Page 38 - (DK) Advanced Photography Guide

36 EXPLAINING | THE RULES OF COMPOSITION

COMPOSITION GUIDELINES

There are rules for composition that artists into an image and make it work better. Try
have been using for hundreds of years. These following the guidelines below and on the
“rules,” however, are really nothing more than next two pages to help improve your work.
guidelines that have helped artists to create After you’ve shot a photo, look at it upside
more pleasing and interesting paintings. The down. This change in orientation is a simple
guidelines work just as well for photographs way to check if the composition looks right.
as they do for paintings (or designs). There are Don’t hesitate to reshoot if you think a new
several things that you can do to draw the eye composition would be more effective.

GUIDELINES EXAMPLES

FOLLOW THE RULE OF THIRDS
The Rule of Thirds directs you to set the subjects of
your images off-center. To follow it, you mentally
divide the scene with two equally spaced horizontal
and vertical lines to create a grid of nine boxes, then
position important elements of the image where the
boxes intersect, or align them with one of the lines.
There are times, however, when a centrally placed ▲ Use your camera’s grid
subject creates a perfectly balanced composition. view to aid composition.

USE LINES TO DRAW VIEWERS IN
Lines in a photo are an effective way to draw the eye through a composition toward
the main subject. The lines don’t need to be a permanent part of the scene: they
may be fleeting, such as the trailing edge of water washing up on a beach. They can
also be implied by aligning some of the elements within the picture. Diagonal lines
are particularly effective, because they give a photo energy. Lines may be straight
or curved; a straight line is more direct, while a curved line leads the eye along a
meandering path. An image can, on the other hand, be strikingly simple when
the subject stands alone without the need for any leading lines.

EXPLOIT NATURAL FRAMES
Framing your subject with another element in the scene helps to emphasize it,
particularly if the frame conceals distracting details. Windows, trees, and archways
all make good frames, but be careful that they do not detract from the subject. One
way to reduce this risk is to use a dark or silhouetted frame. An out-of-focus frame
can also work well and will be less distracting. Make sure that you focus on your
subject rather than on the frame, and use a telephoto lens combined with a large
aperture to restrict depth of field. Photographs without a compositional frame are,
however, best for capturing the impact of wide open spaces.

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