In the second post of my Photography 101 series, I’m tackling the concept of composition. Composition is what will take your photos over the top. It makes a photo unique and distinctly you. In a sense, composition is essentially how you lay out the elements of a photo. We use different techniques to do this, such as the rule of thirds, point of view, framing, and even depth of field.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds involves how you place your subject relative to the photo. It starts with dividing your view into thirds in each direction, creating a grid broken up into ninths. Once this has been done, you want to place your subject on one of the lines, or as we like to call them, thirds. Better yet, place it on an intersection. The result is a more visually interesting photograph than if you had just placed your subject right in the middle of the picture.
Point of View
Point of view is essentially the angle that you take the photo at. There’s bird’s eye, which, you guessed it, is when you take the photo from above the subject. Or there’s worm’s eye, where you come at it from below. Or you can simply vary the angle of your camera, or vary where you stand relative to your subject to create a different angle.
Look at the difference between the top photo and the bottom one. The top angle is a lot more interesting.
Framing
Framing is one of my favorite ways to make a photo unique to me. When you’re framing, essentially you’re using one of the other objects in the photo to frame your subject and create a focal point. This could be anything from a rock, to a tree–anything that you see could be used to frame and highlight your subject. Soon enough you’ll be saying to yourself “hey, I could use this to frame this!”
Depth of Field
Depth of field is different than the other three, as it mainly involves camera settings. There’s shallow depth of field and great depth of field. Shallow depth of field is what we’re talking about when we see those blurry backgrounds. This is achieved by using wide apertures such as f/2.8. On the contrary, great depth of field is when the majority or all of the photograph is in focus. This is achieved by using narrow apertures such as f/22. Each creates a different compositional effect on a photo, since each create vastly different end results.
Composition is what will truly make your photos stand out and be uniquely you. It will make your photos more interesting to look at. With these tips, you’re already on your way to composing better, more visually interesting photos. Feel free to ask any questions below, or if you have other tips I didn’t mention, let me know! I’m always looking to learn more about photography.
