What makes good composition in photo

You can position various focal points along your line or just have one main area focus at the end of your line that the eye will settle on. Shapes can be used in a similar way, for example, imagine a triangle and position three points of focus at the end of each point where the lines of the shape meet.

By doing so you create balance in your shot as well as subtly guiding the eye. Having too much going on in your frame can mean the person who's looking at it just keeps searching for a point of focus and soon gets bored of looking when they can't find one. This doesn't mean you can't have secondary points of focus, it just means you should make every effort to make sure they don't steal all the limelight.

Take a look at our tutorial on using points of interest in photography for more information on this. If you're working on portraits make sure there are no unwanted items sticking out of your subject's head and unless it adds to the shot, throw the background out of focus. To do this, select a wider aperture if working with a DSLR or select the Portrait Mode on a compact camera to tell it you want to work with a wider aperture. If you're working with plants and flowers try creating your own backgrounds out of card and material which can be slipped into your bag alongside your camera gear.

Shots, where there's symmetry in them such as lamp posts lining either side of a street, a long line of trees or a series of arches, can also be used to guide the eye to a single point. Just remember you need a focus point at the end of your shot otherwise it won't work as well.

Symmetry can also involve non-related objects that resemble each other in shape, colour or texture. Having fore-, middle- and background detail will add depth to your image as well as draw the eye through the picture. Compositional elements that complement each other, for example with colour or by association, work well but do be careful with the size of objects you use and how you place them as you don't want the shot to be thrown off balance.

You don't want a rock in the foreground of your landscape shot, for example, drawing the eye away from the hills and mountains in the background. Adding water to the foreground can also lighten your shot as well as adding an extra element of interest as it reflects the sky back out. The problem very well might be that the composition was off. Composition is everything when it comes to a photograph. Oftentimes, the technical side of an image is pretty easy to learn, so the one thing that separates a great image from one that is less interesting is the composition.

Everyone has a camera these days, so how you are able to visually capture something that is also being photographed by the masses right alongside you will help to distinguish your work from other photographers. Hopefully, this will gain you the success or business you seek.

In addition to being something that can be the primary compositional element of a photograph, each of these can be combined with other compositional elements to make for more aesthetically pleasing images. When it comes to bringing attention to specific parts of a frame, lines are one of the best ways to do so.

Leading lines are just that — lines that point you into the frame, towards the subject. In addition to lines that lead in to a composition, you can have multiple lines that converge into the frame, or towards the subject. When it comes to my lines, I try whenever possible to bring them in from the corners. Rivers and streams are great ways to incorporate leading lines, movement, and colour into an image.

Converging lines can be anything. Here a group of seals all point towards the subject in the middle. Photo by: 'Brian Rueb'. Shape and form are similar elements of design — the main difference being that things with form are three dimensional, having height, width and depth. Photography is a 3D representation of a scene, so whereas a painting might have more shapes in it, a photograph typically has more forms. The more interesting the form, the more interesting the image.

Forms can be geometric like a building or organic, like a walrus or a person. Value refers to how light or dark something is in a photograph. It refers to the shades of white, black, and grey. The beauty of photography is that you can use black and white shades to create powerful images. Oftentimes, photographers who are looking for vibrant colours or other dynamic aspects in a scene will forget to notice how many different tones lie within a potential frame.

The way you put forms and shapes together occupies space within a frame. This negative space can become an interesting compositional element as well. Part of learning about photography is studying colour. Colour is comprised of three parts: hue, value, and intensity. Those who use Adobe products will no doubt recognise that the 'hue' is simply the name of the colour e.

The 'intensity' refers to saturation how bright and pure the colour is , while the 'value' refers to luminosity how bright or dark the colour is. There are some basic colour schemes that work well together. These simple colour theories can really help when you are looking for compositions that will work.

Remember to look at a colour wheel from time to time. Study the different colour theories. Complementary colours, analogous colours The complementary colour scheme works here with blue and orange.

If you head to color. This app will also show you other colours that work well with a dominant colour in your photograph. This might help on the backend as you process an image, when you want to process a certain colour a little warmer or cooler to help fit in with a predetermined aesthetic.

Texture refers to the tactile element of something. In the case of a photograph, there isn't any one tactile feeling. All photos feel the same. As such, the texture refers to the look of how something is perceived to feel, in reality. Compositionally, making texture a big part of a frame can really give the viewer a sense of a place.

Rhythm creates movement by repeating patterns and shapes throughout the frame of an image in random or highly organised arrangement. I always refer to balance as a 'teeter-totter'. If you split your composition in to halves top and bottom or left and right , does it feel like they belong together? Does one side feel like it has too much going on?

Balance within a frame helps. In this case the dark trees balance well with the white of the waterfall. The fog was accentuated slightly in post-processing to help create unity. Unbalanced images can hold the viewer's eye on one side of the frame instead of allowing it to take in and flow through the whole composition.

Proportion refers to the size of objects within a frame as they relate to one another. It can be utilised within a successful composition by exaggerating proportions in one way or another by changing the camera angle.

The photographer can also position the subjects in such a way to make the differences in proportion the focus of the image.

Emphasis refers to how the elements of your composition guide the viewer to an intentional subject within the frame. To do this, the photographer can employ a variety of techniques. Playing with selective lighting helps to emphasise the subjects being lit.

Other ways to emphasise a subject include leading lines and proportion. Even the way that the photographer dresses or groups subjects can place emphasis within a frame.

Harmony uses colour, texture, line and other aspects of art to point out the similarities of subjects within an image. Harmonious images will often showcase how different objects are all the same, and utilise something that all the objects have in common to do so.

