Composition Anyone?

A couple of weeks ago, someone asked me to post something about the basics of composition, so that’s what we are going to talk about today.

When you think about it, composition is really about putting together three basic elements. The first is the organization of the subject you are shooting, the next is your camera angle, and the third is how you frame/crop the shot. In the world of commercial photography we often have the luxury of shooting in the studio which gives us a lot of control over all the variable. How we use the elements of composition depends on how the images of the products are going to be used. For instance, if the images are for a catalog/website, then the images will just be clean product shots showing a potential buyer what they will get for their money. However if the shot is going to be used for like an advertisement or a catalog cover it needs to evoke a response and can be much more artistic in nature.

Catalog Product Shot

The image above was shot to show what the product looks like. The product is centered in the image and the composition is pretty boring.

One of the basic premises of composition is called the Rule of Thirds. It’s pretty basic and says that you should usually divide your image up into thirds and organize your subject accordingly. You can use the rule for horizontal as well as vertical images.

The Rule of Thirds

Think of your canvas as having imaginary sets of lines like the image above and compose your subject into the grid. See the image below for example.

Example of the Rule of Thirds

In the above photo for a magazine ad, the main subject is the avocado since it is the main ingredient in the product. Notice that it sits in the lower third of the image. But it is also not centered, it sits in the left two thirds of the image. This is more pleasing to the eye than if the avocado sat dead center of the image.

So now you are saying “that’s fine for product photography, how can I relate that to shooting other things?”. First of all, the rule of thirds isn’t really a rule, but a suggestion for composition and rules were made to be broken, weren’t they? (We’ll take about that in a minute).

Rule of Thirds in a Portrait

OK, above is an example of using the rule of thirds in a portrait. I placed Tasha in the left third of the frame. The empty space on the right helps balance the image. So play around with the rule of thirds, it works particularly well when shooting landscapes where the horizon is place in the top or bottom third of the image.

In portraiture, the basic rule is that if you are placing your subject off center in the photo, you them to be looking into space you are leaving open. In the photo above, Tasha’s body and head are facing into the frame. When someone is facing out of the frame it can make the viewer uncomfortable because the subject is looking at something the viewer can not see.

Breaking some of the rules.

Now in the photo above, I broke that rule. Notice that I did honor the rule of thirds both in her placement in the photo, but also the horizon in the top third. But here Morgan is facing out of the frame. While some people don’t like this image, I think it works for me because she isn’t looking at anything, her eyes are closed. I like the tension her placement created.

You can see more of my various image by click here.

That’s it for this week. Next time we’ll talk more about composition and balancing your images.

Thanks for reading!!

-Ken