Golden ratio photo

How To Use the Golden Ratio To Improve Your Photography

Learn what the Golden Ratio in photography is, how it compares to the Rule of Thirds and how to use it for photography composition.

The Golden Ratio has been used as a powerful composition tool for centuries. It is a design principle based on the ratio of 1 to 1.618. Hailed as ‘the perfect number’, the Golden Ratio can assist in creating images that have a strong composition, which will attract viewers to your photograph.

The reason for this is simple, the Golden Ratio allows for a composition that is perfectly balanced from a viewer’s perspective, creating a photograph that is most pleasing to the human eye. We naturally prefer to look at an image that is balanced and harmonized, and the Golden Ratio provides this.

Famous works of art such as the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and The Birth of Venus, among others, are all rumoured to have been composed based on the Golden Ratio. In fact, the Golden Ratio has also been called ‘natures number’ because it is said to appear everywhere throughout nature, from the nautilus shell to the sunflower.

Using the Golden Ratio in photography as an element of design is a great way to achieve a strong composition in an organic way. This will draw viewers to your photograph and ensure viewer-interest from the beginning. The Golden Ratio will also allow your viewer be circuitously guided around your photograph.

This is what we as photographers should strive for. Your viewers do not want to work to see a beautiful photograph, they just want to see it.

Photography is about creating something that is visually appealing, and using the Golden Ratio as a design principle is just one way we can achieve this.

The Golden Ratio in Photography And The Fibonacci Spiral

There are many interpretations of how we can use the Golden Ratio in photography. Two of the most common compositions when applying it in photography are the Phi Grid and the Fibonacci Spiral.

It is said that sometime around the 12^th century A.D. a mathematician named Leonardo Fibonacci devised a series of numbers that will produce an aesthetically pleasing composition. This composition is known as the Fibonacci Spiral.

The Fibonacci Spiral was created from a series of squares using Fibonacci’s numbers, with the length of each square being a Fibonacci number.

A series of diagonal points on each square will then create a path for which the spiral can flow through the frame. Using the spiral as a tool to compose a photograph will allow the viewer to be led around the image in a natural flow.

Spiral Overlay – Vancouver Art Gallery and Fairmont, Vancouver, Canada Canon 5D Mark II, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 24mm, ISO 200, f/16, 1/60 sec.

The Phi Grid looks very similar to the Rule of Thirds principle yet it has one very important difference. Instead of dividing the frame into equal thirds of 1:1:1, the Golden Ratio is applied to divide the frame into sections resulting in a grid that is 1:0.618:1.

This results in a set of intersecting lines that are much closer to the middle of the frame.

There are no right or wrong versions of the Golden Ratio as a principle of design in composing a photograph, each is unique and can be applied as such. Each version has the potential to complement different scenes and can help to improve your overall image.

While the Fibonacci Spiral might work well when composing a portrait, for example, the Phi Grid might work well for a landscape. The beauty is these guides for composing an image are flexible and not limited to any one scene.

As with all things in photography, experimentation and creativity are key factors. Never let a design principle dictate how you photograph a scene. Simply use it as a tool to guide you in achieving a strong composition, a way to complement your own creativity.

Why not just use the Rule of Thirds?

The most common design principle applied in photography, the Rule of Thirds, is thought to be a manifestation of the Golden Ratio in photography. Essentially, it is said that the Rule of Thirds was designed as a simple way for photographers to locate the sweet spot, the point at which the human eye is first drawn to, of the Golden Ratio.

Whether or not this is how the Rule of Thirds came about, the simple nine-sectioned grid allows a photographer to compose an image based on the easy-to-locate focal points at which the interesting aspects of a scene can be placed.

While the Rule of Thirds works well for many situations in photography, the Golden Ratio can often be a more pleasing design concept to apply. This is primarily because the ratio allows for a more balanced image.

Oftentimes the Rule of Thirds, particularly in landscape photography, can leave certain elements of a scene such as the horizon line in an awkward position. The simple division of a frame into thirds means that the placement of a horizon line can look a little too obvious. When using the Golden Ratio, however, the balance can often appear more natural and less rigid.

Take the following two images of Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park as an example. Using the Phi Grid as a guide for where to place the horizon line shifted the balance of the scene, allowing the foreground to have more impact in the photograph.

