Contrast, Harmony and Balance

This is a photograph of Horseshoe Bend in the Grand Canyon. I found it on a blog called "The Long Goodbye," although I'm pretty sure it originated as a desktop wallpaper. Is that cheating, using a wallpaper as my example? Maybe just lacking creativity. Regardless, I found this picture to be breathtaking as well as representative of contrast, balance and harmony.

The most obvious contrast to me is the coloring. The rusty orange of the rock is on the opposite side of the color wheel from the blue of the water and sky. This accentuates both colors as they pop against each other. In addition to the complimentary colors, the rough texture of the rock contrasts nicely against the smoothness of the water and even the sky.

Harmony is one of those concepts that's hard to put into words. For me it's almost a feeling. I think a big part of the harmony in this picture comes for the organic shapes and textures. All of the parts of this image look as though they belong together and could be found in nature (which they obviously can). Nothing looks out of place or chaotic, but the image is still interesting because of the contrast.

The balance in this picture is caused by the symmetry of the landscape. If I were to fold this picture in half hamburger style, the halves would be relatively identical. Admittedly, the center rock is asymmetrical, but it creates more of a sense of organic shape than imbalance.

These three elements of contrast, harmony and balance combined create a picture that is not only pleasing and relaxing, but also interesting to look at.