composition rules

guidelinesthat can improve your photos

• Creating a great photograph takes more than just using the right settings on your camera.

• Good composition also comes into play. When you know how to best arrange all the components within the frame, you’re better able to make a pleasing image and convey the story you want to tell.

• Today we’re going to go over some rules of composition. As we walk through them it might seem like one rule contradicts another. That’s because not every rule applies to every situation. And that’s also why we need to think of these “rules” as guidelines.

• Many times you’ll incorporate more than one rule in a single photo. Sometimes none will be applicable. Be aware you can break a rule and still create a great photo.

• Thing is, if you’re just starting out in photography, it’s good to know these rules and understand why they work. Then, after you gain experience and your own style, you can decide if and when you want to break them.

• For those of you who are seasoned veterans and have heard all this before, it never hurts to review some basics.

SO HERE WE GO!

point of view

The first thing I’d like to go over, is viewpoint. Sometimes you only have a split second to get off a shot, but most of the time you have options regarding how you want to compose your photo, and finding the best point of view is important.

One quick consideration to mention is depth of field, and Joe’s going to talk more about that when I’m done. But if you want your foreground subject to stand out, shoot with a large aperture (that’s a small number) to blur the background. An out-of-focus background eliminates any doubts about where you want your viewer to look by creating separation between the subject and background.

I think sometimes we are so focused on our main subject that we don’t pay attention to anything else in the frame. But people looking at the photo will notice things! So take your time, walk around, and find the best angle to eliminate as many distractions as you can.

Here’s a quick example. In the photo on the left, the statue of Christ looks like He has some wood attached to his back, and water from a fountain that’s hidden spouting from his head. The rope and the patch of dirt on the left are distracting. The vineyard in the background would have been okay but since this angle didn’t leave any space between those posts and the statue, they look like they are sitting on the statue’s head. Remember, we need separation.

I changed my position by just a few steps and got the uncluttered photo on the right. Ah, but notice that little sliver of the wood stake that’s still showing on the edge of the frame? Yep, I should have cloned that out.

Which brings us to the subject of pokies.

Pokies are those stray tree branches, overhead wires, pieces of liter on the ground or other unsightly things that show up in our photos even when we’ve done our darnest to shoot from the best possible viewpoint. So always give your photos the once over in post processing and do necessary clean up. The healing brush and the clone tool are our friends!

When I looked at this photo on my computer, l knew I definitely had to get rid of the white sign behind the bench. Plus there was that little dot of orange in the background which was actually a guy in an orange shirt way in the background and my eye went right to him. I needed to clean up that bird do-do on the bench, and I thought that clump of leaves right up against the bench and touching the frame should probably disappear. Finally, even though it wasn’t necessary, I cloned out that hanging moss in the upper left corner and a couple of pine cones and leaves on the ground.

Here’s a quick look at my finished pokie-free rendition.

perspective

Okay, so let’s talk about perspective.

Maybe it’s because the camera fits into our hands more comfortably when we hold it horizontally, but for some people, shooting in landscape orientation seems to be the only way they see a scene. If that’s you, get in the habit of trying both horizontal and vertical views of an image before you move on.

I’m using this photo to illustrate one really good habit that improves many images. Shoot at eye level. You may be 5’9” but a squirrel on the ground isn’t. Same goes for pets, flowers, mushrooms, grandkids and countless other shorter-than-you subjects. So often we just keep the camera in front of our face and shoot downward at an angle but when you get down on the same level as your subject, you put the viewer more intimately into the scene.

Here’s a comparison. I shot both of these standing in basically the same spot with my 50mm lens at f.5 With the top one I looked down. With the bottom one I got down. The top one’s not terrible, but with my lens angled down, my only background option is, well, ground. When I got down, I was able to not only show the decaying vegetation on the stones better — which I think helped emphasize the state of neglect these stones were in — but also include the cemetery background. I thing the second one is a better photo.

