Composition

The composition of a photograph is in principal up to the photographer’s imagination and creative expression. However, there are some basic guidelines that help create pictures that are (commonly) attractive to the eye.

Rule of thirds

The concept explained in short, is to break an image into thirds and aiming to place objects of interest (the tree in the below example) in the intersection of those imaginary lines (most digital cameras and the iphone have a feature to display those lines in the viewfinder/display). By doing so, the image becomes more balanced and interesting to look at. When taking a shot, you always want to ask yourself which part of the frame you want to highlight keeping the rule of thirds in mind, will help frame a shot in your mind (especially when shooting film).

As with any rule, they are meant to break them. So don’t get to hung up on forcing everything into this structure. This is merely a guide to help you better understand picture composition. 

Leading the eye

ur eyes are used to process images in certain ways and our brains use cues to understand what’s going on when looking at a scene (both in photography and in real life). Understanding this in photography can help us to use objects in the frame to guide the attention of the viewer. 

Negative space

The concept of negative space is simple, but very powerful if applied smartly. Similar to using the bokeh effect to make an object or a person stand out in a picture, using negative space is a technique to draw the viewers attention to the object of interest. Beginners often take shots where the background is very busy, making it difficult for the viewer to visually navigate the image. By positioning objects or people smartly, a good photographer creates a clean background and makes the object or person stand out.

Here are a few good examples of clever negative space usage:

Below shown examples on the other hand are a bit busy and difficult to process

Notice how much cleaner a picture looks if the background is free of distraction. It is visually and aesthetically more pleasant to look at. As a street photographer, you can create these clean spaces by choosing a background first and then waiting for your object to enter your clean frame. Whenever I see a white billboard, a white or single color wall or building, I instinctively screen my environment for someone or something to pass by that background and all I have to do is wait for that perfect moment where both are aligned. 

Angle of the shot

concept largely ignored by the beginning photographer is using different angles for shots. Otherwise boring motives can be made interesting by shooting them from different angles. Anything goes. Above. Below. Behind. Under. Over. From the side. A combination thereof. Changing the angle of a shot can give a photograph a new and interesting twist. 

Shot from the front and from below. Source: www.sitizainabjaws.wordpress.com

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