A little composition I made just for you…
The rules of photography are easy…there are none. But if you take a closer look at most photography you’ll begin to see some pretty simple patterns. I was well into my hobby when someone who had viewed my photos said “nice use of the rule of thirds”. I was confused and not wanting to sound stupid, I said “thanks!” like I had planned it to happen that way all along. I then did what I always seem to do. I got online and went to Google and looked it up. Maybe that’s even how you ended up here now, reading this.
So today I thought I’d share a few rules of photo composition with you. If this inspires you to go out and try a few of these ideas, then my work here is done. After all, the only real rule of photography is always have your camera with you.
We’ll start with the rule of thirds…
Rule of Thirds
It’s simple. Just imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal boxes, two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines like this:
The rule of thirds says that you should position your subject or the most important elements in your scene along these lines or at the points where they intersect. It will create more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would. See how the owl is centered over the second vertical line and almost intersecting where that line and the top horizontal line meet? It’s actually more of a personal preference I think but I do think that it’s much better than just centering your subject, don’t you think?
If you’re lucky you may have a digital camera that will even superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it easy to use. Yes, that’s what that little grid is for.
Balancing Elements
This is simply balancing the visual weight of your subject.
Leading Lines
When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. If you think about the way you place the lines in your composition, you can pull your audience into the photo, towards the subject matter.
In the example below, see how the line of the bridge draws your eye into the centre of the photo and across to the land beyond.
I’m ready for my close-up
Filling the frame with as much of a subject as possible can be quite interesting. Any distracting background is eliminated plus your photo can become quite abstract and beautiful.
Background
How many times have you taken that great shot and discovered later that the background is so distracting or that your subject blends in with the background so much that your photo ends up losing the visual impact that you had hoped? The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between different elements in a scene, whereas a camera tends to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an otherwise great photo. Thankfully you can avoid this by planning more carefully. Look around for a plain or unobtrusive background and compose your shot so it doesn’t take away from your subject.
Framing
This is using other objects in the photograph to frame the main subject. You can look for natural frames…it should draw attention to the subject of your image.
Horizon lines
Don’t let them fall dead center of the photo…just refer back to the rule of thirds. And it’s not a good idea to have the horizon line cut through the head of anyone in the photo.
Portraits
When taking photos of people, try to keep the eye level above the center line of the photo. And while we’re speaking about eye levels…if you’re taking photos of children, get down on their level so you’re not shooting down on them. Unless this is the perspective you’re aiming for…
…like I said earlier, it’s really a matter of preference. If you have a vision of what you want your photo to be, then go for it. Remember there are really no rules here. As a good friend of mine Brandon Corrie always says, "Photography is all about just having fun."
So today I thought I’d share a few rules of photo composition with you. If this inspires you to go out and try a few of these ideas, then my work here is done. After all, the only real rule of photography is always have your camera with you.
We’ll start with the rule of thirds…
Rule of Thirds
It’s simple. Just imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal boxes, two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines like this:
The rule of thirds says that you should position your subject or the most important elements in your scene along these lines or at the points where they intersect. It will create more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would. See how the owl is centered over the second vertical line and almost intersecting where that line and the top horizontal line meet? It’s actually more of a personal preference I think but I do think that it’s much better than just centering your subject, don’t you think?
If you’re lucky you may have a digital camera that will even superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it easy to use. Yes, that’s what that little grid is for.
Balancing Elements
This is simply balancing the visual weight of your subject.
When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. If you think about the way you place the lines in your composition, you can pull your audience into the photo, towards the subject matter.
In the example below, see how the line of the bridge draws your eye into the centre of the photo and across to the land beyond.
I’m ready for my close-up
Filling the frame with as much of a subject as possible can be quite interesting. Any distracting background is eliminated plus your photo can become quite abstract and beautiful.
Background
How many times have you taken that great shot and discovered later that the background is so distracting or that your subject blends in with the background so much that your photo ends up losing the visual impact that you had hoped? The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between different elements in a scene, whereas a camera tends to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an otherwise great photo. Thankfully you can avoid this by planning more carefully. Look around for a plain or unobtrusive background and compose your shot so it doesn’t take away from your subject.
Framing
This is using other objects in the photograph to frame the main subject. You can look for natural frames…it should draw attention to the subject of your image.
Horizon lines
Don’t let them fall dead center of the photo…just refer back to the rule of thirds. And it’s not a good idea to have the horizon line cut through the head of anyone in the photo.
Portraits
When taking photos of people, try to keep the eye level above the center line of the photo. And while we’re speaking about eye levels…if you’re taking photos of children, get down on their level so you’re not shooting down on them. Unless this is the perspective you’re aiming for…
…like I said earlier, it’s really a matter of preference. If you have a vision of what you want your photo to be, then go for it. Remember there are really no rules here. As a good friend of mine Brandon Corrie always says, "Photography is all about just having fun."
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