Taking Photographs

(9 - The Evolution - Composition) or Back to Table of Contents

Symmetry, balance, and layering make this a visually pleasing image

Composition is the arrangement of the parts in your image so as to form a unified whole. It's the layout of what is in your photograph after you are done. I've had people tell me there are actually rules as to where the horizon should be when taking a picture on the beach. Nonsense! There are no absolute rules. If you want to give your viewers the sense they are sitting on the beach then the horizon should be high in the image. If you want to give the impression they are flying along the beach then the horizon should be lower. The bottom line is that images tell stories and it is your story being told.

The goal is to guide the viewer's eye within your picture toward your main subject matter or to convey your story. What are the rules of composition? Here is where I diverge from standard zombie checklist followers. People throughout the ages have made up all kinds of silly rules to tell others how to take pictures. This is the same as classic music prodigies telling rock-stars how to play their music. In general everyone should do what appeals to them. However, here are some guidelines that are hard to argue with historically. They are good to know so you can at least know you are breaking them with a smile. One of the lessons you'll take away from this page is that a great image has many different types of composition and each compliments and overlaps the others. Many times you can pick out an image and go down this page finding multiple techniques used in the image you chose.

Rule-of-thirds target areas

The rule or Principle of Thirds is the most written about. The rule of thirds divides the image into a tic-tac-toe grid. According to this rule your subject should fall across one of the four intersections in the center. This is somewhat common sense as you don't really want your subject straddling the very edge of the image or being cropped off. Having the subject exactly in the center of the image can make it seem uninteresting according to this rule. The benefit of today's large mega-pixel digital cameras is that you can photograph an image without fuss and later crop your subject for the rule-of-thirds in an image-editing software package. Take the image below as an example. It is a nice image by any standards but very dead center. Admittedly, sometimes I like dead center images. However, in this case applying the Rule of Thirds might polish it up a bit.

Original image before applying the rule of thirds

Most rule of thirds fans might mentally see the above overlay before taking the shot

Cropped image with rule of thirds overlay

The above image is cropped using the crossing points of the Rule of Thirds grid. This helps narrow the main point of interest that a photographer might choose. I chose the model's eye. It's been proven that most people are quickly drawn to the eyes of anyone looking back from a photograph.

A more pleasing appearance after using the rule of thirds

You'll have to judge for yourself when and when not to use the Rule of Thirds. Generally it can help tighten up the image without leaving the main subject in the bull's eye of the center.

Dynamic symmetry is a great deal like the rule of thirds in appearance but not concept. Dynamic Symmetry was thought out long ago by the Egyptians and later taken up by the Greeks in their artwork. It's a name to describe the laws of natural-design based upon the symmetry growth in man and plants. Dynamic Symmetry involves many mathematical portions where triangles and rectangles bring out the shapes we have come to know in nature. Notably the intersection for this rule is a bit tighter in the center.

Dynamic Symmetry target areas

Most "Dynamic Symmetry" followers would see the pattern on the left.

Logarithmic spiral found in nature like sea shells

According to the idea of Dynamic Symmetry, the point of interest would be where the lines intersect on the figure. That is to say you draw a straight line diagonally across your image. Then the perpendicular line going to the corner gives the crossing point for your photographic target. Many mathematical books have been written on this, still less than half of us follow this rule. The logarithmic spiral falls into the same space. It is theorized that we like how nature lays out patterns. When composition follows this natural design it becomes pleasing. Each part of the spiral logarithmically are added to include the previous two increments becoming larger and larger. As the eye moves from the empty negative space in the image toward the smaller shapes it hones in on the subject you have selected. Symmetry and balance in your image are attributes hard not to love in any case.

As mentioned there are many topics on composition that overlap. These cover both color and objects in your scene. These tools give a great feel to your image when done right. Find one of your own favorite images and check it against the topics below.

