With a little thinking, you can greatly improve the composition of your photos. Let’s take an example from Radford University. Which of these two photos, taken at the same time by two different photographers, is a stronger way to tell the story? Why is that?
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Plan your compositions
Proximity — Get close to your subjects — despite the possible embarrassment from bumping up against the personal space of your subjects. The photo on the left was taken from about two feet away. The photo on the right was taken by a student who was nervous about getting too close in a news situation and stood back about 15 feet. Remember what famed photographer Robert Capa once said: “If your photographs are not good enough, you’re not close enough.”
Simple Background — You need a simple background but also one that helps the photo. Getting close lets you shift the background quickly so that you include elements that help tell the story while trying to keep the background simple. In this case the outline of a body is crucial to telling the story. The photographer also raised the camera slightly to keep the background simple.
Leading lines — Look for lines that lead into a photo’s subject. In this case, the round planter in the mid-background leads to the subject’s eyes. But be careful. Be sure to exclude things that interfere with the subject or the composition.
Optical center — Slightly above the measured center of a composition. This is why picture framers leave an extra 10 or 15 percent mat at the bottom of a framed picture; otherwise it looks off center.
Rule of thirds — Place your subject on one side or the other. Dont place your subject in the center or at the extreme edge of the photo. Imagine the space of your composition divided up into thirds, both left and right. The important elements of the composition should fall into those intersections. (also called optical centers).
Direction — The subject should be facing into the largest space in the photo, not facing away to the outside of the photo.
Mergers — A merger is a usually unintended combination of elements that detract from the composition of a photo. For example, a bad merger would be when a lamp post seems to grow out of the back of someone’s head. Being aware of the need to keep backgrounds simple — that is, thinking about your composition while you are shooting photos — is the solution.