Variety is the opposite of harmony. Not to say that it is chaos, but variety juxtaposes different objects together so that their differences are what brings interest to the photograph and the story being told. Obviously, nothing within a still image is actually moving, but by the use of creative shutter speeds, panning or zooming with the camera, you can create an implied feeling of motion.

Showcasing how things are alike can be a powerful tool within a composition. This can be done by grouping things with likeness together, such as texture, shape, colour, value or size.

The viewer is often looking for a sense of unity within an image, so putting many things together that share common traits can help convey that satisfaction. Continuity refers to how the shapes and lines within your image work together to lead from one to the other.

The end of one shape should lead directly into the next shape or shapes. Essentially, continuity describes how the objects within your composition flow from one position to the next. Closure is a difficult principle of composition to realise in photography, but the way that a composition is laid out can make the viewer see a more complete picture.

A good example may be when you are photographing a large crowd of people who are mostly all wearing similar attire. Within that group, there may be several people not wearing the same attire… but the perception at first is that the entirety of the group is all the same. When you put things together within an image, they will appear to be part of a greater whole or group. An example is when you are photographing something using a telephoto lens.

In doing so, you are able to compress the scene to make all parts of the frame appear closer in proximity. Two separate mountain ranges can look like they are part of the same mountain range, when in fact there may be hundreds of miles separating them. Typically, these objects may be people, wildlife or a product.

Traditionally, the goal of the photographer is to put these subjects in a place where they clearly become the dominant part of an image and stand out from the background. This created a more powerful and abstract composition, and focuses your attention on the patterns in the scene. Filling the frame worked really well with this leaf. Shooting close-up has captured the color and detail of the leaf, and eliminated the distracting background objects surrounding it. The diagonal composition keeps the image balanced.

Whenever you look at a photo containing a moving subject, such as a person walking or cycling, your eye naturally tends to look ahead and follow the direction in which they are moving. This generally means leaving more space in front of them than behind them.

Placing the man on the right of the frame provides space for our eye to follow in the direction he is moving — it essentially gives him space to move into. If he was positioned on the left of the frame, it would give the impression that he was about to jump out of the photo and your eye would quickly go off the frame. Allowing space for your subject to move into creates a more natural and harmonious composition. Not giving a moving subject enough space tends to create a feeling of imbalance and unease.

Archways, doorways, windows, tree branches and holes make perfect frames. Placing these kind of objects around the edge of your composition helps isolate the main subject, drawing your eye towards it. As well as creating more visual interest, frames add meaning to a picture as it puts the main subject in context with its surroundings.

The dark silhouetted hedges and overhanging tree branches create a soft natural frame in this photo. This framing adds interest to the otherwise plain sky, and focuses the eye towards the tree and people in the distance. The framing along the top of the photo also helps to balance the large expanse of darkness at the bottom. Photography is an art, not a science.

There are no strict rules about what you can and cannot do. The above composition guidelines are just that… guidelines. But to break the rules you must learn them first. So study the composition techniques covered above, use them in your photography until they are second nature, then start breaking the rules and see what happens!

Simple rules like these can make a huge difference. The trick is remembering them as you first look through your screen. To slow yourself down and think about it, try to imagine and compose the picture before you take your iphone out of your pocket. Thanks Tracy! Thanks Antonio! So glad to hear you find our tutorials helpful.

Hi Jonathan. Where can I get some information about this app? We just outlined 25 tips for better composition. There is no perfect way to compose a photo.

Search out avant-garde photographers that you really like — photos that portray styles, looks, feelings that you want to portray in your own work — and learn from them. Try to mimic the techniques that stand out to you and then build off them. Follow cutting-edge emerging photographers to see how they continue to push the boundaries of contemporary photography. Remember , these tips are not intended to comprise a complete lesson in composition.

Many of the greatest photographers of previous and current generations were self-taught. They continuously messed with composition, settings, and post-processing until they got something that consistently felt right.

These 26 suggestions are offered here to give you a head start at creating more energetic and meaningful images. By following these suggestions, you should find yourself both expanding your creativity and the impact of your images. We hope you enjoyed this guide and please share it with any friend you think may enjoy it.

He joined PHLEARN in and has been focused on expanding the community to reach millions of new Phans and make learning fun for the next generation of great artists. This guide will show you how to: Guide your viewers into and through your photo. Showcase the most critical elements of what you want to capture. Eliminate anything that distracts the viewer and takes away from your photo. Avoid common mistakes that ruin countless photos. Build a repeatable process that you can use every time.

Apply the Rule of Thirds No better place to start than the 1 all-time classic composition technique. In landscapes, place the horizon along one of the horizontal lines. Center Your Subject The Rule of Thirds is a powerful compositional technique, but sometimes, just placing your subject right in the center of your photo is the perfect spot.

Three ideal scenarios for centering your subject: 1. This sometimes adds an element of mystery or longing that gives the image more appeal than a vacation picture or corporate headshot.

Consider Framing Use frames when you want to draw attention to a specific area of your image. Look for Symmetry Symmetry is the all about finding balance in your image.

Study architecture in the city and reflections in the landscape for potential ways to use this element of composition. Use Juxtaposition In many ways, this is the opposite of symmetry. Old and new, natural and man-made, soft and hard, large and small — these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Try to find the best camera angle to really highlight them for maximum impact. Use Diagonal Lines Diagonal lines convey strength and motion.

Incorporate Curves Curving lines soften an image and convey a natural organic look that lends itself perfectly to landscape, architecture, drone, and urban photography.

PRO TIP: You can add greater dynamics and avoid boring compositions by also including straight lines or angular objects in your photograph to create juxtaposition like we talked about above. Keep the Background Simple There will be countless times where you want to isolate and emphasize a subject while eliminating distractions in the background. Use a High Horizon Line Use a high horizon line in your composition when you want to emphasize the foreground.