Learning a few good photo composition tips will have a big impact on making you a better photographer. Some composition rules are made to be broken, but if you understand them, you'll have a lot more success in taking pictures with good composition.
- What's the point? What do you want to capture in your photograph? Decide ahead of time what you want your photo to be about. It may be capturing the emotion of a person. Your picture may be to create a photographic record of a special event.
You may be trying to capture a beautiful landscape or striking architecture. You are the creator of the photo so you want to control what it emphasizes.
Change your perspective. In the left photo, all 3 statues are equally emphasized. I stood farther back from the subject and zoomed in with the telephoto lens. Now, look at the photo on the right. What a difference when I move closer to the statues and a little to my right. I used a wide angle view with the camera lens. The two people in the back are about the same size, but the girl and her book are more prominent.
Different angles and different distances of the same subject can completely change the impact that a photo will have on the viewer.
For an article on photo composition in nature photography, click here: Nature Photography Composition
- Fill the frame. A common photos mistake is to keep extra "stuff" in your camera frame that doesn't add to the effect you want to achieve. Use your zoom lens or get closer to eliminate distractions that take away from your subject.
In this vacation photo in the Canadian Rockies, moving just a little close eliminated the bright and distracting sidewalk in the photo on the left.
- Look for lines. Using lines is a great way to achieve good photo composition. Diagonal line and curves that naturally lead you eyes into the photo are called leading lines.
Lines within your picture cause your eye to move from one place in your picture to another. This makes it more interesting to look at.
- Pick the right format.
Look through your viewfinder with your camera in a horizontal and then a vertical position.
For the photo above, vertical looks much better. In the photo on the left, there is too much space with distracting objects in the background.
- Watch the horizon. Using the lcd screen on the back of your camera is awkward and makes it tough to keep your horizon level. It is very noticeable with beach portraits. Try looking through your viewfinder if possible and keeping it level.
I break this rule frequently when I am shooting casuals of high schools seniors. In the photo below, I shot at an angle and it enhanced the composition because of the interaction with the angles of the railroad tracks.
Notice where I placed the most important part of the photograph, the young model's head. The tilt of the camera sets her body as a diagonal in the image.
- Place your center of interest. Often it's not a good idea to place the center of interest in the center of the photo. Try using the popular Rule of Thirds when it's appropriate. It is often a great way to make your picture better.
- Can you frame it? Are there opportunities that allow you to naturally "frame" your subject? Try including an element in the side, top or bottom of your viewfinder that partially surrounds your subject.
The cruise ship is framed in the bottom of the picture by the sand and beach chairs. The tree and it's branches form a frame on the side and the top.
On this page called: How to Take Horse Pictures I used the fence in the background and the grasses in the foreground to frame in my cuddling subjects (it's the third photo down).
- Create Depth. This is a photo composition tip that can really separate your photos from the average photographer. Compose your picture with objects at several distances from your camera. This creates a path or a direction for your eye to follow. In this fun photo taken on the deck of a cruise ship, our eye can travel from the appealing cool drink,
to the girl's toes, to the safety railing, to the small tropical island in the distance.
What's amusing right now about this vacation photo is that as I am writing this page, it's 20 degrees outside. The wind is howling and there is about 10 inches of snow on the ground.
- Keep it balanced. Photos will look lopsided if there is a lot of subject matter on one side of the photo. This is one of the things you learn to sense as you gain more experience. Use something small to counterbalance on the empty side of you photograph.
