Composition in Photography

When pointing your camera to capture a moment in time, where you decide to place your subject is called Composition

(Leading lines) the railing of the stairway is the leading line that leads down to the person at the bottom which is the subject.

But even before you push the shutter button to take that picture, you must have a clear answer to this question: what is my Subject

Often used to guide your viewer’s eyes to your subject, this device uses long diagonal lines, it is called Leading

(viewpoint) The camera is placed down angled up and at the subject getting a close up viewpoint.

lines

Used like a picture frame, this device places your subject within a shape. It doesn’t have to be a regular shape like a rectangle, square or circle. As long as it completely frames your subject, it works to highlight your subject, that is why it is called frame

Human eyes look for regular repeating shapes and forms because they are pleasing and harmonious. It isn’t surprising then another common compositional device used is the use of Pattern The idea is to find any sort of repeating pattern and then interrupt or break the pattern by placing your subject within that pattern instantly making it stand out.

(Frame within a Frame)The main subject is the people outside when the picture is taken from inside the library window of the door.

(pattern) The red tables are lined up to create the pattern while the people in the background are sitting on the last table which breaks the pattern or you can see the trash can being the object that breaks the pattern.

One of the easiest ways to create an interesting picture of a very common subject is to use a different and unusual pattern. Humans being bipedal are accustomed to seeing their world from the same upright position. Probably the only times they explore their world from a different view is when they crawl or when they are up high and end up looking down to see everything below them.