The horizon line also blends into the image instead of standing out as a distraction. The foreground and the horizon line, in my opinion, are too divided using the Rule of Thirds in this case.

hi Composition Horizon Line Example – Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park Canon 7D, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/30 sec. Manfrotto 190xprob tripod and shutter release

Rule of Thirds Composition Horizon Line Example

Composing for the Golden Ratio

Although the math itself can seem quite complex, applying it to your photography is not.

The simplest way to compose an image to apply the Fibonacci Spiral is to visualise a small rectangle from one corner of your frame then bisect it from corner to corner so that an imaginary line crosses your entire frame diagonally.

The line will cross over several focal points associated with the Fibonacci Spiral within the rectangle. From here you can envision a spiral leading out from your main focal point in a wide arc leading out of the frame.

Composition Example

Composition Example with Fibonacci Spiral

When capturing this image of a path along the Sea Wall in Vancouver, Canada I used the Fibonacci Spiral as a guide to compose the photograph.

Spiral Composition – Fog on the Sea Wall, Vancouver, Canada Canon 5D Mark II, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 32mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/30 sec. Manfrotto 190xprob tripod and shutter release

It was a foggy, late afternoon during fall and I wanted to capture the colours of the sunset that were filtering through the fog as well as the beautiful crimson colour of the fall foliage.

I aimed to incorporate one person who stood out walking along the path, the fall foliage in the foreground, and the tree line as the central point of focus in my frame.

To do this I positioned these aspects in the centre of my imagined rectangle, knowing that it contained several of the key focus points associated with the ratio, and incorporated the fog into the scene along the wide arc of the spiral.

Spiral Overlay

When composing for the Phi Grid envision the frame divided into nine just as you would with the Rule of Thirds, only instead of composing equal weights for the grid, you will compose a grid that is weighted as 1:.68:1, so more weight is given to the four corner rectangles.

This results in your intersecting lines falling slightly closer towards the middle of the frame.

Phi Overlay – Lighthouse Park West Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada Canon 5D Mark II, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/60 sec. Manfrotto 190xprob tripod and shutter release

As with everything in photography composing for the Golden Ratio takes practice, just like composing for the Rule of Thirds once did. Once you become familiar with the general location of the important focal points in the Golden Ration, seeing them in your viewfinder will become second nature.

Perfecting the Composition

I use Adobe Lightroom to perfect my composition of the Golden Ratio during post processing. The photo editing software has a range of crop overlays available including an overlay called the Golden Spiral that is based on the Fibonacci Spiral.

When using the crop tool move between the different types of crop overlays by using the shortcut key [o], and [shft] + [o] to toggle between the different angles and varieties of the overlay that are available.
The Golden Ratio at work

Here are some images that apply both of the Golden Ratio compositions I have discussed. Can you see how the Golden Ratio with its spiral composition has been applied to the composition of each photograph?

Sunrise Muri Lagoon, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Canon 7D, 24 – 70mm 2.

8 L series lens, ISO 100, f/22 HDR merge of three images at various shutter speeds 1/4, 1/10, 0.6 sec. Manfrotto 190xprob tripod and shutter releaseTree in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada Canon 5D Mark II, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 32mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/40 sec.The Bridge, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia Canon 7D, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f/22, 1/13 sec. Manfrotto 190xprob tripod and shutter releaseSunrise Kailua Beach, Oahu, Hawaii Canon 7D, 24 – 70mm 2.8 L series lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f/22, 1/2 sec. Manfrotto 190xprob tripod and shutter release

Using the Golden Ratio as a way to help position points of interest when you are composing an image can help create impact in the scene overall. It will assist in leading viewers through the scene to explore any points of interest you choose to incorporate in your photograph. It will also provide a natural balance to the scene, one that we are used to seeing throughout nature.

All written content (and most images) in these articles are copyrighted by the authors. Copyrighted material from Apogee Photo Mag should not be used elsewhere without seeking the authors permission.

How to compose your photos like an artist

If you’re ready to grow as a photographer using a composition technique that is tricky to apply but worth mastering, it’s time to start experimenting with the golden ratio. The golden ratio can be applied to your compositions in many different ways, with the goal of creating a naturally striking composition.

