Composition – An Introduction to Balance

Tim Parkin

Tim Parkin is a British landscape photographer, writer, and editor best known as the co-founder of On Landscape magazine, where he explores the art and practice of photographing the natural world. His work is thoughtful and carefully crafted, often focusing on subtle details and quiet moments in the landscape rather than dramatic vistas. Alongside his photography and writing, he co-founded the Natural Landscape Photography Awards, serves as a judge for other international competitions. Through all these projects, Parkin has become a respected and influential voice in contemporary landscape photography.

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Balance in Photography

The concept of balance in photography is not a new one, just this week I received another book on composition that says “The components of a great photograph should always be in balance” which is great as long as you know how to identify components and how much they weigh. The more detailed articles on composition and balance may end up drawing a fulcrum and showing two objects on it, one big and one little, with the big object closer to the fulcrum and saying ‘these are in balance!’. Again, very nice but what have these objects got to do with real world pictures. How can I identify which bits of a picture to weigh and then how do I weigh them.