5 Steps to Better Composition

[JessicaO]

Hey all, one of the questions I'm most often asked by my friends is how to make a good composition. I like composition because you don't have to buy anything to use it in your photography, and it can make photos really striking. I recently wrote a blog post on it; hope you find it helpful!

====

When you think about the best way to improve your photography technique, what often jumps to mind is learning technical camera skills or Photoshop know-how. But there is a simple way to improve how your photos look. It can be applied no matter if you're using a top-of-the-line DSLR, point-and-shoot, or cameraphone.

The secret? Composition.

A well-composed photo will invite the viewer in and put the eye at ease. A tremendous composition will grab the eye and demand attention, standing out in a crowd. If you want a simple way to make your photographs go from blah to brilliant, try out some of these techniques for making outstanding compositions.

Get Out of the Middle
When you're looking through the viewfinder, trying to hone in on your subject, it's second nature to stick it right smack dab in the middle of the frame. Especially if you're using a DSLR and you have those circles and focusing lights splayed out from the very center.

When you have just a few microseconds to capture your subject, odds are that you'll unconsciously put it in the center. I know I do this, and I always try to avoid the middle!

What's wrong with the middle? Nothing per se. But think about how the viewer's eye browses the photo. In a photo with the subject right in the middle, the eye travels right to the middle and then has nowhere else to go. It's kind of like a black hole; it gets sucked in and can't get out.

This makes for a somewhat static photo, no matter how interesting the subject itself it. Ideally you want to give the eye some freedom of motion around your photograph.

How do you get out of the middle? One of the most standard ways is following the Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Thirds
This phrase is tossed around a lot in photography lingo. But what does it actually mean?

By dividing up the frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically, you end up with four intersection points. A good rule of thumb is to try to put your subject or subjects around those areas. (It doesn't have to be exact)

Why? Because they are a comfortable place for the eye to rest. Too close to the edge and you feel like the top of your friend's head is colliding with the frame or that marathon runner is running right into the frame. Too much in the middle and you feel stuck and stagnant.

Also, having the subject somewhat near the corners allows there to be more space in the rest of the frame. This will let the viewer's eye to feel less cramped and free to look around the rest of the picture space. This may sound weird and philosophical, but it really works.


The lighthouse and house in this photo roughly coincide with the intersection points. It doesn't have to be exact.

When placing your subject in the frame, try to put it near one of the four intersections. Also, if you have secondary subjects or other main focus points, do the same for them.

The Rule of Thirds is one of the most important principles of composition. It is also at its most powerful when used in combination with the next technique.

Getting Rid of Busy Backgrounds
No one likes to be busy, and having busy photographs is no exception! Photos with busy backgrounds, ones with random people, objects, or other crap are the enemy to clean, purposeful images.

Using the Rule of Thirds with your subject will only take you so far if your picture is also filled with objects that are distracting from the main idea.
It's hard to always be on the lookout for those little things when you're focusing on the subject, but they will be a lot more obvious when you look back at the photos later.

Try to be mindful of what gets into your frame. A lot of times I've taken what I thought was a great picture. But when I review it I find an unwanted branch or other object poking in from the corner. One good piece of advice I've heard is to always do a quick scan of the corners and edges of the frame before pressing that shutter button. I don't always remember, but when I do it often saves me time re-shooting.

Here are some tips you can use to get those busy photos out of your life:

- Waiting until the random people walk out of the frame.
- Moving around your subject to get a less busy angle.
- Moving people/objects out of your frame (when possible/appropriate!)
- Moving closer to cut out extraneous objects.
- Moving your subject to an empty wall or area.
- If using a DSLR, shooting with a wide (low number) aperture to blur the background.

Find Interesting Angles
Another common habit for many photographers is to stick with the straight-on, face-to-face angle in their shots. It is the standard portrait shot, true, and while there is a reason for doing school pictures that way, it doesn't mean that all people shots need to be done with that same angle!

Along with getting out of the middle, I'd like to encourage you to fight the urge and try not to do full-on angles all the time. I feel that pictures shot at an angle look more intriguing and hold the eye longer.

The reason that angled shots often look more interesting is that they add a feeling of depth and distance to your photo. This again gives the viewer's eye more places to travel in the photo.

A straight-on shot against a wall only has so many places to go and has a shorter sense of depth. An angled shot will have more distance and give the viewer more to look at, and more reason for people to keep looking at the photo! Why wouldn't you want to go for more angles, at least some of the time?

Tips on finding different angles:

Horizontal angle: Move slightly to the right or left side of the subject instead of being centered. This will make the lines in the shot diagonal rather than straight.

This picture has strong diagonal lines and an off-center composition to lead the eye.

Vertical Angle: Get above, looking down on the subject. Or get low on the ground and look up at the subject.

This is an extreme upward angle that also fulfills the Rule of Thirds.

Adding Depth
Depth is related to angles in that angling your photo will give you more depth.

But you can also add depth by simply putting or keeping things in the frame that are far away or close up. These things will, once again, give the viewer's eye places to travel to, and give the viewer more reason to keep looking at your photo.


This picture uses angled lines and a slightly blurred background to create a sense of depth.

Breaking the Rules
To conclude, I want to tell you that none of these guidelines are to live and die by. In fact, one reason it's good to know the "rules" of composition is so that you can break them!

There are good pictures that break any and all the guidelines and principles I mentioned here. But there is a difference in knowingly breaking something for a reason and still making a great picture, and breaking something out of a lack of knowledge.

A photographer who knows the basic principles may take a picture with a strongly centered composition. He or she will then know that the picture will have to create visual interest using an aspect other than the Rule of Thirds, such as lighting, color, or angles.

Following and purposefully breaking the rules can definitely be done, and it's something that anyone can learn how to do.

=========================
This tutorial was written as a blog post on simple-snapshot.com.

[Sime]

Thanks for sharing, Jessica.

--Sime

[JAD40]

Very good article!

[JessicaO]

Originally Posted by Sime™

Thanks for sharing, Jessica.

thanks Simon!

[JessicaO]

Originally Posted by JAD40

Very good article!

thanks JAD40, I checked out your flickr photos, really liked the portrait against the asphalt w/ the chalk bubble blowing drawing! very creative idea!

[Evn1ngStar]

Good advise, concisely written and well explained.

[JessicaO]

Originally Posted by Evn1ngStar

Good advise, concisely written and well explained.

Thanks! glad you enjoyed it.

[sk66]

Nice post. I especially liked the last bit.

[JAD40]

Originally Posted by JessicaO

thanks JAD40, I checked out your flickr photos, really liked the portrait against the asphalt w/ the chalk bubble blowing drawing! very creative idea!

Haha thank you! I am combing through your website right now. It's very informative!

[Dougie1993]

Thanks for the tips

The composition I never tend to use is diagonals so I will try to put it to practise from now on.