Top 7 Composition Tips

Use the lines

You should aim to utilise the lines within the photo, the horizontals, verticals and diagonals. Diagonal lines will give the photo more depth while vertical lines will provide dynamic interest in the photo. You can use the diagonals to lead the viewer’s eye to the focal point while the vertical lines will tend to be the focal point (people, buildings etc).

Shoot Vertically and Horizontally

A big mistake that a lot of people seem to make is always shooting landscape (with the long edge of the photo forming the top and bottom of the picture. Don’t forget that the camera can be turned 90 degrees to shoot more vertical lines and give the feeling of height. It is easily done and if you are not sure how to frame a picture then experimenting with having the camera in both positions doubles the possibilities for you.

Ensure You Have a Focal Point

When I first started taking photos (and sometime even now) I used to take wide expansive shots trying to take in as much of a scene as I could fit into the lens. However, this approach tends to leave the photograph feeling a bit dull and lifeless. There is no real focal point and everything can look a bit messy. You need to ask the question what is the photo about? What do I want to show the viewer? What is my subject? By focusing on a specific subject the photograph will suddenly be far more interesting. So what do you do if you have a fantastic place to photograph that won’t fit into one frame? Break it down into smaller shots, in short; take more photos!

Filling the Frame

Your photographs are a certain size; you can see what you are taking through the viewfinder. The last thing that you want is lots of empty space around a small subject that will create boredom in the eyeballs. Make sure that the frame is bursting with stuff that is visually pleasing that makes people want to look at the shot you have taken. That is the point after all! If this can’t be achieved when taking the shot then think about how to crop the photograph in Photoshop that will provide maximum impact. Don’t be afraid to cut off parts of the subject if it makes the photo more dynamic or eye catching. But you do need to be aware that cropping people and objects in the wrong place can look odd (cropping out peoples ankles for example). But experiment with the photo and have fun just remember the Ctrl-Alt Z button in Photoshop to undo.

Change Your Perspective

A lot of things have been photographed before. How you can you make a shot stand out? Come at it from a different angle, of course. Get down on your knees. Sit on someone shoulders, whatever it takes, regularly try and take shots from the low and high vantage points, try and come up with a way to photograph a subject that you’ve never seen before. Take my picture of the London Eye. There are hundreds of shots of it as a wheel or of the spokes at a jaunty angle but I haven’t seen many that show it from the side like this (I’m opening myself up here; I’ll have to go and check on flickr).  Notice how the Eye itself gives you a vertical element focal point while the Saatchi  Gallery in the town hall gives you the diagonal leading to the focal point.

Type of Elements

Think about the textures and shapes, colours and patterns that you see in everyday life and try and utilise these things in your photographs. The wood grain in a door, the parallel lines of a ploughed field, the paint peeling from a wall can all lead to interesting photographs. Remember you want to take photographs that make people wish they were there to touch, feel and smell what you have shot. By generating that emotional response from people that is when you start to realise that you are taking good photographs.

Break the Rules

Almost as cheesy as the Rule of Thirds that is in every list (not included here due to its inclusion previously in another post) is the opportunity to break all of these rules. There will be occasions where simply ignoring the rules will result in a breathtaking photograph or something startlingly original. In which case don’t feel held back by self imposed rules, after all nobody will complain if your photograph drips genius but does not follow some of these guidelines.

Other Tips

Digital Photography Blog has a nice round up full of compositional tips

Mac Dev Centre has some tips on overall improvement of Digital Photos

Digital Camera has the more conventional ‘Top 10’ Compositional Tips

About have some compositional tips for painters but they are useful background knowledge for photographers too.

Comments

[Jon]

Cool advice, thanks!

[Free icons]

Cool,thx