Never heard of the golden ratio? Perhaps you know it by one of its many aliases: the golden mean, phi grid, Fibonacci spiral, or the divine proportion. Call it what you want, but be sure to give this technique a try to improve your compositions.

What is the golden ratio in photography?

You’ve already learned that the golden ratio is a composition guide, but did you know that the basis for the golden ratio is mathematics? But don’t worry, you won’t need to figure any equations to use this technique!

The golden ratio is a ratio of approximately 1. 618 to 1. It has been used for centuries by artists, architects, and musicians, but it can also be found everywhere in the natural world. To use the golden ratio in photography, you simply apply it to the placement of objects in your composition. We’ll talk more about the specific ways you can apply the golden ratio to your photos below.

Why is it called the golden ratio?

The golden ratio is extraordinary because it can be visualized in every aspect of life, from the human body to famous works of art and everything in between. Although this mathematical existed independently of humankind long before recorded history, artists started using it as a basis for compositions in the 1500s. Renaissance artists began calling it the golden ratio or the divine proportion because of its ability to achieve balance and beauty.

The Fibonacci spiral

The Fibonacci spiral is based on the the Fibonacci sequence, which was discovered by Leonardo Fibonacci around the year 1200. This is a sequence of numbers that begins with 0 and 1. Add the two together to get 1. Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers that precede it. So, the sequence goes: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and on and on.

The ratio of any two successive Fibonacci numbers is very close to the golden ratio, which is approximately 1.618034. And if you use Fibonacci numbers to create a grid with squares representing the width of Fibonacci numbers, you end up with the Fibonacci spiral.

The phi grid

The phi grid is another way to visualize the golden ratio. Rectangles can be superimposed over an image in a grid based on the 1:1.618 ratio. This “phi grid” divides your scene into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. But unlike the more popular rule of thirds, the center lines in the Phi Grid are closer together. This moves the more important elements of your photo closer to the center.

How is the golden ratio better than the rule of thirds?

The rule of thirds is basically a simplification of the golden ratio. It is very easy to visualize, and therefore easier for novice photographers to use without much forethought. The golden ratio, by contrast, is a bit more technical. In this scenario, you are dealing with more precise ratios, so it’s not as easy to align your composition. Using the golden ratio in photography is useful for leading the viewer’s eyes around your image in a way that is naturally striking and balanced.

What you choose to use for a given composition will depend a lot on the scene you are trying to capture. The rule of thirds is great for minimalist photographs where you have a single subject. The golden ratio is useful for positioning several objects in a composition or to emphasize movement.

How to use the golden ratio in your iPhone photography

Now it’s time to use the golden ratio to create your own compositions. Here are some ideas and tips for composing your photos using the golden ratio with your iPhone. It takes practice, but eventually, you will start to see the grid lines in your mind’s eye when you frame a shot.

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A post shared by Lukas Forejt (@spirals_in_nature)

How to compose for the golden ratio

The golden ratio can be applied to many different scenes using the phi grid or the Fibonacci spiral. How do you know which one to use?

Look for leading lines or natural curves within the scene. Strong leading lines are best placed using the phi grid, and curved, organic lines work better with the Fibonacci spiral. The rule of thirds is a simplified version of the golden ratio, so if you are having trouble imagining the grid overlay when framing your shot, don’t be afraid to use the rule of thirds.

If you don’t have the rule of thirds grid overlay activated on your iPhone camera, you can turn it on in Settings. Simply navigate to Settings > Camera > Grid and toggle it on. Trying to imagine a Fibonacci spiral aligned over your photo is difficult at first but gets easier over time.

If you’re using the Fibonacci spiral, place your subject farther out than the rule of thirds intersection. If you chose the phi grid, place your subject closer to the center of the image compared to the rule of thirds intersection.

Try shooting from different vantage points to emphasize the golden ratio. You may have to crouch down or shoot from above your head. If you’re unsure of which composition works best, take lots of images and then use an editing program to crop them later.

How to use the golden ratio crop in Lightroom

Do you use the Lightroom app on your iPhone? You can use a variety of grid overlays when using the Lightroom camera, including the rule of thirds and the phi grid. When in the camera view, tap the three dots in the upper right to enable this option.

