Arnie always says that I can leave out information in a photography and still make it read right. Well, so can he!

You do not always need the full scene or the full object in a photograph, to wit the four examples here where your eye and your imagination fill in the rest.

Is there any question in your mind where these lines continue? Can you envision what the photograph would have looked like had Arnie included the whole sweep of the building?

Undoubtedly considerably less dramatic.

He left just enough in to allow your imagination to fill in the blanks, yet enough to set off the stormy sky. And it was stormy that day in the Alhambra. Rain. Buckets of it. But it did not dampen our enthusiasm for this amazing location.

In fact, during one of those deluges, I ducked for cover, not far from where Arnie did the photograph above. At first, it was pretty dark, but then the skies lightened and there was some wonderful, natural-fill light coming in from the open “arena” that lit up my scene.

I tend to be attracted to scenes where elements fold over one another. This image immediately grabbed me; there was no other possible composition for me, and I clicked the shutter just this one time.

Any further efforts to compose the scene differently just didn’t work for me, and I happily stuck with what I had.

What appealed to me here, aside from the folding elements, was the way the staircase disappeared up into who-knows-where, adding a bit of mystery.

This next example is an abstract, but one’s eye still knows where the lines go.

Imagine if Arnie had shown the whole setting for this scene from the courtyard at our lovely inn outside of Ronda. The graphic elements of this photograph would not have existed.

By cropping as he did, Arnie made an interesting design. Is it important to know what it really is? Does it honestly make any difference to the enjoyment of the photograph?

If you look carefully, you’ll see how well balanced this photograph is. Each element plays off the other two, and while non-traditional, the composition works.

There are also what we generally consider to be the minimum of three values, and one of the values is full of texture, keeping the photo from being blah.

For the last example we’ll go to the oldest bullring in the country in Ronda. This tradition has been going on since 1133 CE when el matador rode a horse in his quest to conquer his rival.

Ronda is also considered to be the birthplace of modern bullfighting in which the matadors brave the bull on foot. Whatever you think about bullfighting, the bullring in Ronda is beautiful.

I couldn’t wait to show Arnie this historic building. The way the light bounces off the arena and into the stands is stunning. Even the inside corridors are bathed in soft light.

The memory of that light had (and has) stayed with me since the late 80s when I visited this part of Spain with my mother. I was anxious to return and make more photographs.

I walked around the interior, stopping here and there to concentrate on architectural features and the way the light played off them. This was my favorite with the way the curves stretched around, leading you to … ???

You know the direction the paths leads, but you do not know what is around the next bend. I like a sense of the unknown. If we had been able to see everything clearly, that sense of mystery would be lost.

When you next go out photographing, first compose a broad shot, then try another, seeing how much you can leave out while still make a compelling image. Think of less being more, the old KISS thory. Create a sense of mystery if the light is appropriate. Always experiment and push yourself to do something new or revisit a technique you haven’t tried in a while.

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