CLASS ACTIVITY: COMPOSITION GUIDELINES

COMPOSITION IN PHOTOGRAPHY

• Good Composition is a key element of good photographs yet is something that is hard to define.

Good Composition Guidelines in Photography:

1. Simplicity

• Look for ways to give the center of interest in your pictures the most visual attention.
• One way is to select uncomplicated backgrounds that will not steal attention from your subjects.

f/5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO = 200

f/5, 1/500 sec, ISO = 400

2. The Rule of Thirds

• The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

f/36, 1/125 sec, ISO = 400

f/5, 1/4000 sec, ISO = 400

3. Lines

• You can use diagonals as leading lines to provide a way into the picture. It's a simple and easy path for the eye to follow to the main subject. You can also use repetitive lines to draw viewers' attention to your center of interest. One of the most common and graceful lines used in composition is called the S curve.

f/5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO = 200

f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO = 200

4. Balance

• Good balance is simply the arrangement of shapes, colors, or areas of light and dark that complement one another so that the photograph looks well-balanced.

f/11, 1/640 sec, ISO = 200

5. Framing

• Sometimes you've a object of huge dominance within a scene.
• While breathtaking on-location, the final picture looks often much less impressive due to uninteresting space around the object.
• Try to find a frame which can eliminate the unimportant surrounding and focus the view.

A frame serves numerous purposes:

• It gives the image depth and helps to give the perception to viewers of it that they’re looking at something that is more than 2 dimensions.
• Framing can add context to a shot.

f/5, 1/1250 sec, ISO = 200

f/5.3, 1/4000 sec, ISO = 200