Pics Can Talk

Gone are the days where you hurriedly take pictures of friends and unintentionally chop off their heads and only realizing it after you get your pictures back from the lab. Either we all have become better photographers in this modern day and age or perhaps it is due to the wonders of digital photography, where all it takes is a press of the little magical “Delete” button and all your photography woes come to an end. In any case, somewhere along the way, we realise that our photo album has become the all too familiar boring set of normal “straight on”, “flat”, “uninspiring” images. Now think, Composition.

Composition is the way in which a photographer conveys the story and meaning of the photograph. It is really a diverse subject to dwell into, but you may realise that it will be brought up very frequently in relation to other subjects of photography.

Here we briefly explain the basic principle of composition, which will help towards you composing a pleasing picture. After which, hopefully you’ll be using less of the “Delete” button.

The Rule of Thirds

The “Rule of Thirds” is one of the very basic guideline in composition. Many have preached it as a hard and steadfast rule of photography, and it has been proven to work.

Visualise 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines splitting your picture into 9 segments, when you are taking a shot. If you are taking a picture of landscape, compose your picture so that the horizon falls on either one of the horizontal lines. That means the sky perhaps taking one third of the top of your picture and the ground, two thirds. Or when you are taking a picture of a person standing in front of a nice background, compose your subject so he or she is standing along one of the vertical lines.

In the subject of landscape above, this sort of composition ensures a pleasing image with no two elements, ie the sky and ground, fighting for attention. You either give focus to a dramatic sky or a feature full foreground. And in the matter of taking the shot of a person, your picture would not look flat, by just placing your subject right in the middle of the picture. It provides you with a little more diversity to work with.

A point to note is that, most rules were meant to be broken. Although, perhaps nine out of ten times you get a good picture with this rule, don’t let that stop you from creating some dynamic shots by composing creatively. After all, what governs the picture is really the subject itself, which may be interpreted in different compositions.

Horizontal or Vertical?

Horizontal format is widely used for landscape photography for the simple reason of getting a panoramic and sweeping view of the entire scenery. It is somewhat a pleasing composition where you can see everything in relation to the object next to it. A vertical format is usually used for strong emphasis on a particular subject. It is a more dynamic format where you would use a strong foreground image to lead your eye into the picture.

Horizontal or vertical format may not really be just the way your subject is positioned. Just because you are taking a full body shot of a person, doesn’t mean you have to take a vertical shot. A horizontal shot coupling your subject with an interesting background may work just as well if you position your subject well. Of course, in the end if you are unsure, take both and make your choice from the final outcome.

Perspective

Still photography is basically taking a three dimensional surrounding and putting it into a two dimensional form, which is your picture. One way to give your picture depth is to use perspective. Although the end result is still a two dimensional picture, but your brain converts that into 3D.

Converging lines such as roads, a line of trees, sides of buildings, lampposts sets a path which will lead your viewers’ eyes into the picture. As such, it does not only create depth but also a sense of motion.

Use the wideangle setting on your camera to the best effect when taking a strong perspective picture. Always be aware of your foreground which is an important starting point as you lead into the main subject of your picture.

When composing your picture, it is important to remember the basic principles of composition. But, to adhere to the rules really depends on you. With practice, composing a picture should come so natural that, it will be like almost driving a car, where you don’t really have to think about it, but just drive.