Chances are, you’ve heard of the Golden Rule, the Golden Goose, and the Golden Ticket. And, if I’ve done my job, you’re probably now humming “I’ve got a Golden TI-cket” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. No doubt, that’ll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day now. Very sorry about that.
But what is The Golden Mean? Well, glad you asked. It’s a geometric formula invented in ancient Greece that’s still used today by professional photographers in search of a “harmonious” composition. Speaking of harmonizing, if you can stop humming that darn song for just one second, I’d like to direct your attention to this article on The Golden Mean by Klaus Schroiff of photozone.de, our weekly highlight from the Photobird Learning Center.
By dividing a square in half and then extending the base with the arc of a circle, we end up with a 5:8 proportioned rectangle, which closely matches the ratio of the 35mm film format (24×36mm=5:7.5). Within this perfectly proportioned rectangle, create three triangles and then, when composing scenes to photograph, attempt to roughly fit each element into one of these three triangle sections, as seen in the picture above.
It’s all Greek to me, but that may be “‘cause I’ve got a golden ticket and with a golden ticket, it’s a golden day.”
Be sure to check out the Photobird Learning Center to read the entire article and for more great How to… articles.
