Breaking the rules

I like rules. Miss C needs them. She's only six and so there's a lot of stuff she hasn't quite got a handle on yet, so until she's ready she likes the rule about always holding Mum or Dad's hand when crossing a road. She's playing it safe, and I'm glad.  Of course, she's going to grow out of that rule pretty soon, and it's the same with photography.

We've got rules like the rule of thirds, the one about keeping your horizon horizontal, and keeping the eyes in sharp focus. No-one is going to be punished if you break these rules, they're more like guidelines - ways to play it safe, and there are times when its good to stop playing safe, to break the rules and come up with something special. Like this:



Having made wildlife films, I know critters that are running away aren't nearly as interesting as oncoming critters. I know eyes and faces are the most interesting part of an animal or human being. So chasing Keas the other day, I really wanted an oncoming shot. I wanted to capture the brilliant flash of orange under their wings, the curved beak, and eyes sharply in focus.

Unfortunately they wouldn't play ball. But I shot away anyhow, trying to get what I wanted and learning what I could from each attempt. Looking at the shots later I knew I hadn't got what I set out to capture, but I still liked one or two. The spread of wings, the brilliant colours, the sense of motion, even a bit of mystery and character. Shots of birds' backs, and they still worked for me. I'm not saying they're award winners, but they work on some levels. Over on Flickr, the award-winning wildlife photog Craig McKenzie said (rightly) that normally he'd dismiss a shot like this, but the colour really worked for him. He didn't know Keas had the red flash on the back - it's normally covered by their wings.



Sometimes its okay to break those rules.

Have you taken shots you liked that broke the rules?  Tell me about it.