What is Composition in Photography?
Composition in photography is how you – the photographer, choose to place the different elements that make up the image.
You have an infinite world in front of you. But with a camera, you’re limited by the size of the sensor (or the film). There’s only so small a portion that you can capture at once. That’s why the photography composition technique you use becomes so crucial.
Be very selective regarding what you want to capture and where you want them to be. When you start being picky about what you want to include and exclude from your frame, that’s when you are dwelling over the ideas of composition.
Why is Composition So Important In Photography?
The composition that you choose becomes the presentation of your image. It’s therefore the first thing that a view will notice about your image. If your composition is strong, the viewer will be hooked to your image. Otherwise, the viewer will quickly lose interest.
Composition is not just the hook. In fact, using the right photography composition technique, you can guide the viewers through your image. For example, have a look at the image below and notice how your eyes run across the image following the road. That’s the power of composition.
We’ll talk more about this composition technique in the latter part of this article.
Moreover, the composition also helps you convey the story that you have in mind when shooting the image. Viewers will rarely work hard to decipher the meaning in your images. Compose your image well and the photo will speak for itself.
A great composition thus:
- engages the viewer with the image
- tells the viewers where to look at
- clarifies the photographers’ intent to the viewer
- helps in setting the mood of the photo
- conveys a story
- invokes a certain emotion
Further, into the article, we’ll have a look at some of the best photo composition techniques that will help you take your images to the next level.
10 Effective Photography Composition Techniques
1. Frame Your Subject
A key feature of an effective composition is how distinguished the main subject appears in the image. And framing the subject within another frame in your image is one of the easiest and effective ways to do so. This technique is also commonly known as having a “frame within a frame”.
To use this photo framing technique, you need to find natural or artificial elements that go well with your image’s theme and use them to frame your key subject.
In the example above, you can see that the main subject of the image (the tomb) is framed by the arch in the foreground. In a more natural context, you can use trees, bushes, and even branches as the framing element.
Having a frame within a frame improves your composition in the following ways:
- The viewers immediately know where to look at
- The frame acts as a visual boundary and keeps the viewers engaged with the subject
- It adds a sense of depth to an otherwise two-dimensional image
2. Use Leading Lines
Leading lines do exactly what they sound like – they lead. But what do they lead and where do they lead to you may ask?
Leading lines are very effective compositional elements that draw the viewers’ attention and guide their eyes throughout the frame. The lines can either be actual lines formed by any natural or man-made structures or can be less obvious ones like in the image below.
The trick when using this photography composition technique is to place your subject in a way that the leading line points towards the subject. This way, the lines can draw the viewer’s attention right towards the subject.
An advantage of using leading lines is that you can visually engage the viewer by getting them to traverse through the image and not just the subject. For instance, in the image below, the river works as the leading line and takes us on an entire journey across the image.
When taking your next photo, be sure to keep an eye out for leading lines formed by trails, rocks, a road, street lights, a stream, shoreline, or anything else and you’ll immediately notice the difference.
And keep in mind that you can include any of the following types of leading lines in your photo:
- Vertical leading lines draw the eyes up or down within a frame
- Horizontal leading lines stretch across the width of an image
- Converging leading lines meet at a point
3. Photo Composition Rule: Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is one of the most commonly used photo composition rules. And don’t be thrown off by the word “rule” here as this is more of a photography guide to help you improve your composition.
Many beginner photographers tend to place the subject right at the center of the frame. However, a better approach is to place the subject slightly off-center. This makes the image much more aesthetically pleasing to look at. This is the basic notion behind the rule of thirds.
And besides making the image aesthetically pleasing and dynamic, using the rule of third ensures that you place the important elements of your image in the section that viewers pay most attention to.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you work with the rule of thirds composition technique:
Step 1: Divide your frame into nine equal segments using two horizontal and two vertical lines that are equally spaced. You can either do this in your mind or enable the guides in the viewfinder/LCD screen of your camera from the camera settings.
Step 2: When composing the image, place the most important elements of the image either along any of the lines or at the intersection points of the lines.
Notice how the photographer has maintained the shoreline to the upper third of the frame and placed the bird and the rock on the intersection points of the lines.
The following can be some of the use cases of the rule of thirds when taking photos:
- Place the sun/moon in any one of the upper intersection points when taking landscape shots
- Have the horizon either along the upper or the lower horizontal line
- When taking a portrait shot, have the eyes along the upper horizontal line and possibly on the intersection points
Rule of Thirds Hack
If you have an image where the subject is not quite along any of the lines, you can use the crop function to help you out. By placing the subject slightly off-center, you can make the image more dynamic. You can use the Colorcinch online photo editor to quickly crop your image.
Step 1: Upload the image to Colorcinch.
Step 2: In the Edit menu, click on Crop
Step 3: From the Aspect Ratio dropdown menu, choose either Freeform, Original Ratio, or Square.
- Freeform crop allows you to crop the image in an unconstrained manner i.e. you can change the height and width independently
- The original ratio crop function changes the height and width simultaneously to maintain the aspect ratio of the original image
- Using the square crop means that your final image will have a 1:1 ratio i.e. height equal to its width
Step 4: Drag a box around your subject in a way that the subject is slightly off-center. You can refer to the rectangular anchor points in the crop selection as the mid-points for your convenience. Then hit apply.
