When I think about composition in photography, I think about aesthetically pleasing and technically sound elements combined into one image. We all know there are standard, basic rules to follow but they aren’t always steadfast and etched in stone. Although, when first starting out with photography, it’s important to understand and develop your skill with the basics before diving too deep into the creative side of things. Foundation, to anything, is key to success.
I’d also like to be clear that this is info I’ve gathered over the years while studying and experimenting with photography. You may or may not agree, and that’s totally ok. Doing your own thing and not following others 100% of the time, is also key. Watering the grass in your own backyard and watching it flourish should always take precedence over your neighbours’ ;)
Symmetry has a strong place in photography, but so does the Rule of Thirds:
This guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. (wikipedia)
The following image is fairly simple: a rose bush and rose cluster in the foreground and a building in the background.
.jpg "London_Roses")
Notice how the rose cluster is smack-dab in the middle of the image? To me, this visual placement and image composition is blah. Again, symmetry in an image can be powerful but only with the right image content and true symmetrical elements. I cropped the image to remove the white shirt noticeable on the bottom right, but things are still lackluster.
.jpg "London_Roses_2")
What happens when I crop the image so that the rose cluster comes in line with the Rule of Thirds?
.jpg "London_Roses_3")
Much better!
The next image was composed in-camera, no post-production cropping. It’s always a good idea to work on your composition in-camera and not just rely on the notion of fixing things after the fact. Again, the image is simple with yellow flowers and a building in the background, but there’s a little more to the overall composition because of the Depth of Field (DOF). DOF is a term for the amount of space between your camera and infinity that will be in focus. If the DOF is large, lots of your image will be in focus. If its narrow, then only a small amount of space will be clear. And you bet you can control this with your camera. Again, get down with the basics and your image creativity will soar!
