Composition tip: Don't place your subject in the centre
Sunday 20 April 2025, 21:42 by Elja Trum | 2,532 views | 7 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
When we look at something, we automatically place the subject in the centre of our field of view. That is where we can see it best. This composition often doesn't work well in a photo. Especially when your subject is also in the vertical centre. It is literally a record of what we saw.
This often results in an unpleasant composition, it doesn't look right. There is a good chance your very first photos looked like this too. The advantage is that from here, it is very easy to improve your composition.
Of course, placing your subject exactly in the centre can work really well in some photos. And placing it only in the horizontal centre even works well for many photos. Both horizontally and vertically in the centre? Then make it a conscious choice.
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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7 comments
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Mac wrote on Tuesday 22 April 2025 at 08:30 | replyIk heb thuis een groot fotoboek van Anton Corbijn, toch niet de minste Nederlandse fotograaf.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.
En heel veel van zijn foto's hebben dus wel een compositie in het midden.
het werkt gewoon heel goed, en hel vaak heel goed. -
Elja Trum
wrote on Tuesday 22 April 2025 at 08:38
| reply
Hebben die echt een compositie waarbij het gezicht zich exact in het midden van de foto bevindt? Dus ook verticaal?
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.
Ik snap in het midden alleen horizontaal, dat kan prima. Maar verticaal geeft meestal veel loze ruimte erboven. Daar moet dan wel iets interessants te zien zijn. Dat is vaak niet. -
Marcel Govaerts wrote on Tuesday 22 April 2025 at 12:45 | replyIk vind dit eveneens geen goede foto. Het portret dat beter verticaal zou genomen zijn, sluit niet aan bij de achtergrond en zeker niet met de krachtlijnen die van rechts naar links lopen in een bochtvorm
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet. -
Elja Trum
wrote on Tuesday 22 April 2025 at 21:44
| reply
Precies het punt van de tip. Ik zocht een voorbeeld waarbij de midden-midden compositie niet goed werkt én hoe ie wel vaak gedaan wordt door beginnende fotografen.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.
En net zoals bij elke compositieregel: er zijn genoeg mooie foto’s te vinden waarbij precies het tegenovergestelde perfect werkt voor een mooie foto.
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Lauran van Schilt wrote on Tuesday 22 April 2025 at 16:01 | replyAnton Corbijn heeft een naam. Men vindt het interessant om elkaar na te praten. Zo geweldig is hij niet.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet. -
Arnold Vente wrote on Tuesday 22 April 2025 at 19:39 | replyIk zou dat echt overlaten aan de camera, de tijden van Dick Boer kunnen we wel achter ons laten.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.
Vr groet, Arnold Vente. -
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Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
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