1) Balance and Symmetry are a good start. Suppose you take an image of two houses together. Both houses are in the far right of the image and the left part of the image is empty fields of grass with no houses. This leaves the viewer with a tremendous amount of space where nothing is happening. In a balanced image you would have houses on the right and left. Suddenly the image feels more balanced. Often you can take an inspiring image with houses all over the image and crop the image later to only the subjects you like using balance. This will give both sides some visual weight and get rid of the free space. In the image below if the deer on the left were removed all of that empty space would become distracting. The current image has a bit more balance and symmetry.

Deer sit on the lawn of an office building downtown

2) Repetitive patterns are usually fascinating to the viewer. Any pattern could be in the image or implied by way of geometric shapes. For instance, two house roofs together might form not only triangles with their roof tops but also a third triangle upside-down where they meet. In the image below Dusky dolphins line up in this repetitive composition and each has a slightly different appearance.

Dolphins line up for food to perform their next trick

Dolphins in Miami put on a show

3) Lines and geometric shapes can guide the viewer's eyes and make the image pleasing to look at. For instance, consider the lines of a road forming a triangle composition as it stretches into the distance. We've all seen an image like this. Below the bars of an art display create sweeping diagonal lines in the image where the model is standing.

4) Framing the main subject with other objects also gives depth to an image. This framing means foreground items appear in front of your main subject. The foreground items frame or surround the subject in some interesting and contrasting way. For instance, framing is if you took an image between tree limbs on either side of the image to reveal a mountain top. In the image below you can see a model who is framed by pecan trees. This emphasizes the main subject nicely.

5) The "S" shaped curve is traditionally considered an attractive composition. An example is a winding road running from the top to the bottom of your image. Below in my example image the backward S-shaped walkway draws your eye from the perspective up to the model as the main subject. Many times you will see human glamour models also posed to make up an S-curve in an image.

6) Unique angles are usually more interesting to the viewer. If you show someone something they already are familiar with but from a different angle you will have their attention.

7) Perspective leads a viewer's eye to your point of interest as the space moves from far away up to the subject.

8) Colors both harmonizing and contrasting are pleasing to those of us who see in color. Colors can guide the viewer's eye from point to point. If you remember science in school it is green that the human eye has the most response to in the rods and cones. You might hear words like analogous when colors are next to each other like yellow and green. Complementary art term when they are completely opposite like red and green that catch your eye. Use the harmonizing and contrasting colors to set the stage for your composition.

9) Intensity of light is the tone of the image. The mood of the image is set with tone. These can be high-key, low-key, or somewhere in between. When an image is of a light or fair skinned model in a white dress against a white wall this would epitomize a high key image. High key imagery is often associated with a "happy" mood where as low key is the opposite. A person in a dark robe who is dimly lit by a candle may be a good low key image example. By controlling the exposure you can create a high key or low key image intentionally.

10) Texture gives the viewer a sense of almost knowing how the objects in the image might feel if touched. Notice that lighting can help you with the feel of texture in your image. The shadows in the roof shingles below let you know there is depth there. Shadows help with texture. An image taken at mid-day may show a brightly lit mountain. This same mountain near sunset is going to have much more texture from the long shadows of the day bringing out all of the depths in its hillsides. Use lighting to help you in this way.

11) Objects in motion in your image can draw the viewer's eye along. If someone were jogging and you captured it in your photograph, then you would want to balance the image with empty space in front of the motion. Putting the jogger facing the edge of your image would make it look like you missed the shot as the subject was departing the frame. In this case the visual weight works because your viewers know the jogger is headed into that part of the image.

12) Cropping. Cropping tightly on your images is an important step you shouldn't be shy about. Cropping is where you clip off the parts of your image that are simply dead-space or don't help tell the story. This is harder than it sounds because what and where you crop are so subjective. Plus it's a bit of a worry if you'll take out something you might miss later. How about making a copy and then cropping? You saw some of this cropping during the rule of thirds explanation. The goal is to isolate the subject in your image and take any distractions away in the background. Move in close so your audience doesn't have to squint their eyes. There is poor cropping too. Don't cut off someone's arms or legs and then leave the rest in frame. This goes for photographing and cropping at a later time. Seeing feet missing or someones hand only is distracting.

