What is Composition?

Composition is the arrangement of elements within a frame, which gives you the most powerful ability to attract the eye and hold it as long as possible. Edward Weston said it best, “Composition is the strongest way of seeing something.”

Basically, composition is all about keeping things simple and excluding what isn’t necessary to make your image appealing to the eye. You want to keep balancing what you get within your frame, when you strive for simpler and simpler, it makes your images stronger and stronger.

The last thing you want is a lot of random “junk” in your images, it makes them more distracting than appealing. Every time you raise your camera to make an image you should be creating your most basic and clean composition possible. Make your you don’t accidentally pick up items in the background or even the foreground. Branches, people, vehicles anything random like that will ruin your images and take away from the subject and story you are trying to say with your work.

If you practice simplicity and exclusion you will get to the point where it will become second nature for you as you shoot. Composition is all about getting the basic, underlying structure of an image to appeal on the most elemental portion of our subconscious mind. Doing this is what generates the “Wow” factor and catches the viewer’s attention. Take the image below, I shot this interior view for the leading lines going to the back of the room. The image is simple but give your eye a sense of depth and I made it black & white as I feel it makes the composition stronger.

Interior of an abandoned building

Composition is the organization of the elements within the frame and leads to the strongest cleanest image possible. Composition is not to be confused with framing, framing is what you do by zooming in and out or moving the camera up and down as you look through your viewfinder. Many photographers don’t realize this, but framing cannot do anything to change the relationship between objects in an image. The framing part is easy and you can usually frame an image after it’s shot by cropping.

The only way to change and optimize the arrangement of the elements in your image is to change your point-of-view and moving your camera to different locations. If you want to find the best composition then you need to move around, change your position, not merely the direction in which you point your camera. Never, ever confuse composition with framing, which is simply zooming in and our or pointing the camera or both.

Think of composition as when your girlfriend comes over and straightens all your magazines, cameras, dirty clothes and other stuff you left laying around the house. To you the mess made sense and you think the same thing about your compositions, which is why men tend to have the toughest time with composition. Most people set up for a shot in the most convenient spot and shoot away, zooming in and out and looking left and right, but that’s it. They figure they can fix it later in Photoshop or Lightroom, just like they’ll clean the house next week. Yes you can clean up your house next week, but once the shutter is closed, you cannot fix composition later. The only way to make a strong composition is to look through your viewfinder and make it as strong as possible before you ever press the shutter.

If you can, move the objects around or have your model move and re-position themselves to make the image as strong and appealing to the eye as possible. Keep your composition in mind at all times and you will make your best work! Now get out there and work on that composition.


Comments/Questions

Composition

For this week’s blog post I want to talk about composition in your photography. Good composition is making sure you have a strong image without a lot of clutter or unnecessary items in it that detract from the eye of the viewer.

Good composition means your images only contain the “meat and potatoes” as it were to make for an image that the viewer looks at and says “WOW!” When I look through my viewfinder, I am trying to de-focus my eye and attention and concentrate on only what I feel will make the image strong and then move my framing to fit that scenario.

When out shooting, especially landscapes you want to simplify your image and exclude any extraneous items that are not going to add to the image’s overall composition. Many times this will mean moving around both physically and with your camera to change the view and get the exact “picture” that others will look at and their eyes will stay engaged in that final image as long as possible.

                                          Broken Fence - Canon T3i 18-55mm IS kit lens

Many new shooters think that you cannot accomplish all of this with the crop sensor camera you buy through the school. This is not true, as although I prefer my full frame cameras for shooting landscapes, you can still get fantastic landscapes with a crop sensor body. Many of the crop bodies have fantastic wide angle lenses for shooting scenes with strong composition.

Many of the manufacturers have very good to high quality lenses for shooting landscapes even on a crop sensor body. Canon, for example has a really nice EF-S 10-20mm lens that makes fantastic wide landscapes!

I know that sometimes, when shooting there are other objects that detract from an image that you really want, for example a really beautiful church steeple with a fantastic, colorful sky behind it at sunrise or sunset but there are power lines in the field of view and they sit right where it is hard to get around them. You can try moving to a different position, but maybe you cannot get that same sky from a different angle or side of the building, this is when you have to get creative. Try a longer focal length lens to get a tighter framing for the shot. It might not be the larger view that you originally wanted but at least you got the important part without the detracting power lines.

Considering limiting your objects in your view when shooting for your next assignment or shooting for yourself. You will find that your images will be stronger and you should get a better critique from that professor. Throw that final image on a site such as Student Stock or 500px and let other photographers view and rate it to see how you did, you may be amazed with the results.

Comments/Questions

Photographing Nature

Saturday Ambassador

Most photographers develop a preference with regard to genre, style and subject matter which defines their professional existence. However, many choose to experiment in other realms for personal enjoyment, as well. Such explorations can be very educational, as a photographer can assimilate a host of new techniques and approaches into their repertoire. This can engender innovation and inspiration, as well as honing existing skills.

Nature is all around us, even in an urban environment, and is often a good place to start.  You might take a trip to an interesting location, visit the local botanical gardens or zoo, go to a park in your area or spend some time in your own garden. Flowers, rocks, water, storms, sunsets, clouds and insects can contribute to some exquisite natural imagery.

               Summer Storm over Antelope Island, Lake Powell, Utah, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, panoramic composite

 

Photographing nature is an exceptional way to learn to mix artificial light with natural light, capture subjects in motion, expose for a broad dynamic range and develop the patience and eye for detail that are fundamental aspects of the art.

Here are a few suggestions for producing great photographs of the natural world:

§  Perspective: Humans most often view the world from a standing position and, subsequently, look down at things such as flowers and small animals. Consider shooting subjects like these from their level or from below for a unique look.

 

§  Composition: When you are attracted to a scene, you probably stop to photograph it. Don't move on too quickly, however, as your first impression may not be the only or even the most interesting composition. Walk around your subject and study it from various angles. When framing the shot, consider angles (diagonals can add depth to an image), direction of light/shadows, background/foreground, distracting elements, et cetera.

 

§  Lens choice: Selecting the lens best suited to your subject will naturally produce the best images. Consider how close you should be to your subject and how much of the back- and foreground you intend to include and decide accordingly.

 

§  Depth of field: Landscapes often benefit from a narrow aperture, such as f/16. However, a wide aperture like f/4 or lower can separate a subject from the background nicely by creating a background blur.

 

§  Light: As photographers, we are generally attracted to exceptional natural light and endeavor to use it to our advantage. Great subjects do not always reside within that fabulous light, however, or may benefit from the addition of supplementary artificial light. Electronic flash or a reflector can often accentuate a subject or provide fill light where required. Get your flash off the camera by attaching a synch cord or using a flash trigger. The unit can then be held (or mounted atop a light stand) away from the lens axis to light the scene in an attractive manner.

 

§  Details: Don't forget the details! Often, texture or pattern, a reflection or some minute component of the subject may be of interest in itself. It is worth exploring these additional aspects of the subject matter for the artistic potential they hold.

 

             Exquisite Sandstone Formation, Lake Powell, Utah, Deva Mayorga-Malone, 2013, digital photograph

~Saturday Ambassador