Masterclass

EXPLORING RABATMENT

O

ncethephotographerhasmasteredtheruleofthirds
there are more sophisticated ways in which to
composeanimage.Takingtimetounderstandeachofthese
methods and the logic behind their reasoning will
ultimately lead you to a greater appreciation of image
composition.

Rabatment and the Golden Rectangle

The composition technique of rabatment is used
predominatelybyartists,toarrangeelementsofanimage
ontoacanvas,anditcanofcoursebeusedinphotography.
Initsmostbasicformitisaguidefairlysimilarinnatureto
theruleofthirds.Howeverwithdevelopmentitcanalso
becomeafairlycomplexandpowerful tool,allowingthe
photographer to see a usable structure of compositional
diagonals running through the frame.

The technique consists of taking the short side of a
rectangle and placing it against the long side, creating
pointsalongtheedgethatcanbeconnecteddirectlyacross
thecanvasaswellasadiagonalfromthesepointstothe
corners to createtwo identically sized squares that will
overlap each other.

For each horizontal rectangle, there will be a right
rabatmentandaleftrabatment.Foreachverticalrectangle
thereisanupperandlowerrabatment.Bypositioningthe
mostimportantsubjectswithineitherofthesesquaresyou