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Basic Photo Composition
Ansel Adams once said: "There are no rules for
good photographs, there are only good photographs." Well, that may have been OK
for Ansel, because, after all, he was Ansel Adams. But most of us could benefit
from a few good guidelines that, if nothing else, get us thinking about what
we’re taking a picture of before we snap the shutter.
Not surprisingly, there are tried and true techniques to help guide composition
- Rule of thirds, using the diagonal, viewpoint, light, color, subject and more
– some more intuitive than others. It’s a lot to think about when you have a
nano-second to capture the essence of a bird in flight, or a two year-old in
flight, for that matter – but the more you read and study photographs – good
photographs – the more reflexive it will be for you to make the sometime slight
changes that make an OK picture into an evocative image.
If you pay attention to some simple rules of photographic composition, rather
than simply "pointing and shooting," you'll begin to notice a significant
difference in your snapshots, even the ones you take of family events.
1) Remember, centered photos are boring. Pay attention the next time you're in a
movie theater; nothing is ever centered. Follow the rule of thirds - mentally
divide the frame into thirds both vertically and horizontally, and place the
center of interest (usually your subject's eyes) on one of those 'third lines.'
2) Frame your pictures. If you're taking scenics of a distant lake or mountain,
look for an interesting frame. This is no different from framing a photo on your
wall. Your frame can be tree branches, rocks, or some other interesting
foreground object.
3) When shooting portraits, use the longest zoom setting your camera will allow
(without using the "digital zoom"). Also use the widest aperture (or the lowest
f-stop number). This will throw the background into a nice soft focus, drawing
your viewer's eyes right to your smiling subject.
4) Look for distractions in the frame. It's hard to learn to do this, because
your brain naturally filters out the telephone pole growing out of Uncle Joe's
head - but the photo printer won't. Look for objects which will draw your
viewer's attention away from your desired center of interest.
Follow these four simple rules, and you'll begin to see a dramatic improvement
in your photos!
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