Photo' Composition                                                  Back

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Composition in probably the most important element in photography. Although exposure

is critical, most cameras, today, take care of that for you. Composition on the other hand is

your responsibility, only you can decide what is important in a photo & how to best

emphases it. Some rules for good composition are:

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1. Never place an important item in the center of a photograph.

a. mentally divide the frame in to thirds both vertically & horizontally.

b. place important elements on or near the spots where the lines intersect.

c. What we are looking for is balance. We want the eye to move around the photo in a

smooth manner resting on the important elements.

2. Look for ways to lead the eye to the main subject.

a. A drive way or road leading to a house or building: The surf line leading to a surfer or

sunset, a branch leading to a flower, an arm leading to the shoulder & then on to the

face. etc. You get the idea.

b. Focus: by making your main object clearer then the rest of a photo' the eye

automatically will go to the clear object.

c. Lighting: The eye will automatically go to the brightest object in a photo.

1. However as we look at a photo our eyes will travel to other areas, so we can add

surprises by hiding other important features in shadow areas. Make your photo's

interesting.

3. Have things coming or looking into the photograph. A person, animal, auto, or anything

that moves should be coming not going. A deer jumping into a photo will look better

then one jumping out. A person on the right hand of a picture looking to the right could

be considered bad composition. There are exceptions to any rule. That's where your

judgment comes in, you are, after all, the photographer. (A person standing on a rock

jutting out from a mountain, looking into the distance, is one example.)

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Look at photographs in magazines on postcards, etc. Think about why you like/dislike

that particular photo and how you would change it for the better.

Shoot a lot of film & critique your own photo's.