A book by Marty Straub. Below the Table of Contents on this page you will find links to purchase the book in either paperback or Kindle versions on Amazon. Anyone interested in owning both will be able to purchase the Kindle for $0.99US after buying the paperback. Most of the photos used in the book can also be found through a link below where you can assess larger sizes. If you'd like to discuss the book in any way, join the conversations on the BB-page. There you can also show some of your better artistic examples of the tactics suggested in the book.

Table of Contents:

Part One: What is it & Why we're here

Introduction

Definitions

Style

Justification

Real Science

Why we look at photos

Part Two: Strong Influences

Sex IS Survival

Fear & Excitement

Reward & Punishment

Knowledge & Entertainment

Fight or Flight --What makes your viewer decide?

Part Three: Chapters of Aesthetic Attraction

1 - Light and Dark & The Chiaroscuro Effect

2 - Lines, Shapes & Patterns

3 - Faces of Pareidolia

4 - Movement & Implied Motion

5 - Background & Subject with DOF

6 - Simplicity, Symmetry & Balance

7 - Color and B&W

8 - The Rule of Space/Filling the Frame

9 - Framing & Textures

10 - Viewpoint & Orientation

11 - The Rule of Odds, The Rule of Thirds

12 - The Golden Rule, Mean & Ratio

A second look

Excerpts

My photos used in book ~ Photos used in Mirrors Intro video ~ Mirror Intro Video Get the full-impact paperback version HERE

A look at why we are interested in what we see in art. Are we born with aesthetic preferences that are shaped by cultural influences? Is our natural attraction to Beauty another weapon in our arsenal of species' survival? This book examines many so-called rules of composition in the visual arts to find natural reasons for their existence. It is designed to aide the visual artist and those who appreciate their work by bringing attention to subtle cues of attraction cultivated by our ancient and immediate ancestors. It calls upon recent work in neuroaesthetics and other scientific disciplines to back up its speculative claims, and asks the reader to contribute opinions of their own on the books' website at naturallycomposed.com. There are many examples of photos in the book, and the reader is again asked to insert their own examples to enforce or refute the claims. Get the Kindle version HERE. If you've also purchased the paperback version, you can add the Kindle version for only 0.99US. Enter into discussions about the book HERE.

Please contact me with suggestions, additions or omissions. Or find me on Facebook.

In the meantime, visit my YouTube channel for videos on the Golden Ratio Overlays.

Other books by Marty Straub on Amazon.com

Other books by Marty Straub available on Blurb.com



