An introduction to composition

Basic guidelines and techniques for photographic composition

How to compose your picture?

In this awesome lesson we will talk about how to take better, more attractive photos with minimal effort!

Scroll down to get started!

 

Let’s begin with the basics

Below you’ll find a few simple, basic guidelines for composing your photos.

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Summary:

  1. Your photo should have a subject.
  2. Make sure that subject is not just “out there”, but carefully positioned within the frame of your photo.

Let’s move on!

The three principal composition tpyes

  • Diagonal composition
  • Center composition
  • The golden ratio / rule of thirds
Find more info in the interactive block below!

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Summary:

  • In most cases it’s worth following some kind of “rule” when composing your photo
  • Certain composition “rules” are somehow more pleasing to the human eye/brain
  • You can decide to apply a combination of these guidelines (more on this later)

A few examples of center composition:

A handful of clever tips for composing your photo:

  • Protect your composition
  • Use off-center positioning
  • Include leading lines
Find more info in the interactive block below!

Attention! This is an interactive block. Follow the instructions and the icons to see where to click! 🙂

Uh-oh! Interactive sliders may not work perfectly on all touch screen devices. If you are having problems, please try again with a mouse! 🙂

Summary:

  • The basics of photographic composition are very easy to learn, and you can make substantial progress in the blink of an eye!
  • Consciously composing your photos will help you make them more meaningful, unique, interesting and straightforward.

A good example of protecting the composition. Check out the precise position of the horse’s legs: their forms don’t touch or cut into each other at all.

A good example of framing

A good example of off-center positioning

Photo: Kobi Refaeli

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About the author:

Bence Gyulai is a photographer and professional photography teacher. Grand Prize-winning photographer of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, regular invited speaker at photography events, founder and host of visualgangster.com.  More info & images >>