You want to consider different perspectives. Maybe shoot from directly overhead or directly below. Here, I stood as close to the building as I could and shot upward. I think this perspective emphasizes what a long climb it would be coming down that fire escape.

Anytime you can show a familiar subject in a somewhat different way, you make your photo stand out from the norm.

Another perspective tip is to add scale when you are photographing something that could be any size. If you can, include something of known size - like a person - into the scene which gives the viewer an idea about how big or small things are.

The Rule of Thirds The rule of thirds is based on drawing an imaginary tic-tac-toe grid over your image and then placing your subject at one of the intersecting lines. When something is off center, the viewer is more engaged. Things don’t seem as orderly. Rather than just zeroing in on a center object and staying there, his or her eyes continue to look in the other parts of the frame to see what else is there.

It’s good to know why this rule works, but remember, placement doesn’t have to be exact, just in the vicinity. In fact, basically, what we’re saying is it’s best to not have your subject smack-dab in the middle of the frame. Off center generally works best and placing things on or close to those grid intersections leaves space between the subject and the edge of the frame.

By putting a subject that is capable of moving over to one side, you are visually suggesting that that subject has the room it needs to move across the frame.

An off-center placement here added some mystery. The bird is placed using the rule of thirds, but because the composition has him looking outside the frame rather than inward, I’m giving the viewer the chance to wonder what’s caught his attention; what is he looking at?

Bulls-eyeSo now that we’ve established that putting the subject off center is usually the way to go, let’s explore some times when it is okay to ignore that rule and use the bulls-eye rule instead.

This rule says its fine to place something in the middle of your image if it is visually strong enough to take center stage and you fill the frame with your subject. One example of this is a close-up of a flower. The flower’s center is usually the most detailed part, and the petals surrounding and extending outward will add the symmetry that can be the result of a bulls-eye placement.

Other good candidates for center placement are portraits and close ups. Remember the secret is to fill the frame. When you fill the frame with only one subject, you don’t need or want the viewer’s eye to keep exploring. There’s only one thing to look at.

fill the frameSo what exactly do we mean by fill the frame. A common mistake beginning photographers make is not getting close enough to their subject so their photo ends up with too much extra stuff surrounding what they really meant to showcase. If it doesn’t contribute to the story, why is it there? When there is too much going on in an image, your viewer gets confused trying to figure out where to look. And when you don’t make your subject large enough, your viewer can’t see important details. So stand closer, zoom in or crop later - but make sure you fill the frame with what matters.

Here’s another butterfly photo to illustrate what I mean. In the top photo there is just too much busy grass and leaves in my photo. It’s distracting and it doesn’t add anything. As shot, it’s hard to see the detail in my passion flower and butterfly. When I cropped, I still left enough background to give some environmental information but I made the image simpler by zeroing in on the only thing I really wanted to show. The fill-the-frame photo creates more impact.

Negative space Negative space is an important concept in photography. It is the area which surrounds the parts of your photo you want to emphasize - which is called positive space. Negative space could simply be background that is out of focus or it could be a big patch of the same color or pattern such as a wall or sky that takes up a large portion of the frame. Negative space isolates your subject so that it gets noticed. It also keeps your image from being too busy or cluttered.

Using negative space can be an artistic decision as well. It can convey a feeling of isolation or loneliness or definitely simplicity. I could have cropped and made the heron larger, but I liked the idea of using a texture background as negative space to suggest the bird had landed in a vast open field.

Speaking of negative space, let’s revisit that point about breathing room we mentioned when we were talking about the rule of thirds. You don’t want to place objects right up against the edge of a photo. The top photo is too tight. It just looks uncomfortable. So, yes you do want to fill the frame, but you don’t want to make things too crowded. With images like this, you need to keep a buffer of some negative space between objects and the edge of the frame. No touching allowed!

Leading lines Next up, leading lines. Using a road, bridge, footprints, shoreline, shadows, or other various real or implied lines in your photo is a great compositional tool to take your viewer’s eye right down a path through the frame. And if the leading line has something of visual interest for the viewer to see once he or she gets to the end of that line, that’s even better.

