Symmetry

Composition: Building Block of Good Photography

Jeff

DIY Photography has a video that explains 9 Photo Composition Tip/Rules in a bit more than three minutes. The compositional techniques are listed below:

  • Rule of thirds
  • Using leading lines
  • Diagonal lines create movement
  • The importance of framing
  • Contrast figure and background
  • Get close to your subjects
  • Center the dominant eye
  • Patterns are aesthetically pleasing
  • Use Symmetry

Composition is one of the basic building blocks of a good photograph. There are a couple of rules demonstrated that aren’t often explained such as “Center the dominant eye.” Watching the rules take form in front you brings home the impact of some of the techniques highlighted.

You can watch the COOPH (Cooperative of Photography) video below:

COOPH explains 9 photo composition tips with the help of Steve McCurry’s incredible photographs. Special thanks go to Steve McCurry for his time and permission to use his photographs in this video!

A follow up to this video is an article posted on PetaPixel, 9 Photo Composition Tips As Seen in Photographs by Steve McCurry, which carries the same video, but also breaks the rules down via still shots so that they are easily noticed and understood.

Watching both the video and reviewing the PetaPixel article provides good reinforcement of the concepts demonstrated.

Learn the Rules so You Can Break Them

Jeff

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” — Pablo Picasso

One of the photography blogs I follow on a regular basis is PictureCorrect – Photography Tips & Techniques

Recently PictureCorrect published an article by Rajib Mukherjee titled 5 Composition Techniques That Go Beyond the Rule of Thirds. Most advanced beginning photographers understand the concept that the subject should not, as a rule, be centered in the exact middle of the frame of a photograph. This generally does not create a good composition. Of course there are exceptions to every rule including this one.

The article addresses several other factors to consider when composing a photograph:

  • The Rule of Odds
  • The Rule of Space
  • Simplification
  • Symmetry
  • Curved Lines

As part of the article there is a link to the YouTube video of Wayne Moran (below) who demonstrates some of the concepts. The video is less than 3:30 and provides inspiration for those who want to sharpen their photographic eye and elevate their photography skill set.

Happy snapping!