Contents
What is Composition?
In simple terms, composition is how you arrange the subject or subjects when framing your shot. Subjects include colours, textures, contrasts, patterns, shapes, people, cars, roads, and buildings. The list goes on.
How you arrange those subjects is composition. It’s also about how the various elements in the scene, such as the subject, background, and foreground, are arranged to create a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing image. Good composition can draw the viewer’s eye to the main subject and create a sense of balance and visual interest.
There’s more to good photography than just composition, so we’ve put together practical tips and three steps to help you take better photos.
Why is it Important?
Composition is the foundation block of every photograph. They can significantly impact a picture’s success because they are based on how the human eye and brain perceive and process visual information. You can create compelling, visually appealing images by understanding and applying effective compositional techniques. If you’re anything like me, mastering these techniques is paramount. That’s because they are an excellent handrail that makes shooting more straightforward, helping produce better results more quickly. And once you understand them, you’ll be shooting on autopilot to capture compositionally sound travel photos.
The bottom line of why composition is essential, in its simplest form, is to make the pictures look as good as they can. You want to make your photographs look good. Sometimes, it’s not just a matter of placing elements where you think they should go in the frame; it’s also about how the pictures feel. These compositional techniques are a good starting point. And pairing them can lead to a stronger composition, such as combining the rule of thirds with negative space or balancing elements with selective focus.
1 | Frame Orientation
First up is frame orientation, which is often overlooked. It’s up first because you’ve got to decide whether you want your shot horizontal or vertical. The subjects in your photograph might be better suited to a vertical or horizontal frame, and they would look more balanced that way. Or you may be targeting a specific channel, such as Instagram, a webpage, or a magazine, and require your image to be in a particular orientation.
2 | Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is one of the most popular composition techniques, if not the most. It’s the basis for many images and a strong starting point. It involves dividing the frame into nine equal rectangles, as shown below. The rectangles aren’t significant, but the horizontal and vertical lines are because you aim to place the main subject or other significant parts of the scene, such as horizons, along these lines. The rule of thirds is so commonly used that you’ll find the rule of thirds ‘grid’ in your viewfinder. So, if you didn’t know, that’s the rule of thirds right there.
The theory behind the rule of thirds is that it helps to balance the elements in the frame. However, the rule of thirds is a guideline and a good starting point, so don’t worry if elements don’t sit exactly on the lines, as long as the elements look balanced. If you’re shooting people, consider using the rule of thirds to frame your portraits by placing the subject’s head or eyes along the top line, as in the shot below.
There are other techniques similar to the rule of thirds, such as the Golden Ratio, but I’ve never used them in composition because they are very similar to the rule of thirds and golden points.
3 | Golden Points
Golden points go hand in hand with the rule of thirds and sit at the intersections where you should place your dominant subjects, such as a building or person, like in the picture below. They usually form part of the rule of thirds, but they deserve their own place on this list. That’s because sometimes, you won’t have anything else in the frame to place along the horizontal or vertical lines, so put your subject on a golden point if you don’t know what else to do with it, and you won’t go far wrong. And if you do have a subject and horizontal or vertical lines, aim to put the dominant subject on a golden point.
4 | Symmetry
Symmetry is the balance and repetition of elements on either side of the frame or around a central axis. Think of water that looks like glass to create a mirror image straight across the centre of the frame. You can use symmetry to create a sense of balance and visual interest in a photograph or to convey stability, order, and calmness. Repeating elements, such as patterns, shapes, or lines, or through reflections, helps to create symmetry, as you often see in landscape photographs of lakes, for example.
5 | Negative Space
Negative space is all about space in your shot, but it must be balanced against the central part of the subject. It’s a common technique you’ll have seen in National Geographic, where text overlays the image. If you look closely, you’ll notice the text is rarely over anything significant; it’s usually the negative space.
Negative space also helps create a sense of personal space and is typically oriented toward the individual’s gaze. However, composing your shot oppositely can be edgy – getting the subject looking out of the frame instead of into it. It’s also helpful when you don’t have a long enough lens to fill the frame appropriately, so place the subject on the rule of thirds line or a golden point, and voilà! Ha!
6 | Balancing Elements
Balancing a dominant subject against negative space, for example. Or balancing two elements by using diagonally opposite golden points or two parallel lines that run along the rule of thirds.
Composition is more than just arranging things in certain places because you think they should go there. This is the point at which you might bend the rules of composition a bit. That’s because composition is also about balance and balancing multiple elements, which is more important than you think. But balance isn’t something you can learn from a blog post. It’s something you start to feel as you become more experienced, and you know where to put things, whether using contrast or colours against one another, dominant features against other features, or negative space against the main subject. Or by placing elements on diagonally opposite golden points.
7 | Selective Focus
Selective focus is a technique that uses a shallow depth of field to highlight a specific part of the image while the rest is blurry. Selective focus can help emphasise a particular element of your shot and draw the viewer’s attention to it.
Depth of field is the nearest to the furthest part of an image in focus. A shallow depth of field will have a narrow area in focus, with the rest of the photo remaining blurry. Three factors affect depth of field: focal length, distance to the subject, and aperture.
So, you’ve got your scene, and now you can break it up by separating your subject from the background using selective focus. This gives your viewer nowhere else to look but the sliver of the subject you’ve chosen to be in focus. This technique is so desirable that manufacturers have developed a ‘depth effect’ to create a shallow depth of field on your smartphone.
Remember when I said subjects exist and composition doesn’t until you frame up and take your picture? Well, this is where things get a bit more interesting because you need specific parts of your subject to help fulfil the following composition techniques.
8 | Frame in a Frame
A frame is your subject or at least part of it, but it’s not yet a frame in a frame. To be a frame in a frame, you need to position the subject, usually a frame (a doorway or window frame, for example) or archway around the edge of your viewfinder, like in the picture below. It’s a simple technique that works a charm every time.
9 | Leading Lines
The first thing you need to know about leading lines is that the lines need to lead somewhere. Placing lines in your picture isn’t leading lines unless they lead somewhere. For example, that could be the edges of a road or the road markings that lead the eye to a person walking along the road, a mountain range, or a significant feature. Leading lines need to lead somewhere. Otherwise, they are just lines. Leading Lines are difficult to achieve. To do them well, anyway, because the missing piece of the leading lines puzzle is usually a decent subject at the end of them.
10 | Fill the Frame
Last but not least, fill the frame. Not because it’s the least important, but because it’s the last bit before taking the shot. You should be left with a pleasing frame using the above techniques to arrange the elements, but this is your final check. It’s time to confirm you are filling the frame with what you want so that it’s balanced, with the right things in the right places, to make a balanced and pleasing photo.
Ask yourself whether the subject is too loose, with too much space around it; too tight, with not enough space for the subject to breathe; or whether you are cropping out crucial subjects that should be in the frame. Ensure you fill the frame appropriately – not too tight or loose, with what you want. And don’t worry if you can’t fill the frame exactly how you wish in-camera. You can always crop your shot in editing to refine the balance, since you may prefer a different aspect ratio than what you see in the viewfinder.
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