Reflections From the Road

These essays are also available in video form on my YouTube channel.

Brian Mahaney 7/31/26 Brian Mahaney 7/31/26

Composition Rules Were Never Instructions

Composition is taught as a set of instructions. Fill the frame. Find the subject. Watch the light. Learn the rule of thirds, and place the horizon somewhere other than the center. Master these first, students are told, and only later decide when it's acceptable to set them aside.

Brian Mahaney 8/29/25 Brian Mahaney 8/29/25

Forget the Rules

And sometimes it’s okay to break the rules.

I know. That sentence shouldn’t exist. Not if you believe every red correction you ever got in school. But here we are. Sometimes a rule is a handrail. Useful on the stairs. Useless in an open field.