Composition tip: Decide what you want to show and what you don't
Thursday 24 April 2025, 16:32 by Elja Trum | 2,210 views | 2 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
When composing your image, you're deciding what to place where in the frame. But you also make many choices about what you don't want in the frame. The elements that distract from the image you have in mind.
That wall socket behind your model, for example. Or that ugly radiator. You usually don't want these in the frame, so you choose your framing so that the distracting element falls just outside the frame.
You could, for example, zoom in a little to keep things at the edges just outside the frame. That way, only what you want to show appears in the image.
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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2 comments
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Mac wrote on Monday 28 April 2025 at 07:58 | replyIk heb ooit van een fotograaf de les gekregen. alle bijzaken op een foto zijn belangrijker dan het onderwerp. Die kunnen je foto maken of breken.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet. -
Lauran van Schilt wrote on Tuesday 29 April 2025 at 11:06 | replySoms geven de bijzaken een meerwaarde aan de foto. Het is de kunst dit te herkennen en dat betekent wel dat je nooit je foto moet volproppen. Soms is de kunst van het weglaten weer wel nodig. Een geoefend oog zegt daarbij veel.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.
In feite dwing je de kijker daar te kijken waar jij wil als fotograaf.
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Elja Trum
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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
