for suggestions.Thanks for listening, and until we speak again, this is Rick Allen.

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