Early Morning in the High Atlas
Telouet Village, Morocco 2009. The village is damp from recent rains. It can be cold in the High Atlas even in September. The houses have no chimney just a hole in the roof to let the smoke escape.
Mountain families spend a lot of time sitting near the fire during winter trying to keep warm. The men wear hooded heavy wool cloaks called burnoose. The women wear as many skirts as they own and as many sweaters as well. On cold nights, the family sips tea as they sit with their backs propped against the wall. They all huddled side by side, their legs and feet covered with heavy blankets. It’s cozy.
You may notice that I don’t have the minaret on the 1/3 line, breaking that well-known rule of composition. Most likely there was something on the left of the village that I didn’t want in my photo. You are free to break the rules, they say, as long as you know the rules. Does that make sense? Sometimes it is best to put your subject in the middle, especially an action shot as in sports, such as a football player running with the ball.
I think if you’re shooting a landscape and you want your minaret in the middle, take a shot with it on the 1/3 line as well and when you get home decide which you like best. I saw a photo the other day of a wild animal in its natural surroundings and it seemed to me that having him in the center of the photo gave him a feeling of power.