By Steve Terlizzi
Photographer: Alexandre Duret-Lutz
Click on Photo to Enlarge

Creative Commons -- Some rights reserved by gadl

A quick quiz for you.  What is the next number in this series – 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, x?  Why the SAT revival?  What does this have to do with photography?

Well, he correct answer is 34 and it is the next number in the Fibonacci Series.  The Fibonacci numbers are such that the next number is the sum of the previous two numbers after starting with the initial 0 and 1.  (Great Steve, thanks for the math trivia...now I am set if I decide to go on Jeopardy, but how does this help my photography?)

When you invert the numbers use that to segment the view in the viewfinder (i.e. 1/2, 1/3, 1/5 etc.) into boxes you can create an interesting spiral pattern called the Fibonacci Spiral (see right from wikipedia).  When you start looking for the Fibonacci Spiral, you'll be amazed how often you see it in nature as well as in various human designs.

Let's take a look at the above photo submitted to the Creative Commons by Alexandre Duret-Lutz.  You can find his Flickr stream here.  The dominant subject is the interesting spiral of roman numerals and the various hands pointing to different times as you are swept into the picture.  Just goes to show that you can find a spiral pattern in other interesting places besides a spiral staircase or a Nautilus shell.

So plan a day where you go out expressly to find spiral shapes.  It will help you see interesting photos where maybe ones were not readily apparent.  And don't thank me...thank the magical wonders of Fibonacci.