Composition

I think most photography books complicate things by teaching you to think too much about composition. It’s very easy if you just pay attention to just a few things.

 

Fill it up

Using your thumb and index finger, form a “L” on each hand. Form a rectangle with these 2 “L”s.
This is your “frame”. Then practise your new found composition skills on your photos by “reframing” your photos. Bet you could learn a lot here.

I get irritated whenever I see photos where there’s a lot of “empty spaces” doing nothing. If it adds to the atmosphere, fine. If it doesn’t, then it helps if you just fill up the frames by getting a close view of the subject. You improve your ratio of keepers just by doing this! Also, you could get rid of the distracting background!

 


Foreground/background
Whenever you are about to shoot, pay attention to foreground/background. Having subjects in fore/background adds depth to the image. Simply looks more three-dimensional.

If you have a single main subject, like a portrait, place it in the foreground, then blur the background so not to confuse the viewers as to which is the main subject. Say you are shooting a pretty face, she definitely is your main subject. Fill her up (previous rule), then blur the background. Or reangle the shot such that the background won’t jostle for the viewer’s attention.

 


 Here’s a mini-tip. Try shooting more vertical rather than horizontals.
Most folks are so lazy when shooting that they just shoot “straight” - holding the camera horizontally and just shoot away.
By selectively shooting vertical, you build some different views to your photos right away.
You stand out from the crowd right away.


Rules of thirds
This works every time! One of the best tip you should use! Divide the frames into horizontal and vertical thirds. Then place your interesting subjects at the intersection of these lines. Or on the lines.


Cut the frame to thirds, horizontally and vertically. Though the roof is more interesting, I prefered placing the roof on the lower “third” line.

As we are naturally drawn to looking at person’s eyes (unless you are Pamela A), place the eyes on the lines of thirds. If you are doing landscape, let the horizon sit on this line. If the land is interesting, the horizon sits at the upper line. If the sky is interesting, the horizon sits at the lower line. Experiment! If you want to convey action/speed in your photo, let the subject sit at either left/right third line, leaving space for the subject to “move into”.

 


 

Alright, just 3 simple rules above, and you should be improving your photos! Practise right away! “Frame” your current photos with your fingers and practise the simple tips above.

Here’s to more dynamic photos!

 

Comments

Pingback from practicalphoto.com » Don’t Use Your Camera like a Gun
Date: September 18, 2006, 4:41 pm

[…] Hopefully you have read the Composition page on how to compose your shot. […]

Pingback from practicalphoto.com » Do you have Out of Focus Photos?
Date: September 19, 2006, 5:51 pm

[…] For composition sake, it’s best to place the subject Off center, but how to maintain sharp focus this way? […]

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