Leading lines can be straight or curvy. In fact curved lines that wind through a photo keep the viewer occupied even longer as he or she explores your photo’s terrain.

Converging lines are two or more lines that get closer and closer towards the end. Here, the stucco wall and the columns of the building form a converging line that lead the viewer’s eyes to the pot of red flowers. What’s great about converging lines is that they add a strong sense of three-dimensional depth.

I’m showing this photo to point out an interesting fact when it comes to leading lines and our brains. In the original photo the fence started from the right corner. I flipped it so that it started on the left because in America, we are conditioned to read left to right, and therefore following a leading line left to right feels more natural.

HorizonsSpeaking of lines, this rule is one you definitely need to learn. Make sure your horizon lines are straight. If you don’t get it right in camera (I usually don’t) it is super easy to correct in post processing using your software’s straightening tool.

It’s also a good idea to avoid placing the horizon line in the middle of the frame. Decide which is more interesting, top or bottom, and show more of one or the other.

Surprise! Just to show that rules were made to be broken, here is a photo where the horizon is definitely off kilter. This type of composition is called a Dutch angle. It’s a creative shot that can create a sense or motion or unease for the viewer. Once in a while it’s good to shake things up a bit, especially if you’re shooting a familiar subject. But remember, if your horizon line is not straight, it has to be obvious that you did it on purpose. If it is just a little bit off, it looks bad.

Visual DepthWe touched on this a little bit when we were discussing converging lines, but it’s important to remember that people see things in three dimensions while our photos are only two dimensional. So with landscapes especially, having an easily defined foreground, middle ground and background provides that needed visual depth to an image. You want the viewer to feel like they could step right into the frame and continue walking from front to back.

rule of oddsThe rule of odds states that having three similar objects in a photo is more interesting than having just two. And having five objects is more interesting than four. Of course once you get larger numbers than that, a group is just a group. But the theory is that since odd numbers are more random and less orderly, they keep the viewer looking around the frame.

When you’re putting together a still life grouping, using an odd number of components is definitely a good idea. On the other hand, this is one of those rules that you don’t want to get too hung up on. When your out shooting, don’t dismiss a photo as bad simply because it had two or four subjects instead of three or five. Content is king!

Frame the shotFraming is a great way to narrow the scope of where you want your viewer to look.

Not only does forcing your viewer to look through a window, a doorway, a tunnel, a fence, or other opening to see parts of your image draw attention to a particular subject, it keeps his or her attention on that subject longer.

There are a lot of ways to use framing in nature. Look for openings in trees, bushes or other vegetation. Here, the overhanging tree limb and the row of bushes at the bottom of this photo framed the stands at the polo grounds.

Don’t amputate When it comes to people and animals, it’s not nice to cut off parts of their body. I’m not talking about well-planned out cropping. I’m talking about getting sloppy when you look in your viewfinder and leaving off a portion of a hand or foot or a wing or a tail. That kind of amputation is bad.

When you do choose to only show portions of a person, the consensus is to not crop at joints such as ankles, knees or waist. Cropping at mid chest, mid thigh, or mid shin looks best.

On a personal note, someone once asked me if I thought it was okay to only show part of a flower in an image. And, I was like, of course. I really didn’t know some might think it was wrong. For me, It’s just one of the ways to present a flower a little differently. Since I love closeups and negative space, I often give my subjects a creative crop. You do have to experiment though. Sometimes I’ll try three or four different equations before I think the balance is right.

Symmetry

A symmetrical photo is one that is split in half — top to bottom or left to right — and both halves are identical or nearly identical. There are many examples of symmetry, both in nature and the man-made world, which can make for pleasing images. Photos with symmetry convey calmness, harmony and stability. A good example is a mirror-like reflection of a landscape in a body of water. Or a building with a central door and matching windows on either side. Your challenge as a photographer is to notice symmetrical scenes and use them as a compositional tool.

