Learning how to properly compose pictures can mean the difference between great looking pictures and bad ones. This article will give you useful composition tips for taking great digital pictures.
Filling the Frame & Clearing Clutter
There are exceptions to this as you'll see in a second, but generally filling the frame is one of the easiest things you can do to compose interesting photographs.
Often times, people try to squeeze too much in the picture and end up with a picture that has a cluttered background and turns out uninteresting.
For example, if you are taking a picture of your child playing on a swing, you should fill the frame of you child on the swing and leave out the swingset and other background clutter like Uncle Ed tending to the barbeque.
If you don't fill the frame with just your child, you will lose them in the background and won't be able to capture their excited expression from swinging high in the air. You can always go back and take a close up of Uncle Ed flipping the burgers.
The great thing about digital cameras is that you can see the picture in playback mode to make sure it looks okay. Then if something you hadn't noticed before is there, like a stray piece of litter on the ground you can re-shoot the picture.
Leaving lots of empty space in the picture also looks good. You might take a picture of something that fills two thirds of the photo for effect. Just be sure to get a close enough shot that your subject fills at least about a third of the frame. So now it's time to talk about one of the most important tips for taking digital photographs.
Rule of Thirds Technique
Most pictures have the subject directly centered in the picture with a lot of empty space (or clutter) around them. This happens because most people use digital compacts in autofocus mode and these cameras usually have a center-weighted focus.
Professionally taken photographs rarely have the subject in the center because they use manual focus (we'll look at a trick that digital compact users can sometimes use). If you have a DSLR you can also use this trick too.
One of the most popular composition techniques is the "Rule of Thirds". With this technique, the photographer has to visualize six evenly spaced lines breaking the viewfinder into nine even boxes. Some cameras have a feature that lets you opt to have this tic tac toe grid, superimposed over your image in preview mode.
By using the grid in preview mode (or visualizing a grid), you can compose a picture where the subject is on one of the lines or intersections instead of the middle of your picture. And don't worry about lining up your subject exactly to the grid lines as it is only intended as a guide. Soon enough using the rule of thirds will become second nature with a little practice.
Focus on Focusing
So, it's time to talk about how to get your subject in focus without placing them directly in the center of your picture. This technique works great for subjects that are not moving, like people sitting down or a picture of a statue or tree. Here is how you do it:
- Move your subject in the middle of the frame where your viewfinder's focus point is in the center and press the shutter release button half way down.
- Wait for the green light to glow steadily signifying your focus is locked.
- Keeping your finger pressed on the shutter release button so it stays pressed half way down, move the camera until you have the composition you want.
- Holding the camera steady, press the shutter the rest of the way.
- As always, wait for the green light to signal the camera has captured the shot.
Extra Composition Tips for Taking Great Pictures
Focus on something specific on your subject. With people and animals, the eyes are often the most expressive area so they tend to be the center of attention.
To make photos pop, develop a photographer's eye for contrast. The brighter the brights and the darker the darks, the better the contrast. Another way to make your picture pop is by framing your photo properly. Make sure to choose a picture frame that highlights your picture instead of competing with it. You can do this by using matted picture frames or simple metal or wood gallery picture frames.
If you want to add interest to your photos, try using different angles for a new perspective. Get a different perspective by getting up high or lying down on the ground. Don't always take your pictures from the same vantage point.
Start using these tips and before long you'll be getting all kinds of compliments on your well composed pictures displayed on the wall.
