Balance

I like how the way Max is standing on one side of the shot gives a feeling of the falling off to the right. As well as the obvious “rule of thirds” I think composition is about making and breaking symmetry. This shot is certainly asymmetric with the left hand side being essentially dead space — the sort of thing you might normally want to crop out. Here though it gives space for Max to be moving into and as such is an essential element of the composition.

There is also a pleasing lack of focus on Max's hands whilst his face is much sharper (not totally sharp due to the low light and high ISO speed of 1600).

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