3 tips for a great composition in your photo

Wednesday 12 December 2018, 12:56 by Elja Trum | 16,251 views | 3 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Composition is about placing objects in your frame and the number of elements in it. Your composition leads the viewer to the parts of the photo you want them to focus on. So composition is very important for a good photo.

For taking a good photo, composition is much more important than the equipment you use. Even if you use the most expensive camera you can find, if your composition isn't right, your photo won't be nearly as attractive as a photo with good composition taken with the cheapest toy camera there is.

1. Use a shallow depth of field

A commonly used and very good way to ensure fewer elements, and therefore more peace and quiet, in your frame is to use a shallow depth of field. This allows you to 'tidy up' a cluttered background in one go.

Use a wide aperture (low aperture number) for this, such as f/1.8. Then make sure there is enough distance between your subject and the background and you'll see that your background disappears into a soft blur.

2. Fewer elements in the frame

Another way to get a good composition is to make sure there are fewer elements in your frame. A common problem is that your photo is too cluttered. As a result, the viewer doesn't know where to look.

You can solve this by simply making sure there are fewer different elements in your frame. There are various ways to do this, and it naturally also depends on the type of photography you do.

Sometimes it's as simple as actually tidying up a location. If, for example, you are photographing in a house, the photo will look much less cluttered if you first make sure everything is tidy.

You can also sometimes remove something from your frame in nature. For example, by moving leaves, branches or stones.

You can also create a tidier image by zooming in or taking a step closer. This simply cuts the uninteresting parts out of your photo.

3. Rule of Thirds

In my view, the most important tip when it comes to composition is the Rule of Thirds. The Rule of Thirds gives you a guide for placing the elements in your frame.

With the Rule of Thirds, you divide the frame both horizontally and vertically into three sections by drawing two (imaginary) lines across it. By placing important elements in your frame on these lines, and especially at the points where the lines intersect, you almost automatically get a pleasing composition in your frame.

This 'rule' actually works in all situations. If you don't do this yet, I really recommend paying close attention to it. Your photos will genuinely improve as a result.

By the way, there's nothing wrong with breaking the rule. Sometimes it can work very well to deliberately deviate from it, but it's good to be aware of what you're doing in any case.

Many cameras also have the option of showing the Rule of Thirds as guide lines in your viewfinder. This is a very useful aid for quickly applying the rule in practice.

Get started

As you take more and more photos, you'll find that you no longer have to think about these composition rules. You'll start to 'see' them automatically. You'll sense when an image has a pleasing composition.

Taking a photo with a good composition then becomes easier. However, it's always a good idea to pause and consider your composition before taking the photo, and afterwards when you look at the photo. This way, you continually discover how to improve your compositions.

Have fun!

Learning composition

Would you like to learn more about how to create a good composition in your photos? At Photofacts Academy, the subject of 'composition' is covered in several courses.

For example, in Cropping tools as part of the Photoshop Elements for Photographers course. Or in the course Macro photography by Johannes Klapwijk. How you determine your composition is also covered in the course Sports photography by Nicol Delmeire and the course Landscape photography by Bart Heirweg.

You can follow these courses for two weeks with a free trial membership.

Dit artikel is voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 12 december 2018.
De eerste publicatiedatum is maandag 9 juli 2018, 16:32.

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