After I’ve zeroed in on a photographic subject there are several aspects of photography to consider before I push the button. They pile on top of each other in quick succession. There are the usual suspects, of course—lighting, exposure, lens choice, etc.
Then there’s composition. Composition represents yet another series of decisions to be made, but they are fun decisions. (As opposed to say, setting your ISO, which isn’t really anyone’s idea of a party. Setting your ISO is closer to shoveling your driveway after a blizzard. It needs to be done and you’re going to be happy you did it.)
But composition…that’s where you get to exercise your own personal vision. You’re not taking a photo, you’re “creating” a photograph!
So let me share with you some random thoughts that bang around in my head when I’m deciding how to compose a photograph—hopefully, a photograph that will be impactful, meaningful, or sometimes entertaining.
- I try to get the idea behind the composition straight in my mind before I start messing with lens choice or camera distance to the subject. Getting the composition straight in your mind’s eye is often where good photographs are born.
- I think about POV a lot. POV stands for Point of View. It’s a fancy term for “where do I put my camera”. But if you think about it, finding the point of view for your photograph is a profoundly important decision. It could be 6 inches off the ground, it could be on a mountaintop. In my brain, I always consider the point of view to be a microscopic little point that I have to find— the perfect vantage point for the photograph I want to take. (One of the most useful tools for finding a precise POV is the articulating/swinging viewfinder window on the back of modern cameras. I find that to be incredibly useful. You can put the camera on the ground without having to get on your belly and you can hold the camera over your head without having to find a chair to stand on. I would never own a camera that didn’t have one.)
- I consider the subject and where to place it in the frame to create the most compelling image. This includes options of left, right or center (yes, there are times when center is best!), top or bottom, and how near or far. I may try different placements to determine which works best.
- I use negative space a lot. Negative space works like this: if you’re taking a picture of an apple and you put the apple right in the middle of the frame it’s rather boring. But if you move the apple to one side that leaves negative space on the other side which makes you look intelligent and sophisticated. Negative space can be the star of the show— it can be very dramatic. But it can also be a quick way to make something out of nothing, and I’ve done that thousands of times.
- I am constantly keeping my eyes on the edges and corners of the frame. I don’t want significant elements awkwardly bumping up against an edge creating visual tension that will draw the eyes of my viewer away from my subject. I realize that it’s not too helpful to say “Leave a little space around the subject but not too much”. This is why we study the great photographers. Look at photographs you like and check out what’s going on at the edges and the corners. (I consider myself to be a photographer who is extremely vigilant about edges and corners. It’s difficult for me to push the button if there’s a subject too close to an edge.)
- I treat backgrounds as a key subset of composition. It’s as though you are laying the foundation for the rest of the elements. What is happening directly behind the subject is extremely important in a photograph. It’s often the last thing I look at before I take a picture. Yes, that’s right, I’m looking at the background and not the subject. It’s really important.
- I am an extremely clean photographer. I am constantly, CONSTANTLY trying to eliminate things from my photographs. Things that don’t belong in photographs are not just dead weight, they are a force pushing in the wrong direction. I evaluate everything that’s in the frame. I eliminate fire hydrants, Coke cans, pencils in pockets, parking lots, it goes on and on. Simplify. Simplify.
- I then do the very best I can to frame exactly what I want my final image to be in the viewfinder. (In some circumstances I’ll give myself a little extra space to correct in cropping if necessary.)
- I take a test photo so I can take a look at it to evaluate all aspects of my composition before shooting my final image. (This is an enormous benefit of digital photography.)
So as you can see there are a lot of considerations when composing a photograph—and I certainly haven’t even mentioned all of them here. You start with a vision and apply reasoning to each element of composition and make lots of little micro-decisions to create your best image in the frame. There are plenty of “rules” and best practices for each of the elements of composition which you should learn so that all these little decisions will be become second nature as you frame your photograph.
And there’s also a lot of “feel” in composing photographs. You can feel it in your bones. If you are reading this, I actually believe that there was a moment in your photographic life when you looked at a photograph and said “I can do that.”
Yes, you can.
(And I can help! Let me know in the comments if you have questions about any aspects of composition you’d like to learn more about.)
