Composition Tips

Composition. Rule of thirds. Try not to put people, objects or horizons in the centre of a picture but off centre.

Merger. Avoid things growing out of peoples heads. Don't just look at the ground but shift your eyes to the background.If there is a merger then move yourself.

Boarder mergers. Feet, heads, hands etc being cut in half by the edge of the picture. This can be caused by noy being close enough to the view finder, or problems with glasses. To fix this move back or zoom out.


A large aperture or small F number is great for blurred backgrounds in portraits.

A small aperture or large F number is great for adding depth of field to landscapes.

Frames. Pictures can be framed to give foreground interest. This can be anything, trees, windows, doorways even people.

The strongest lines for leading the the eye around the picture are curves in a "s" shape.

The cameras TTL metering is usually excellent but in a high contrast seen, by exposing for the highlights can add atmospheric shadows.

At night a slow shutter speed can record car tail lights as painted red lines. Make sure the camera is on a tripod or solid surface.
 

Sea, streams & waterfalls. Create a moody atmospheric picture where water is moving by slowing down the shutter speed.

Sunny day. If the subject is in the shade but has a bright background, set the exposure for the subject and keep the background overexposed.

Although we should focus on the eyes re-compose the portrait so the eyes are off centre and two thirds towards to top of the frame.


Overexpose a portrait by 1 stop to make skin tones brighter.


Tight cropping can help remove unwanted objects from the image.

Let colour lead your eye around the picture.

Lines can lead the eye around the picture.

Diagonal lines make a strong composition.

Shapes like triangles and diamonds make a strong composition.

Water is great for reflections, not just mirror calm lakes or seas but rain water puddles and wet surfaces.

Sunrise and sunset add a magical element when reflected off objects.

Tripod. Great for reference point for you and your group when you have stepped forward to make composition adjustments.

High key and low key. High key has more light tones, low key has more dark tones.

Blurring the background can easily be done with a wide aperture and a long zoom.