balance explanation

[THX1311]

I would agree with this assesment.

[Quadart]

What you seem to be describing is static Formal Balance. Yes it achieves a sense of reverential importance, but is by no means the only factor in achieving pictorial balance. Weight is a very important aspect of compositional balance, among others. Weight describes such things as brightness, contrast, color, value (let alone size) of pictorial element and their relationship to each other and the space around them, including their spacial relationship to the image plane and its basic field geometry grid (diagonal lines connecting corners and the lines bisecting the frame vertically and horizontally). Of course it is good to place a subject in a position were it is perceived to be attracted to the center (keeping it within the image) than attracted to the edges, creating a sense of pulling out of the image.

I don’t think that the small 1–2° cone of sharp foveal vision has much to do with any preference for center focused compositions, due to presumed lower psychological tension.
The eyes don’t fixate steadily on anything, due to Saccades (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccade) . It’s much more pleasing to have the eyes directed to a subject and then moved around and within a well balanced dynamic composition.
Actually a study (http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hsmbb/BRAIN/vol7-spring2000/aesthetics) seems to suggest that right-handed viewers prefer important content on the right side of a picture and lefties the left (though in an earlier study no preference was shown in the left-handed group).

[mister3d]

What you seem to be describing is static Formal Balance. Yes it achieves a sense of reverential importance, but is by no means the only factor in achieving pictorial balance. Weight is a very important aspect of compositional balance, among others. Weight describes such things as brightness, contrast, color, value (let alone size) of pictorial element and their relationship to each other and the space around them, including their spacial relationship to the image plane and its basic field geometry grid (diagonal lines connecting corners and the lines bisecting the frame vertically and horizontally). Of course it is good to place a subject in a position were it is perceived to be attracted to the center (keeping it within the image) than attracted to the edges, creating a sense of pulling out of the image.

I don’t think that the small 1–2° cone of sharp foveal vision has much to do with any preference for center focused compositions, due to presumed lower psychological tension.
The eyes don’t fixate steadily on anything, due to Saccades (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccade) . It’s much more pleasing to have the eyes directed to a subject and then moved around and within a well balanced dynamic composition.
Actually a study (http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:JEBZVIawFnAJ:everything2.com/title/Brain%2Bhemisphere%2Binfluence%2Bon%2Baesthetic%2Bpreference) seems to suggest that right-handed viewers prefer important content on the right side of a picture . Also interesting is left-handers show no left/right bias.
What you say makes sense. I see my mistake by saying "an easy balance explanation", when I should have said "one more theory of tension explanation". Yes you're right, weight is an important thing to consider, I simply didn't enclose it into my consideration as I was thinking mainly about geometrical interrelationships between objects and frame sides. Of course, color, tone, repetition, pattern and other elements influence composition balance. Those are quite easy to explain from a perceptual sense, but not so much why if an object is close to the frame corner, it becomes "less comfortable".
The question if we perceive frame as our alternative area of vision or not. I think yes, at least we agree to the minute rules of the game. The relationship between objects is simpler to understand as if something is closer, tit creates conflict. I'm not sure if it's the case in case of frame center and sides, because we clearly know where the center is, and despite "scanning" by our eyes, the relationship keeps. it's not like with our eyes btw, because we can easily reestablish the relationships by changing our point of view. But frame sides and corners make us (possible due to internal balance striving) to keep our view in the relative center. After scanning we still come back to the center, and examine how it affects our mental state, kind of.

[Lunatique]

Balance is more complicated than most people realize, because placement is only but on element that influences our perception of balance. Color, values, shape, edges, contrast, texture...etc all play a part. The largest shape in the image may logically seem to be the the object with the most visual weight, but if it's soft and diffused and low contrast, then a much smaller object that is contrast, with sharp angles, bright colors...etc may actually end up having the same or more visual weight.

Placing away from the center can look like a gimmick if you don't have a compelling reason for doing so. Sometimes artists and photographers do it just to be "adventurous," but if the image does not benefit from doing so, it won't have the intended effect. You have to think about the positioning within the context of the scene depicted in the image, and the subject's relationship to the scene, including the narrative, environment, the subject's inner thoughts...etc.

[mister3d]

Balance is more complicated than most people realize, because placement is only but on element that influences our perception of balance. Color, values, shape, edges, contrast, texture...etc all play a part. The largest shape in the image may logically seem to be the the object with the most visual weight, but if it's soft and diffused and low contrast, then a much smaller object that is contrast, with sharp angles, bright colors...etc may actually end up having the same or more visual weight.

Placing away from the center can look like a gimmick if you don't have a compelling reason for doing so. Sometimes artists and photographers do it just to be "adventurous," but if the image does not benefit from doing so, it won't have the intended effect. You have to think about the positioning within the context of the scene depicted in the image, and the subject's relationship to the scene, including the narrative, environment, the subject's inner thoughts...etc.
I know that. I just tried to get a proper explanation why the off-center placement looks more tense. :) I just didn't find a good explanation which would have a common sense to me.

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