12 weeks to better photography: composition

For week 5, the lesson stepped away from the techical parts of the camera and was all about composition. Composition is an art and there are no hard rules; what may appeal to some people may not appeal to others; but there are some tips that are generally accepted to be true.

Tip #1- Keep it simple

This is about eliminating distractions in the background and foreground to make sure that your subject is the first place the eye goes when looking at the picture. I took this picture of John below in March, 2008 in Germany. I probably should have had him step away from the pillars because when you look at this picture at a glance, you notice the red stocking caps- not John below.

Tip #2 Apply the rule of thirds

This one has been around for awhile and it capitalizes on the fact that our eyes are naturally drawn to a point about two-thirds of the way up or over on a photo. When you are taking a picture, mentally divide your screen into 3rds and you will want to compose your photo to that your subject is located at one of the intersecting points. So much for trying to get everyone centered! Turns out it looks better if they are off center a bit. Of course there are situations where this would not be best, but after looking through my photos, I find it to be mostly true.

Here is an image with the grid to help visualize:

Tip # 3 Keep and eye on the horizon

I don't have any photo examples for this one, but basically you are supposed to place the horizon about 2/3 up on a photo to keep the focus on what is below (land or water) or position it 1/3 the way up to keep the focus on the sky.

Tip #4 Frame your subject

You can use architectural elements or things in nature to frame your subject for visual interest.

Our wedding photographer used the 2 hedges to frame us in the photo below

Tip #5 Fill the frame

In order to give the subject more prominence and focus, one technique is to fill the frame so there really is no where else for the eye to go. You can achieve this with any existing photo by cropping out the subjects face, or you can get real close in the first place. Below is a picture of Abbie, I think Samantha took this one, but it's a good example of filling the frame.

Tip#6 Try a new perspective

This encourages you to take horizonatal and vertical shots of the same subject, or to hit the ground when taking pictures of kids and pets to see the world through thier view.

This was a fun week, and I know you can't use all of these at the same time, but I look forward to experimenting with them!