1. Composition
10 Techniques To Help Your Photos
Content in this presentation taken from Photography Mad at
www.photographymad.com

2. Important Terms
• Composition: The way elements in an image
are arranged.
• Foreground: Elements that are closest to the
viewer.
• Background: Elements that are in deep space
or behind the focal point in a composition.
• Focal Point: The subject (either visual or
emotional) of a composition.

3. Rule of Thirds
• Imagine that your image is divided into 9
equal segments using 2 vertical and 2
horizontal lines.
• The Rule of Thirds says that you should place
the most important elements in your scene
along these lines or at the points where they
intersect

4. Image by Trey Ratcliff

5. Balancing Elements
• Placing your main subject off center can make
your composition more interesting.
• But, you need to balance the visual weight of
your subject by including another object of
lesser importance.

6. Image by Shannon Kokoska

7. Leading Lines
• When looking at photographs our eye is
naturally drawn along lines.
• By thinking about how lines are placed in your
composition you can lead or guide the viewer
through a scene.
• Line can be straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag,
radial, etc.

8. Image by Pierre Metiview

9. Symmetry and Patterns
• We are surrounded by symmetry and patterns
both natural and handmade.
• These symmetry and patterns can make
interesting photographic compositions.
• Think about breaking the symmetry or pattern
in some way which will create tension and/or
a focal point to the scene.

10. Image by Fabio Montalto

11. Viewpoint
• Before photographing a subject, take time to
think about where you will shoot from.
• Viewpoint has a massive impact on the
composition of the photograph and the
message it conveys.
• Consider shooting from high above, down at
ground level, from the side, from the back,
from a long way away, from very close up…

12. Image by ronsho

13. Background
• The human eye is excellent at distinguishing
between different elements in a scene.
• A camera tends to flatten space which brings
the foreground and background together.
• Look at the background of the scene you are
about to photograph to determine its impact
on the composition.
• Make sure it won’t distract or detract from the
subject.

14. Image by Philipp Naderer

15. Depth
• You can create depth in a photo by including
objects in the foreground, middle ground and
background.
• Overlapping is a useful compositional
technique where you deliberately partially
obscure one object with another.
• The human eye recognizes and separates
them, creating an understandable sense of
depth.

16. Image by Jule Berlin

17. Framing
• Using natural objects, such as trees, archways
and holes can create perfect natural frames.
• By placing these around the edge of a
composition you can help isolate the main
subject.
• The result is a more focused image which
draws your eye naturally to the main point of
interest.

18. Image by Sally Crossthwaite

19. Cropping
• By cropping tight around a subject you
eliminate the background “noise”.
• This ensures the viewer will see the focal point
of a composition and not be confused by the
surrounding imagery.
• In the following example you’ll see repetition
used as a compositional technique, too.

20. Image by Hien Nguyen

21. Experimentation
• One of the most important compositional and
photographic techniques is experimentation.
• With digital photography you can experiment
endlessly without any financial consequence
(unlike film photography).
• Give yourself time to experiment so that you
can discover new possibilities.

22. Image by Jule Berlin

23. Content in this presentation taken
from Photography Mad at
www.photographymad.com