Intro to Photography- Composition
As with my previous three posts, this is a continuation of my Intro to Photography series. If you haven't read those posts, I would encourage you to read those first, and then come back here! Without further adieu, though, let's get into the next pillar of photography. Once you have chosen a subject and know how to properly expose your image, you get to the (in my opinion) most fun part of photography: composition! Composition is where most of the artistry lies, and it is where you get to be creative with your pictures. There are infinitely many ways to compose an image, and as with any art form, there is no correct way to do it, but there are certain general guidelines and some beginner tips that I think that everyone should be exposed to. While these aren’t rules–experimentation can lead to some pretty awesome art–these are things that I tend to keep in mind while shooting.
Subject Location in Frame
In most images, there will be a clear and defined subject. Landscapes (which we’ll address later) can be a little different, where the environment itself is the focus, but most of the photography that I do involves a certain portion of the frame as a focus point. With this in mind, there are many different approaches that you can take to placing your subject in the frame. Good old reliable is centering your subject. This works great for shots that are tighter and showing some detail. For portraits and wildlife, I use this a lot. It is a pervasive composition because it is simple and effective; it gives a nice, even weight (weight, in composition, refers to where the viewers’ eyes get drawn—we’ll talk about this more later) to the image and is an aesthetically clean look.
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 500 MM, 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000
When it comes to subjects in motion, I find that slightly off setting the subject is a great approach. With fast cars, birds in flight, athletes sprinting, or any other moving subject, giving them a space to move into, so to speak, helps showcase and emphasize the movement. Pairing this with some motion blur, like we discussed last week with shutter speed, makes for some great shots, but it’s not imperative.
Taken with a NIkon Z6 & Nikon 70-200 MM f/2.8 @ 200 MM, 1/200 sec, f/16, ISO 250
I also tend to offset my subject if they are looking in a certain direction and I’ve captured them from the side. A viewer's eye will typically be drawn to their face, but will also follow their gaze, so giving room to follow that gaze is helpful. Other elements of the image may accentuate this effect of leading viewer's eyes as well (we'll talk about this in more depth shortly).
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 400 MM, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2000
While focus, framing, and your own positioning as the photographer can all be tools to limit distractions and maintain focus on one subject, there are scenarios in which there truly are more than one subject. While certain shots, like group portraits, simply involve centering your subjects in a cluster most of the time, there are definitely more unique scenarios that require different approaches. In situations like these, weight is the thing that you want to keep in mind. It’s often best to frame the subjects with similar sizes and evenly spaced. This helps keep the weight centered and relatively consistent.
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 500 MM, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320
Focal length & Aperture
The location of your subject in the frame is certainly an important consideration, but there are many other considerations to keep in mind when creating a photographic composition. Tying into my last post, aperture, as well as focal length, can significantly impact the look of your shot. Tighter shots that use long focal length lenses can highlight the minute details of your subject. These are typically shot wide open (ie. with a low aperture) to blur the background, creating bokeh and further isolating the subject.
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 500 MM, 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640
A wider approach (ie. lower focal length) will show less detail in the subject, but adding more elements in the background and/or foreground can help to add context to the image that helps tell a more complete story. These shots can also be wide open, but stopping down the aperture (contrarily a higher f stop number–see the previous post for more info on this) will help to keep more of the image in focus, if lighting conditions allow. In the shot below, a wider composition allowed me to showcase that this post home run celebration involved the whole team (coincidentally, this is also a case of having multiple subjects like we discussed above!).
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 280 MM, 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500
All the way at the opposite end of the spectrum from tight, detailed shots, we have wide, and even ultra wide shots. Ironically, these kinds of photographs usually require you to be extremely close to the subject. On a phone, this is where the .5 comes into play. The nature of the lenses used for these kinds of compositions allow you to capture a lot of additional elements, adding more intrigue to the image. This is particularly important to keep in mind with landscape photography (which we are getting to, I promise).
