What are the rules of composition?

Last season some of the new members asked about the composition rules to which judges often referred. Here are the main ones.

1. Don't cut your picture in half horozontally or verticallyby having a line going through the centre of the picture. The most comment culprit is the horizon - try to have more picture below the horizon than above or vice versa.
2. Have a focal point but don't let it be in the centre of the picture. The ideal position is on a golden third. Imagine having a noughts and crosses frame over your picture and where the lines cross are the golden thirds.
3. Have an odd number of objects in your picture rather than an even number - 3 swans instead of 2 or 4, 5 flowers rather than 4 or 6.
4. It's good to have a lead in to a picture and ideally it should lead in from left to right as that is the way we read.

However, remember that rules are meant to be broken and some excellent pictures are produced even when breaking these rules.

What should I name my files when I'm entering them in the projected image competitions?

The file should be named Title by Author.jpg for example: Fantastic Flowers by Dave Martin.jpg

What size should my images be when I'm entering them in a projected image competition?

The maximum image size is 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high, so ideally your image should be either exactly 1024 pixels wide and up to 768 pixels high or, up to 1024 pixels wide by exactly 768 pixels high. If you're not sure how to resize your image, don't worry! The projector will resize your image but there might be some loss of quality.

What colour space should my images be saved in when I'm entering them in a projected image competition?

The colour space of the image should be sRGB. Images using other colour spaces may not have the colours you intended, however, if you're not sure how to set this up there's some useful advice on Harrow Camera Club's website - see below.

 For more advice on preparing your image for digital projection take a look at:

http://www.harrowcamera.netfirms.com/digital book/index.htm