To use the golden ratio crop during post-processing, you will have to use the desktop version of Lightroom. As an aside, we hope that they will eventually add this feature in Lightroom Mobile. But in the meantime, here’s how to crop your photo using the golden ratio with Lightroom on your computer:

Open Lightroom on your computer and switch to Developer Mode.
Click the crop button on the left toolbar to open the crop tool.
Use the “O” key to cycle through the different crop overlays. You will see the rule of thirds grid, the phi grid, and the Fibonacci spiral, along with several others.
Use whichever grid overlay you’ve chosen to set guidelines for what to crop.
When you are happy with the results, export your photo to your files or Airdrop it back to your iPhone.

Using the golden ratio in photography will help you elevate your composition techniques and make you a better photographer. Although it’s difficult to learn, once you start using the golden ratio to compose your images, you’ll be hooked!

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Composition
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Tara Schatz

Travel writer. Photographer. Lover of dogs and the outdoors.

Composition in photography. Part 2: The Golden Ratio

Home » Fundamentals of Photography

The Golden Ratio is a more complex composition principle that underlies the rule of thirds. The concept of the golden ratio was used by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer. In this article, I will try to explain in simple terms the meaning of this principle and how it can help you create beautiful and compositionally interesting photographs.

In nature, almost everything is arranged according to the golden ratio, including the elements of the human body.

The rule of the golden section was applied both in the construction of the pyramid of Cheops,

and in the creation of the facades of Notre Dame Cathedral (Notre Dame de Paris).

Our eye is accustomed to this proportion, and everything depicted in compliance with the compositional rule of the golden section is perceived as a harmonious image. While breaking the golden ratio when creating a composition will create an imbalance.

I won't bore you with explaining the golden ratio from a mathematical point of view and will simply say that certain points in the composition of a painting or photograph automatically grab the viewer's attention. These are four points located at a distance of 3/8 and 5/8 from the respective edges. It looks like this in the picture.

As you can see, the lines of the golden ratio are concentrated in the center of the frame, in contrast to the rule of thirds, where the lines are evenly distributed throughout the space.

By positioning the subject at these intersection points, you make it the central part of the composition, drawing the viewer's attention to it.

How to use the golden ratio for framing

Luckily, most modern cameras have a grid feature. Therefore, I advise you to enable it before determining the composition of the frame and then follow the following recommendations:

Place the most interesting and important points of your photo at the intersection points of the golden section lines. If you have chosen an obvious center of the composition (a lone figure of a person, a tree, the brightest car), then position it so that it is at the intersection of the lattice so that it is a third from below or above the frame, or a third from each side.
If you want to emphasize the foreground of the composition, then position the horizon line along the top grid line to get an approximate 2:1 landscape-to-sky ratio.
If you want to focus the viewer's attention on the sky, it is better to place the horizon line along the lower grid line.
A centered horizon usually works well for both symmetrical and static shots.

You can convey movement in an image by shifting the subject from the center to the left area of the image.

If the "grid" function is not provided by your camera model, then I recommend using the simplified principle of the golden ratio - the rule of thirds. It will be easier to apply by eye than the golden section rule.

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The rule of thirds and the golden ratio in photography

In the guides for beginner photographers, there is the "Rule of thirds", which is also called the "golden ratio". Let's try to figure it out and see how useful this rule is.

Contents

1 Where did the "rule of thirds" come from
2 Layout, construction and composition
3 Formulas of harmony
4 Scheme or creativity?

Where did the "rule of thirds" come from

It is difficult to determine from whose light hand the "Rule of Thirds" became a rule. Undoubtedly, its roots are in the "golden section" of Fibonacci, the mathematical model of harmony. The “golden ratio” is the division of the whole into two unequal parts, in which the whole is related to the larger part as the larger part is to the smaller one. Henri Cartier Bresson never used patterns, but his composition is flawless Despite the name (“Fibonacci sequence”, “ Fibonacci spiral") "golden ratio" became a term of aesthetics only in the middle of 19century, starting with the writings of Adolf Zeising. And even then, in the 19th century, this doctrine was criticized by art historians and connoisseurs of beauty.

