Learning how to compose your photographs can mean the difference between a so-so snapshot and a high quality picture. This article will help give you some tips to improve your photo composition and take great digital pictures.
Filling the Frame & Clearing Clutter
Although there are exceptions to this rule, usually filling the frame is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your composition.
Most people make the mistake of trying to include too much in their picture and end up with a boring photo where nothing really stands out.
For example, if you are taking a picture of your child playing on a swing, you should fill the frame of you child on the swing and leave out the swingset and other background clutter like Uncle Ed tending to the barbeque.
If you don’t fill the frame with just your child, you will lose them in the background and won’t be able to capture their excited expression from swinging high in the air. You can always take a different picture of Uncle Ed flipping burgers so you can capture just him in the picture.
The great thing about digital cameras is that you can see the picture in playback mode to make sure it looks okay. Then if something you hadn’t noticed before is there, like a stray piece of litter on the ground you can re-shoot the picture.
Sometimes leaving lots of empty space in the photo also works well. You may want to fill two thirds of the picture of something like a sandy beach to get a special effect. Make sure to get close enough to your subject so they fill up at least a third of the viewfinder or frame. And that brings us to another important tip for taking digital pictures.
Rule of Thirds
Most pictures have the subject directly centered in the picture with a lot of empty space (or clutter) around them. That happens because most digital compact cameras with autofocus have center weighted focus.
Professionally taken photographs rarely have the subject in the center because they use manual focus (we’ll look at a trick that digital compact users can sometimes use). If you have a DSLR you can also use this easy focusing trick.
The “Rule of Thirds” is one of the most popular techniques. With this method, the photographer imagines six evenly spaced lines breaking the image into nine even parts. Some cameras have a feature that lets you opt to have this tic tac toe grid, superimposed over your image in preview mode.
Using this grid in preview mode – or your imagination – you can frame the composition so that the subject (whether an individual, group or object) is on one of the lines of the grid. And you don’t need to line this up exactly. With a little practice, using the rule of thirds will become second nature.
Keeping Focused
Now lets talk about getting your subject focused without placing them dead center in the picture. This technique works great for subjects that are not moving, like people sitting down or a picture of a statue or tree. Here’s what you do:
- Using the viewfinder’s focus point, move the camera until your subject is in the middle of the frame, and press the shutter release button half way down.
- Wait for the green light to glow so you know the focus is locked.
- Keeping your finger pressed on the shutter release button so it stays pressed half way down, move the camera until you have the composition you want.
- Now, hold the camera steady and press the shutter the rest of the way down.
- As always, wait for the green light to signal the camera has captured the shot.
More Composition Tips for Taking Digital Pictures (Or Film)
Focus on the the main point of interest of your subject. With people and animals, the eyes are often the most expressive area so they tend to be the center of attention.
To make photos pop, develop a photographer’s eye for contrast. Contrast in a picture is good when the brights are bright and the dark colors are dark. Another way to make your picture pop is by framing your photo properly. Make sure to choose a picture frame that highlights your picture instead of competing with it. You can do this by using matted picture frames or simple metal or wood gallery picture frames.
Too add interest to a set of photos of a given subject, take photos from different angles. Stand on a chair or lie on the floor. Don’t always take your pictures from the same vantage point.
By using these tips, you’ll be able to compose great pictures and display them on your wall for all to enjoy.
Tags: composing pictures, photo composition, photo composition techniques, picture composition, tips for taking digital pictures