Utilizing Patterns and Repetition in Photography

Hi everyone, I'm a professional nature and travel photographer, Ian Plant. If you want your photo compositions to really stand out you have to learn how to engage the viewer's eye with repetition, by using patterns. People are naturally attracted to patterns which is part of our obsessive need to find and create order from our chaotic world. Visual repetition creates compositional energy and gets the viewer's eye moving, as it explores the repeating shapes in the pattern. There are an almost infinite variety of patterns subjects in the natural world. Some common examples include a patch of wild flowers, lichen on rocks, textured or weathered wood, a stand of trees, ripples in sand or distant mountain ridges. Of course you'll find even more patterns in the human world. People love imposing patterns on just about everything, including the layout of city streets, architectural features on buildings and clothing. In fact, even where there are no patterns around we seem eager to line up and create our own. When working with patterns it is important to have an interesting repetition of shapes. For example, with this photo of blowing sand in Great Sand Dunes National Park. The interplay of light and shadow on the dunes creates a repetition of shapes on three successive ridges. It's also important to try to get a dynamic spacing of the repeating shapes within the composition. It's usually best to avoid having repeating elements merge or clump up too much. Also, try to avoid a perfectly symmetrical spacing of visual elements. Instead look for uneven spacing and grouping of elements to create compositional energy. For example, with this aerial photo of sunlit ridges in the Utah desert, the repeating shapes are arranged at varying angles, making the composition more dynamic. Although any lens can be used for pattern photos, short telephoto zooms are often the most useful for capturing patterns. These lenses allow you to reach out and pluck an intimate portion of the overall scene, taking a selective and exclusionary approach. For example, with this photo of the multi-hued Hornocal mountain in Argentina I used a short telephoto to zoom in tight on this pattern of shapes and colors. You can use a pattern as the primary visual element of your composition, or you can make it a part of your overall composition. For this photo taken in Morocco, I was attracted to the light and shadows on a wall, and the pattern of the architectural features. I used this pattern as the basic structure of my visual design, and then waited for a woman to walk by to complete the composition. For this photo taken in Namibia, I used the repetition of shapes created by patches of salt marsh to lead the viewer's eye from the foreground to a group of flamingos in the background. There are actually two patterns in this composition, the salt marsh and then the pattern formed by the sleeping flamingos. So always be on the lookout for interesting patterns. With some practice you can successfully use a repetition of shapes to spice up your compositions. I'm Ian Plant, and thanks for watching.