This image needs cropping to isolate the model

This main subject is more emphasized after cropping

13) Overlapping layers provides the viewer with multiple layers that usually contrast one another in tone. Many times one see the landscape and the next layer up is the mountains getting lighter in tone. The next layer may appear to fade out giving depth as each overlaps. This can be true for any overlapping objects. For instance an image of a corporate building where the stairwell was in the foreground and the next layer was the lobby followed by a lighter toned view outside the building. Each layer fights for its dominance in the image.

The overlapping layers in the grass, sand, and mountains provide depth

14) Ornate detail is an element I've not seen in composition writings anywhere else. It is an important one to add. If you've ever walked up to a south western image of complex and ornate patterns done by Indians or other groups you know this can be captivating. Many times these details or patterns will have symmetry. While in Europe I noticed many paintings that were like theater performances with hundreds of painted characters and so much going on. While this isn't an easy composition to summarize the elaborate detail holds the viewer while they try and figure out what is going on in the scene or study the created pattern. In this way even the airborne imagery from Google Earth is ornate and holds your attention while you try and figure out what all is going on in the imagery. Add severe detail to your composition toolkit.

15) Human form is lastly something of a cheating wildcard. Many images have been poorly white-balanced and horribly assembled. Even with that the attractive curves and beauty of the human form trump all the lacking skills of many photographers. Be aware when you are taking pictures of people not to be seduced by the human form alone when creating composition. It's a shortcut to both dazzle and shock an audience that bypasses all the other guidelines of composition.

Frequent Problems:

1) Clutter or too many subjects in your photograph confuse the main topic or point of interest in your image. I recently saw a picture of a fellow student online at my college. She had so much clutter and even another person in her profile image that it took me a while to realize who she was. I thought it was a man's profile for the longest time. The concept by most is to have a single point of interest just to keep the image simple. Anything not conveying the main idea in the image should be intentionally cropped out. In the image of the Orchestra concert below there is no main focus and far too many distractions. As you can see this clutters the image.

2) Bleeding foreground into the background causes problems. Consider the foreground and the background at the same time. In the wedding image below the photo taken is an example where the cross from the church window looks like it is growing out of the bride's head. This is very distracting as a final product. Also avoid similar colors blending between the foreground and background. This is where two items in the scene have similar color. At some point the viewer doesn't know where one item starts and another ends.

As a summary, imagine yourself walking up to a picture. Think about the following attributes of the picture and add your own as well.

1. Focus: Is the sharpness good or great?
2. Exposure: Is the lighting washed out, too dark, or are there pleasant tones?
3. Style: Is the subject interesting?
4. Composition: Is the crop where the intended subject is in scene?
   • Is the image composed with balance?
   • Does the image contain pleasing or repetitive patterns?
   • Are there interesting shapes and lines?
   • Is framing used to emphasize the subject?
   • Are S-curves used in the image?
   • Do unique angles make the image interesting?
   • Are perspective views used?
   • Are the colors interesting or contrasting?
   • Were intense tones such as high or low key mood setting implemented?
   • Can interesting textures be seen in the image?
   • Do objects in motion give the image excitement?
   • Is the subject cropped in tight enough to emphasize it?
   • Are there overlapping layers with different intensity in the image?
   • Is ornate detail present?
   • Does the image use the curves of human form ?

In this writer's opinion composition leads the viewers eye to influence the viewer's feelings about the image. Since the viewer's cultural background and history are unknown you can only do so much. As a metaphor the image is a great deal like a pinball machine and the viewer's eye is the shiny metallic ball. Once someone begins viewing your image their eyes bounce from point to point as a pinball guided through a visual obstacle course. You as the artist build the boundary lines where their eyes stop and bounce to the next point of interest. Your points for redirecting the viewer's eyes are through lines, patterns, shapes, framing, curves, angles, colors, tones, textures, motion and other artistic techniques. This becomes even more enjoyable when the above techniques help you tell a story. It is your story that needs told so get out there and tell it visually!

Send comments or additions to tracy.rose@comcast.net

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Written Jan08 and updated Jul09 by - Tracy Lee Rose