If you have access to software like Photoshop or Lightroom, you can follow these similar steps. All editing tools have a crop tool built-in that you can use.
See how the image appears so much more dynamic with this simple crop applied.
4. Rule of Odds
Our brain is wired in such a way that it tends to pair up objects. This is why we feel so content when things come in pairs. The rule of odds is all about bringing an imbalance.
The objective of bringing an imbalance is to visually trigger the human mind. Studies have shown that having anywhere between three to nine odd elements can be an interesting choice. If you go more than that then our mind will simply interpret it as too many.
This composition technique comes in handy especially in still life photography, and street photography. While it can be challenging in wildlife photography, you can use the technique there too.
For best results, see if you align the elements in a way that creates some sort of geometrical pattern. This way, you can make your image even more engaging.
5. Symmetry
Our mind loves balance. It makes us feel safe and comfortable. You can use symmetry as one of your composition techniques to create aesthetically pleasing images.
You can find symmetry in all forms around you. Here are some examples:
- Animal, people, or objects in pairs
- Reflection in water, mirror, or any other reflective surface
- Identical objects, structures, or even patterns evenly placed from each other
6. Contrast
Contrast in its simplest form means difference. Generally in photography, contrast relates to the differences in brightness (tonal contrast) and colors (color contrast).
By composing in a way to include high contrast elements in your photograph, you can instantly make your image pop and grab the viewer’s attention.
Moreover, you can also use contrast as a tool to guide the viewers through your image. For instance, notice how your eyes jump from one bird to the other in the following image.
You can try some of the following methods to include contrast in your composition and make them pop:
- Look for light and shadows
- Include bright and vibrant colors. They contrast better if they are complementary colors i.e. colors that lie opposite to each other on the color wheel
- Portray contrast in textures by juxtapositioning a soft or smooth object against something that is rough or has a lot of textures
- Use conceptual contrast to tell a story by putting together things that you wouldn’t expect to see together
7. Depth of Field
One thing you need to understand is that the combination of your lens and sensor cannot have everything from foreground to background in sharp focus all the time.
There’s always a certain range within which the image will be in focus. Anything out of that range will be blurry. This particular range within which your image is tack sharp is called depth of field.
If you have your aperture wide open, let’s say f/1.8, then only a small portion of the image will be sharp. This is because the lens has a very shallow depth of field when the aperture is wide open.
On the other hand, when the aperture is closed down, let’s say f/13, then a much greater area of the image appears sharp. When the aperture is closed down, the lens has a greater depth of field.
You can use a shallow depth of field to your advantage to enhance your composition. That’s because when you choose to have only the prime interest of your image in sharp focus, the viewers will be automatically drawn to the sharpest portion of your image.
This is why you can see that the eyes of the person in a portrait are the sharpest while the background and other elements are blurry. When taking a portrait, you want the viewer to connect with the subject by having eye contact.
On the other hand, in cases like landscape photography, you want much more of the scene to be in sharp focus. You should therefore choose a greater depth of field so that the viewers can gaze through the entire image and even feel like they’re actually there.
8. Include Layers
A major challenge with photography is that we capture a three-dimensional world in a two-dimensional plane. So, if you’re not careful, the image can appear flat and unflattering.
So, an effective composition technique to use is to add depth to your images by using layers. Look for three elements to include in your images:
- Foreground
- Midground
- Background
This way, by photographing not only the subject but having other elements in the frame as well, our mind can perceive the depth in the image. And the inclusion of depth in the image means that you can draw the viewer into the image and take them on a journey.
It may not always be possible to have the midground in your image. In that case, make sure that you create a clear distinction between the foreground and the background by playing around with depth of field, lighting, or contrast.
9. Fill the Frame with Your Subject
In cases where the subject is of utmost priority and you don’t want to include any foreground or background element, this is the composition technique of your choice. Simply fill the entire frame with the subject.
Using this composition also means that you may need to get intimate with your subject. When the entire frame is filled with what you want the viewer to see, there’s no chance they can miss it.
You can further emphasize the important bit by playing with the focus point and depth of field. Notice in the above image how the eyes are the sharpest. It is obvious that the photographer wants you to look at the subject’s eyes.
Again remember that you can crop your using to create an image where the subject fills the frame. The process is the same as we’ve discussed in the rule of thirds section above.
10. Use Negative Space
Now, this is a photography composition technique that contradicts the “fill the frame” strategy. However, this is also an equally effective technique that will keep the viewers engaged and tell a story.
As the name suggests, the idea is to leave a lot of empty space around the main subject. But make sure that there are no distracting elements in that space. It also helps if the subject is vibrant as the contrast helps to further emphasize the subject.
Using negative space in photography is also an interesting way to build up anticipation and tell a story. Also, keep in mind that by leaving more space in the direction where the subject is facing, you can make the image more dynamic.
To Sum it Up
Do not take these concepts that we’ve discussed here as some sort of photography rules. It is all up to you to explore which of these photography composition techniques suits your style the most.
There is nothing like the best photography technique that will work every time and in every situation. The best approach however is to try out a combination of multiple composition techniques.
Making use of multiple photo composition techniques in unison will yield better results than using only one such composition technique.
For instance, use the rule of thirds when you’re filling up the frame with a subject to emphasize the most important part of the subject. Or maybe, use a high contrast color combination when using negative space. You get it, right?
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