Composition

There are lots of things to understand when beginning to learn photography from lighting to settings to how the camera works and what kinds of files are best for what you're doing. One of the most important things to understand is composition, or what you choose to include and not include in the photo and how you frame it up. It's fairly straightforward and there are several key things to keep in mind when setting up a shot.

-The first thing I learned was the rule of thirds. I've mentioned it before but it's worth repeating. The basic idea is that you take your view finder and divide it into nine squares then align your subject on the intersections so here is a photo I took with the grid laid out so you can see;

The focal point should be the eye/eyes and her eyes are lined up on the upper left intersection. In my view finder I nearly always have my focal dot (the little red dot that tells you where the camera will focus) on one of these intersections rather than the center. However if I am shooting a stationary subject I always have my focal point in the center, because it's sharper than all the others (it's a bit more complex than just being sharper but I can elaborate later if you'd like). I change my focus to One shot and I focus on the eye then re-compose to off center the subject. This is what I do at weddings during the formal images of the Bride and Groom and during senior sessions and engagements.

-Another thing to keep in mind when setting up the image is the background. I personally go for a neutral background most times and I tend to shoot wide open, or at the lowest aperture possible. This results in background blur but if you prefer a more complex background and a higher aperture be sure that it's not distracting from the subject and be conscious of things that may deter attention away from what you want to showcase. Move stuff, shoot from lots of angles and make the shot look like you want it too. Now this requires that you have an idea of the shot you want. I usually have several shots that I've thought of before the shoot and these are the shots that I try to accomplish during my time with clients. Sometimes I even sketch them out or make little stick figure diagrams because I am such a great artist. Early on I'd use inspiration from other photogs but I found myself getting really frustrated that I couldn't create the same feel as the original so I started using modeling campaigns from some of my favorite fashion sites like shopruch.com and nordstroms.com, even Gap.com just to get an idea of how someone who has natural poise would stand/model. I'm no model and I struggle with poise so this helped me a lot. Then I would scout locations for the backdrops. Scouting is so important if you really want to have a great shoot. But that's another topic :)

-Back to composition. The next thing is to think of your picture as a story with a beginning, middle and end only these things appear as layers rather than words. So in the above photo, I am missing a middle. There is a beginning, her cute smile, and an end, the blurry background but no middle of the road, no layers. Layers create a story throughout the photo and lead your eye naturally to each aspect of the photo. Here is a better example of a layered photo;

The rocks make up the beginning. My main focal point is the middle (which for me is often the case... actually I should try and move the focal point to end or beginning... I feel a challenge coming on!!!) and the trees finish the story as the ending. Here is another example, but notice in this one how I didn't get down very low, in line with the beem and so the beginning of the story is a bit weak;

The stronger you want your story to be the more angle you'll need to establish for each piece. For instance, if I had wanted the above photo to have a "grandeur" I would have laid down on the beam so that a larger portion of the frame had blurry beam. For this photo I wanted an understated beginning and end so I positioned myself above the beam at about a squat and still got the beginning of the story but allowed it to transition into the middle, my main subject, more smoothly. Again, this was thought out and I shot at several heights to achieve the shot I finally wanted. Sometimes it takes trial and error to get the exact proportion of beginning, middle and end but keep trying and don't let the shot go until you've achieved what you had in mind. A client or even a kid can be distracted long enough to snap a couple of extra frames most of the time.

-Along the same lines as considering the background is considering how much of your frame is blank. On an overcast day it's important to remember that the sky will usually turn white in a shot and result in a lot of blank space. Filling that space with color by simply tilting downward on your subject resolves much of the issue and sometimes have blank space can be a non-issue. Sometimes I like the white space or have no choice but that comes back to having scouted and prepared for the location you're choosing. Also some people like to put clouds in the sky after the fact. I'm not a huge fan of that but it can be done. Here are some examples this concept;

First a photo with too much white space for my linking (And they are perfectly centered which I don't love ;)-

I could have easily fixed this by either standing up (I was squating) or by moving in closer and still coming up higher (which would have also fixed their central orientation slightly)... I think I was trying to get low enough to frame my subjects with the tall foreground grass but I sacrificed filling the frame with color and depth in keeping so much sky and I didn't even get much grass! Oh well :) They're cute people so that makes up for my blunders! And here is a photo with a full frame in a similar setting with overcast skies;

It makes a lot of difference to the over all tone of the photo, the warmth and depth of field. This is a biggie for me that I'm always trying to work harder at. When I first started out I was attracted to the simplicity of the blank space, not realizing that it was creating a cold image. I often times would get so frustrated thinking why do my photos look so plain but other photos look so amazing and this was one of the main things that made a world of difference. Just fill in the space! texture and color are two big components of photography, much like interior design and we've all got our own style so figure out what your composition style is and work on filling in that space.

-Composition is a lot about angle. For every one photo there are thousands of angles you can take in approaching the composition. Usually, the most flattering shots are from above looking down on the subject but sometimes I like shooting up noses :) I know, I know it's not all that correct and if I ever had the desire to enter any competition I would certainly loose but I don't care. I like it sometimes. That being said when you approach a shot its a good idea to take lots of angles. No one person is perfectly symmetrical so capturing both sides and a multitude of angles gives you assurance that as you pick your favorites you'll have all of the best shots possible. I have this down to a little dance! For each pose, unless I have the exact shot thought out in my head, I circle the people. I have them look over their shoulder and shoot from the back sometimes too. Then I go up and down while I do this making sure I'm assessing the angle of the photo. Now I'm not taking a thousand photos while I'm doing this but it's a fast process that allows me to see all the angles possible and assess/pick which ones are the best for the client. Usually they don't know their "good" side, but I'm sure they'll like certain angles and not others.

I'm sure there are lots of other components to composition and if you've got some that you'd like to share please do! And to say it again and again, photography is an art form and art forms break rules lots of times. These are just a few things that helped pull me out of compositional ruts when I felt I hit a wall or couldn't figure out what the problem was in my photos. These are some guidelines and principles, not the end all rule to composing a photo! I've taken many a shot where the subject is dead center, flatter than a wall with no color in the background and I like that a lot sometimes... just a simple photo. But if you're trying to make a more dynamic image and challenge yourself on composition this list will help get you started! And if you're beginning this list will help you develop an eye for setting up a frame.