Do you ever just pick up your camera and snap a quick photo without much thought? If so – it’s my goal today to show you why you should never just pick up and snap away. A proper exposure and technical expertise will only get you so far, photo composition is often the element of your photos that can make or break you.
Ever feel your photos just look ordinary or boring? Most of the time, that’s photo composition.
Ever take a photo that you didn’t really think you framed “right” but ended up liking…a lot. Yep – that’s photo composition at work too.
“It’s simply too ordinary. It feels lacking, because it is too similar to what we are used to seeing every day with our eyes. It’s a vanilla perspective…”
Photo composition often brings the WOW or interest and intrigue to your photos and is one of the main ways that certain photographers work and style can really stand apart from the numerous others.
Today I am happy to share with you my 3 top photo composition tips and by the end of this tutorial you will have 3 ways that you can use to instantly improve your photos!
Photo Composition Tip #1 – All About the Angles
We all walk through life at pretty much a similar height above the ground with the same field of view (our eyes). What that means is if you are taking photos with your camera while standing with the camera pointed straight ahead, many times the photo just feels boring. It’s simply too ordinary. It feels lacking, because it is too similar to what we are used to seeing every day with our eyes. It’s a vanilla perspective…
So to fix this, just remember, it’s “all about the angles”. Now I don’t mean crooked horizons and “tilting” your camera strongly to the left or right but more so by simply adjusting your viewpoint by either getting very low to the subject or shooting from above getting a “birds-eye” view etc… When you do this, suddenly, life is shown in your photos in a much more extraordinary way and a way we often aren’t used to seeing.
If you’re legs aren’t sore after a wedding…you either have super strong legs or aren’t changing your angle enough while shooting! 🙂
Photo Composition Tip #2 – Layering = Creative & Artistic Depth
Sometimes life can appear so flat and one dimensional when looking at photos. It’s frustrating! Even with the perfect subject, adding elements of layers to your photos can drastically improve your photo and be the secret sauce to take your photos to the next level. We can “layer” in different ways. We can layer with people, we can layer with natural elements (leaves & foliage) or even distinct objects. The idea is to simply use something that either helps create depth and/or adds a creative compositional element to the photo to add some intrigue.
Photo Composition Tip #3 – Framing
Framing is the “eye” of the photo…it’s YOUR eye. It’s the one thing that no other photographer can mimic or copy. It’s totally unique and it’s all you and how you see life through your lens. Embrace it. With that said, don’t be afraid to try framing your subjects in different ways that can help tell the story in a unique way. Keeping the rule of thirds in mind is always a tried and true way to create interesting photo compositions but don’t limit yourself to that. Here are some tips for framing your photos:
- Make sure to not always have your subjects directly in the center of the frame.
- Having your subjects in the corners of the frame often add interest and story to the photo.
- Try extremely close up to fill the frame completely for a different perspective.
- Photograph from very far away to use other natural elements to add to the story of the photo.
- Don’t confine yourself, experiment and be unique!
I sure hope that you can put these 3 photo composition tips to good use and add some “wow factor” to your images that help take your portfolio to the next level!
Got a question or comment?
Let me know below!
Cole