Obviously, when capturing a left to right symmetrical scene, you want to make sure you stand perpendicular to the middle to make things even. And you can ignore that no-center-horizon rule we mentioned earlier if you’re going for top to bottom symmetry. Splitting the scene perfectly in half with the horizon line is the only obvious way to achieve symmetry.

balance

When components in your photo aren’t balanced, it creates tension and a little confusion on the viewer’s part. And sometimes that’s just want you want. On the other hand, when your goal is to present a calming, well-organized image, you should try to distribute components of similar visual weight equally throughout the frame.

A photograph that has a large object on one side and a small object on the other side is going to look lopsided. But it gets tricky. Balance is not only dependent on the size and number of objects within a scene. There are lots of variables such as brightness, color, closeness to the camera as well as to other objects— all these things work to give some objects more visual weight than others.

With this photo the blooms and leaves at the bottom right balance the butterfly and single bloom at the top left.

In this photo, I’ve got one horse on the left. Two horses on the right. But because of the different proximity to the camera, and the fact that the two horses in the background are close enough together to visually form one unit, I feel the the photo is balanced.

I think some people just have a good eye and achieving balance in their photos comes naturally. For others, it might require a little more work. If you feel that’s you, maybe study photos you see as balanced and pay attention to the various elements and how they are arranged.

Repetition

There is a kind of rhythmic feeling to images that contain repetition like the identical shapes in this iron fence But I bet you noticed the one round post top that broke the sameness, didn’t you? Because too much repetition can get a bit boring, a good composition trick is to include one not-the-same component in your image. A surprise element will keep your viewer engaged. When you capture a flower that has one petal bent inward when all the other petals are flowing straight out or a bowl of red applies with just one green apple in the mix, you break up the repetition and peak the viewer’s interest.

Color

Finally, I’d like to talk a little bit about color and how it affects our photos. Did your eye go right to the sign? That’s because bold colors like red will pop to the foreground of an image - and draw your viewer’s attention — especially when the surroundings are more neutral. I can testify to that because the sign caught my eye as I was driving down the highway.

• RED - The color of fire and blood - suggests danger, anger, strength, passion.

• YELLOW & ORANGE - The colors of the sun - suggests energy, happiness, warmth.

• GREEN - The color of nature - suggests freshness, growth, harmony.

Here are some attributes of various colors to help us understand how they might affect the mood of our photos.

• BLUE - The color of the sky and sea - suggests vastness, calmness, cold.

• PURPLE - The color of royalty - suggests luxury, power, wealth.

• WHITE - suggests goodness, innocence, purity.

• BLACK - suggests evil, mystery, despair.

Take a look at the color wheel. Red, yellow and blue are primary colors - they are the basis of every color. Green, orange and purple are secondary colors. They are the result of combining two primary colors. So yellow plus blue equals green, yellow plus red equals orange, and red plus blue equals purple. Terse-ery colors are all the countless variations that come from mixing a primary color with a secondary color. The main point for us as photographers is that colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are complementary colors. They contrast each other so that each color stands out.

The good news is nature gives us plenty of complementary color combos. And, anytime you can find a complementary color scheme in architecture or other settings, it’s a plus. Here are a couple I found in my archives. Both red and green and blue and orange are opposite each other on the color wheel and give vivid contrast.

You might not have ever thought about black and white and all the different shades of grey in-between as colors. But they are. Remember, we included them in our color attributes And deciding if you should convert a photo to black and white is one last composition decision. A black and white photo is dramatic, takes away a bit of reality, and asks the viewer to focus on details. Good candidates for black and white photos are those with a good range of gray tones — everything from near white to near black -plus lots of textures and patterns, like this old weathered barn, to bring out those tones.

• So there you have it: a few rules — better known as guidelines — that I hope will help you with composition. But don’t get overwhelmed by them or let them restrict your creativity. I’ll leave you with this quote by Pablo Picasso.

• “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”