What is Centre of Interest in Photography?

Centre of Interest usually relates to composition in Nature related Photography. The terminology is derived from traditional painting. In case traditional painting, preferred focus is given on the so called center of interest, which means that all the other elements do not generate distraction of the viewer. In case of Photography, the basic principle remains the same but various optical factors comes in to the scene. An example can be, if one is photographing sunset, the setting sun would be the center of interest. Other elements, preferably should not disturb the attention of the viewer.

Centre of Interest and Composition in Digital Photography

There is no rule which prohibits different renditions of a scene or object with different focal points. This is quite paradoxical to the above given simple example. Now, we need to recall the basic rules of Photography like Rule of Thirds, Golden Section etceteras then it will be apparent to the reader that, Centre of Interest in Photography is indeed a misnomer, by the word center we either mean a point or middle part of any object, but Centre of Interest in photography practically can be 15-25% portion of a photograph taking crop factor and other parameters in digital photography. In case of Traditional Painting, actually there are parts which can be controlled by the artist, in case digital photography, taking focal point in consideration; it is quite difficult to define properly. Most importantly – Paintings are usually bigger and aspect ratio is different with current trend of digital photography.

So, This Centre of Interest Plays No Role in Digital Photography?

It is not fully possible to nullify the presence of Centre of Interest in Photography as both Painting and Photography are visual arts and quite related. Second important point is that; although the hypothesis is around Nature related Photography, it can applied on any niche of Photography. Centering the subject possibly means that the subject is in the general center of the frame – any kind of older Oil Painting are typical examples. But, it does not mean that the subject is always exactly centered. Because, the rule of thirds, Golden Section still can be applied on the centered subjects.