Why do some photos 'work' while others are less successful? There are many reasons and photographers are often found arguing (discussing) whether light is more important than composition, or is composition the most important aspect of a great photo? We're not going to answer that old chestnut, but the list below gives you a well-rounded introduction to the basic compositional tools.
Balance Which is heavier: a ton of lead or a ton of feathers? When it comes to balance in photographic composition, it's not just a… Contrast Contrast describes many different things. Black and white is the ultimate contrast, but so is light and heavy, cold and hot, red and green,… Golden Mean The Rule of Thirds is far better known than the Golden Mean, but experts will generally tell you the Golden Mean is the… Formats Most photographers work with just one format - the format of the camera they use. However, there's no need to stick to this format… Horizons Where you place the horizon has a big impact on how your viewers perceive your subject. Simply speaking, in a landscape a high horizon… Leading Lines Not all lines are leading lines. Leading lines, straight or curved, by definition are leading your viewer to look at something, so when… Lines Lines can be leading lines, but they dont have to be! They can simply act as accents or punctuation marks to your composition. Or… Pattern and Texture Photographic composition is all about making things interesting and exciting for the viewer - and viewers love patterns and textures. While you… Points Points might be what your photograph is all about - the point to which your directing your viewer. A point might be incredibly small,… Shapes In some ways, composition is like geometry in school when you used set squares and compasses to make shapes on a page. What shapes… Angle of View Our lens's angle of view determines how much or how little of a scene we can fit in, but we also need… Visual Weight Visual weight is another way of talking about 'balance', but it's more than that. Perhaps you don't want balance, you want impact instead…
