Those who look for beauty, find it. Unknown - Quote found on WhoSezHome.com

Photo Composition - Tell the story of the scene.

Photograph Composition

How we view a photograph is as much what we see as what we don't. Like a fine story the image will talk to us in ways we don't immediately see. Once you understand the basic rules of photography you will start to see photographs and take photographs differently.

The true essence of composition is the art os assembling objects in your photograph in such a way as to emphasise the subject and present it the way that you want to show it. These "objects" become the foreground, the background, the "framing", and the light.

Good compositions are usually quite simple. While there may be numerous objects but there is never any doubt as to what the subject is. The important thing to remember is that wherever you start, you will only get better with practice and by learning to think before you shoot.

Rule of Thirds or Golden Section Propotion Rule

Landscape/portrait photographers often use this rule.

It has been found that certain points in a scene attract the viewer's attention. This is why many natural or man-made objects with certain proportions automatically please us. Leonardo da Vinci investigated the principles of what denotes beauty and harmony and coined the term Golden Section. However, long before Leonardo, Babylonian, Egyptian, and ancient Greek masters also applied the Golden Section Proportion Rule in architecture and art.

Most photographers will refer to this as the Rule of Thirds. The rule of thirds states that, key points to a photograph should be placed at points which are one third up and one third in or two thirds up and one third in etc. The human eye is drawn to a point about two-thirds up a page. When taking and cropping photographs you should keep these intersections in mind and try to place your subject accordingly. Take a look at the photos of the bird on a ship. Place your mouse cursor over the image to see the lines which show you the rule of thirds.

This is an uncropped version of the photo. The bird is placed in the middle of the image. While not a bad image in itself look at the image below. Place your cursor over the image to see the Rule of Thirds Grid.

Scenic and landscape photography will be more pleasing when you keep the rule of thirds in mind.

If the area of interest is land or water, the horizon line will usually be two-thirds up from the bottom. Alternately, if the sky is the area of emphasis, the horizon line may be one-third up from the bottom, leaving the sky to take up the top two-thirds of the picture:

Diagonal Lines

Diagonal lines are a very effective way of drawing the viewers eye to points of interest. These lines do not have to be obvious lines. They can also be subtle lines which draw the viewers attention.

Perspective

Perspective refers to the relationship of objects in a photograph. Perspective includes objectives relative positions and sizes as well as the space between them. Composition of a photograph determines how three-dimensional objects are captured in a photograph which has a two-dimensional plane.

When you look at the two images above you can see how changing perspective can dramatically change the look of the final image. The image on the left was taken from the parking area. The zoom lens was set to approx 90mm. (Based upon an image sensor with a 1.4x factor.) For the image on the right the camera position was moved to the photographers left and the zoom was set to approx 55mm. The resulting image has more depth. Whenever you are photographing an image be sure to consider different shooting angles.

Depth of Field

Dept of field is discussed in more detail elsewhere in the website. [Depth of Field] Depth of field is the area of the photography which is in focus. Proper use of dept of field is as important to composition as any factor.

Basic Composition Tips

   Hold your camera at the main subjects level. Taking photos from a lower or higher angle will distort the perspective. This is especially onbvious if you are using a point and shoot camera or a SLR with a wide angle lens.

   You should always be paying attention to your main light source. If the light is behind your subject you will need to turn your flash on. Fill flash does not often work well for strong back lighted subjects.

  If you have a choice in backgrounds try to pick backgrounds which complement your main subjects color. Always note that a dark headed or dark subject will not stand out against a dark background.

  Learn to look at the entire viewfinder. What is in front of your subject and what is behind it.

  If your subject is moving. Say a child on a bike or a runner leave some space in the image for the subject to run into. If you are shooting action and have a digital camera with a mode for sports you will want to use that mode. However, make sure you know where the camera is focusing.

  Lastly, rules are made to be broken! If doing everything wrong makes the photo look great to you, then do it. The whole idea of photography is the personal experience of you capturing your surroundings in a way which pleases you.

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