A strong visual element in one part of the picture cries out for attention. It is a powerful element but you have to balance it with another element in a different part of the frame. The eye constantly tries to relate the less powerful balance element with the more powerful one and this helps to make the dominant element even more powerful. Thus it becomes important to learn how to use balance in photo composition. It is easier to understand the importance of balance by looking at a few pictures.
On a warm sunny afternoon, I found a man catching 40 winks in Washington Square Park. The light was really nice and the lengthening shadows provided an interesting counter to the pattern of pavers diagonally across the frame. But, then there was this discarded boot, which seemed to reflect his posture. It completed the picture for me by acting as a balance to the dominant visual element in the frame.
Sometimes, the visual elements could be equally dominating, yet balance each other out by differing in other aspects, such as tone or shape. In the picture from the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York City, the crouching person in a black cloak has been balanced by the a performer doing his makeup cloaked in white. Here the balancing aspect is contributed by the opposite tones of the visual elements.
You can study the other pictures above and find the elements that create balance in photo composition.
Eyes linger on a picture where the key visual elements balance one another. Without you knowing it, the eyes try to find that balance, and quickly wander to some thing else when that balance is not found.
For the beginner, it is useful to take the time to analyze any photograph and learn to identify where the visual elements are balanced or not. Simplicity is the key here. It is much easier to find the balance in a frame where only a few elements are involved.
So, pick up the camera and start photographing everyday images and you will find your balance.
