Photo Composition

1. Photo Composition Ms. Scales

2. Rule of Thirds • This is the first rule of photography that is taught and it is something that should be always be kept in mind when taking a picture. • The Rule of Thirds is that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that the important parts of your picture should be on these lines or their intersections.

3. Rule of Thirds

4. Rule of Thirds

5. Rule of Thirds

6. Rule of Thirds

7. Rule of Thirds

8. Rule of Thirds

9. Rule of Thirds

10. Rule of Thirds

11. Rule of Thirds

12. Balancing your Elements • Placing your main subject off-centre, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo, but it can leave a void or space in the photo which can make it feel empty. • You should balance the 'weight' of your subject by including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

13. Balancing your Elements

14. Balancing your Elements

15. Balancing your Elements

16. Balancing your Elements

17. Balancing your Elements

18. Leading Lines • When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. By thinking about how you place lines in your composition, you can affect the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the subject, or on a journey 'through' the scene. There are many different types of line - straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag, radial etc - and each can be used to enhance our photo's composition.

19. Leading Lines

20. Leading Lines

21. Leading Lines

22. Leading Lines

23. Leading Lines

24. Leading Lines

25. Leading Lines

26. Symmetry and Patterns • We are surrounded by symmetry and patterns, both natural and man-made., They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them is to break the symmetry or pattern in some way, introducing tension and a focal point to the scene.

27. Symmetry and Patterns

28. Pattern

29. Pattern

30. Pattern

31. Pattern

32. Symmetry

33. Symmetry

34. Texture • Textures can be found everywhere and can make a beautiful photograph all on their own. Most textures are enhanced by great lighting whether it be natural lighting from the sun, studio lights, or even just a lamp in the corner of the room. Textures are another one of those mundane things you see everyday that can make your photos really pop and create the illusion of three dimensionality.

35. Texture

36. Texture

37. Texture

38. Texture

39. Texture

40. Texture

41. Viewpoint • Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you will shoot it from. Our viewpoint has a massive impact on the composition of our photo, and as a result it can greatly affect the message that the shot conveys. • Rather than just shooting from eye level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a long way away, from very close up, and so on.

42. Unusual Angle

43. From Above

44. From Above

45. Low Angle

46. Low Angle

47. Low Angle

48. Depth • Because photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose our composition carefully to conveys the sense of depth that was present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground and background. Another useful composition technique is overlapping, where you deliberately partially obscure one object with another. The human eye naturally recognises these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an image with more depth.

50. Shallow Depth of Field