And here and there we see advice like “Divide the field of the frame with two vertical and two horizontal lines, segmenting the photo into 9 identical rectangles. Position your subjects at the intersection points of the lines or on the lines themselves. The illustrations accompanying such tips say exactly the opposite: the rule of thirds in itself does not provide a picture with any harmony, beauty, or meaning. Actually, you don’t even have to talk about composition in this case, because the rule of thirds does not apply to building a composition. Judging by the composition, there is an important connection between the guy and the fence in the background. He either successfully overcame this fence, or now he will begin to break it

Layout, construction and composition

Building a frame consists of three levels, three stages: Lapin in his book "Photography as. .." compares the composition of the frame with spelling, the construction with the grammar of a phrase, and the composition with poetics, filling this phrase with expressiveness and meaning. There is a layout in every frame, a construction too, but there may not be a composition at all. Placing objects on the frame plane is compositing. And the "rule of thirds" is just one of the ways to compose objects in the field of the frame. But building the interactions of objects in the frame, accent and background, detecting lines of force, rhythms and rhymes to reveal hidden meanings is composition. These are means of expressing meaning, emotions, ideas that go far beyond the possibilities of layout.

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Composition is the art of seeing the main thing, placing in the field of the frame and accentuating the main objects of the frame with form, light and color to solve a specific creative task. The mechanical approach does not work here!

Formulas of harmony

The universal beauty formula has been tried more than once. For example, in addition to the “Fibonacci section”, there is the theory of the “beautiful line” by William Hogarth (“Analysis of Beauty”, 1753). According to this theory, an S-shaped layout line in a limited plane of any format provides the viewer with an easy way to "enter" the image space. According to Hogarth, thanks to the diagonals underlying such a composition, the artist controls the emotional state of the viewer. There are no studies to support or refute this theory, but it is clear that it is being used - and successfully. (See also "clothoid" or "Cornu's spiral").

These theories have one thing in common: they were created by mathematicians, not by artists or photographers. In the layout of great shots, you can find a variety of schemes. Triangles, circles, squares, crosses, "scales" - anything, if it helps to better express the author's vision, plot, idea, moment. Moreover: in a properly built frame, you can find the golden ratio, the “beautiful line”, the “scales”, and the diagonals. Did the author think about them when he filmed? No. The vivisection of a work is the lot of aesthetes and theorists, and the photographer simply seizes the moment. © Mikhail Petrov It is impossible to measure the measure and degree of the aesthetic impact of a work of art, but you can calculate how a person looks, what it is easier to attach the eye to, find out the trajectory of the gaze and calculate reference points for plot placement important objects. Such research is carried out, for example, in Internet commerce. Does this apply to art? Of course. But unlike web designers and marketers, you, as a photographer, do not have time for tests and calculations. In your hands is a moment for a decision, as well as experience and intuition. There is nothing more.

The composition is based on chance. I never calculate. I vaguely discern the structure and wait for something to happen. There are no rules here. No need to strive at all costs to explain the secret.

- Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Scheme or creativity?

The compositional centers of a photograph are determined by the photographer who organizes the linear, tonal and color construction of the frame. If the objects of the image emphasized by the photographer are located at these points and along these lines of force, the image is perceived easier, and the impression it makes becomes stronger.

The conclusion follows from this: the composition of the frame is determined by the creative intent of the photographer. If you just want to show an object, place it in the center. If you need to show explicit or hidden connections of this object with other objects, look for appropriate ways to compose the frame. There are immeasurably many such ways, and in each case the choice is determined by visual logic, taste and flair. And if logic and taste fail, no far-fetched rules will save you, and all you have to do is pull a snake on a hedgehog (or an owl on a globe). The photographer hardly thought about harmony when shooting this funny reportage. And yet ... Cartier-Bresson owns the phrase:

I hope we never live in a world where merchants sell viewfinders with compositional diagrams engraved on them.

Alas, modern cameras already offer such solutions (up to combining the profile of the person being portrayed with the line of the drawn horizon, not to mention the "golden section" grid in the viewfinder field).

Learn to see, otherwise mechanically following imposed patterns will deprive you of the chance to make the right decision at the right moment. And do not think that this applies only to artistic genres. Technical photography is subject to the same principles.

It is human nature to look for principles and laws, to try to understand the anatomy of the universe and the rules by which everything is arranged this way and not otherwise. However, no one has yet found the formula of love. No stilted patterns will help you get a good shot if there is no idea, and the elements of the universal puzzle have not developed in such a way that you feel: “This is it!”.