I had not appreciated the fundamental importance of composition when I started photography. Probably everybody starts out just wanting to make sure they get the subject of their image in the center, and are concentrating on getting the image in focus. As I began to learn more, every reference to beginning photography emphasised that understanding composition comes before just about everything else. It made sense- having a boring image perfectly in focus is still a boring image. Here are some of the techniques I have learned so far. I am indebted to Tony and Chelsea Northrup and their brilliant book Stunning Digital Photography for their chapter on composition
TELLING A STORY.
I had no concept of an image telling a story beyond obvious examples in photojournalism in newspapers and on T.V Think about the image before you take the shot. Discovering the value of “story telling” in photography is possible the most important lesson I have learnt so far. I have learnt to ask “is there a “story” here”? Am I trying to convey a particular feeling, or situation? Particularly in street photography, it is possible to convey a story happening in a photo- even if the story is different for different people. The value for me in thinking this way is to not simply take a photo for the sake of it. It gets down to the question- what is the point of this image? Stories don’t always have to involve people- you can convey a story by photographing wild weather for example, or a car at the side of the road.
Think about what the “subject” is. It may be a person, but a subject can be anything that is of particular importance to make the image work.
Try not to have a cluttered image. This is particularly important if there is a lot of detail in the background. Sometimes a busy background is part of the composition, like a street scene for example; however, busy backgrounds can be distracting and take the focus away from the subject.
I need to physically move around- sometimes a subtle shift in position can dramatically alter how the image looks, and gives a new and interesting perspective. Or move the subject, if that is possible.
I don’t necessarily have to get the whole of the subject in frame- many images work by shooting the subject at an angle, with just half of the subject visible but clearly showing what it is. This makes the image more interesting. Here is an example:
One every well-known technique is the Rule of Thirds. This involves imagining two lines across the horizontal plane of the image, and two vertical. Where the lines intersect is where to place the subject, so it is not dead center. Cameras now can actually show this in the viewfinder. The subject will always be 1/3 from the sides of the image. Sometimes placing the subject in the center is appropriate, for example if you deliberately want to show how large something is, such as portraits, a building, or mountain. The image below places both objects to the right of center,
Space. Give the subject room for movement. Try to frame the image so that a dog for example, is running into space in front of it- this prevents the dog from appearing to be crowded. This works with the Rule of Thirds technique:
I learned through feedback on one of my photos that even landscapes need a FOCAL POINT. Without this, the landscape can be seen as just background. For example, when shooting the sea with hills or mountains behind, having a small boat, or even a large one in the scene adds to the image. The focal point should still try to conform to the Rule of Thirds if possible; otherwise the focal point will become a distraction.. In the image below the bush on the left conforms to the Rule of Thirds, and is not distracting from the scene
Zooming in can help reduce clutter. When using a prime lens (lens with a fixed focal length) physically moving back or towards the subject can achieve this. If using a telephoto lens, by stepping back from the subject and zoom in will reduce the amount of background visible and will highlight the subject.
Using Lines is helpful for drawing the viewers’ attention to a particular part of the image. The line draws the viewers eye through the image. We are all familiar with images showing a railway line- the two lines converge at some point. Images like this should have a focal point where the lines converge. Lines can be curved such as in a tunnel or a curved wall. Lines can be used artistically to convey movement. One of my challenges has been to get horizontal lines, such as a landscape or the sea, in a straight line. Although this can often be fixed in post editing, it is a skill I would like to accomplish at the time of taking the shot. In this photograph I was attempting to use the lines of the street architecture:
Frames can help compose a shot. I have attempted to do this by using the trees here:
In this shot I was attempting to frame the ship by the gap in the radio tower:
DEPTH. If an image has more depth it becomes more interesting, and three dimensional. Shooting at an angle provides depth.
FRAMING EDGES. It is easy to ignore something sticking in to the frame from the edge, such as a tree branch. Whilst a lot can be done in post editing to remove these unwanted incursions, sometimes simply being aware of them before taking the shot, and moving position, can create a cleaner image with no distractions. If possible leave some space in the image around the subject to provide depth, and balance.
There is much more to composition, as I am discovering, but for now I am prioritizing these techniques before moving further! I hope this is of value to you as you progress on your own photographic learning adventure!
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