Taken with a NIkon Z6 & Sigma 12-24 MM f/4.5-5.6 @ 15 MM, 1/800 sec, f/8, ISO 200
Framing
A powerful technique that can be used to help draw attention to a subject is framing. Just like putting a picture frame around a real print, subjects that are framed by other elements of the image become the focal point. This can be done in a variety of ways, but typically utilizes a foreground element to take up the margins and create negative space (as the name implies, negative space has nary an object to look at). This makes the subject the center of attention by way of making it the most visually intriguing item in the frame. Whether this is done with a natural object like branches, a man made object like fences, or even lighting with shadows and spotlights, it serves to highlight the subject. This can also be done very subtly in post processing by adding a vignette.
Shot with a Nikon z6 & nikon 20-500 mm f/5.6 @ 500 mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.6, iso 5000
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 70-200 MM f/2.8 @ 200 MM, 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/2.8 @ 500 MM, 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640
Color
Another element to consider when composing an image is color and lighting. I previously touched on the power of lighting with framing (which the image just above is an example of), but lighting, in conjunction with color, are two of the most impactful elements in an image on their own. In most conditions, my images are always full color. I tend to like subjects that are themselves colorful, so why not highlight this?
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 200 MM, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000
However, not every situation looks best in full color. In scenes with a lot of vibrant colors that could be distracting from the subject, using selective color can be extremely effective. This is something done purely in post processing, and is an effect I save for rare uses, but I think that it is worth mentioning here as an option. Busy scenes are certainly something that you will run into in the field, so it’s helpful to know that there are ways to work with them.
Taken with a nikon z6 & nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 @ 85 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100
Additionally, some situations call for extreme desaturation, or even straight black and white. I tend to save this for harsh lighting, where colors are washed out and dull anyways. Think midday sun–bright highlights and dark shadows. In this case, switching a photo to straight black and white, or simply further desaturating it, doesn’t take much, if anything, away from the image, but can actually highlight the other compositional elements, such as detail in the subject, unique shapes or patterns, or any number of things, without the washed out colors being a distraction.
taken with a Nikon z6 & nikon 50/mm f/1.8 @ 1/80 sec, f/7.1, ISO 2000
Landscapes
As promised, let’s also talk about landscapes. In my opinion, landscape photography is unique and requires some different compositional approaches that aren’t always present in other types of photography, or are at least less important. Landscapes are where compositional techniques such as leading lines and the rule of thirds come to the forefront. While these techniques are important and can be used very effectively outside of landscape photography, I think that they really come into their own in it.
Leading lines are strong, linear elements in an image that are utilized to guide a viewer’s eyes from one part of the composition to another. Usually, they start at the bottom of the frame and travel to the top, but, as with all art, there is room for trying new things within this technique.
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 70-200 MM f/2.8 @ 200 MM, 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100
The rule of thirds, on the other hand, is not a rule, in spite of the name. The rule of thirds is a very widely used compositional technique that involves placing subjects of interest in an image on the imaginary lines that delineate thirds of the frame. In the shot below, the tree to the left is centered on the vertical line separating the left and central third, while the pathway in the bottom right is centered on the vertical line that separates the central and right thirds. Meanwhile, the tall grasses in the foreground stop right around the horizontal line that separates the bottom from the middle third, and the tree’s branches become noticeably more sparse near the horizontal line that separates the middle from the top third.
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500 MM f/5.6 @ 200 MM, 1/200 sec, f/8, ISO 400
One other thing to keep in mind with landscape photography is that an awe inspiring scene does not necessarily create an awe inspiring photograph. Take, for example, these two pictures of Boston, taken from the harbor. In person, they were very similar scenes. The skyline of the city was a breathtaking view, and the salty sea air, the chop of the water, the hum of the boat’s motor, and the clamor of the other tourists on the boat all made the scene one that I vividly remember. From a photographic standpoint, however, this first image is dull, uninspiring, and fails to capture most of that wonder. Because photographs are purely visual and lack the other senses to add to an experience, an image that lacks visual intrigue will lack intrigue in general.
Taken with a Nikon D5100 & Tamron 18-400 MM f/3.5-6.3 @ 122 MM, 1/200 sec, f/13, ISO 100
However, an image with intrigue in most of the frame will inevitably make for a stronger picture. Notice how the addition of a wake and other sailboats in the harbor adds to the whole scene, creating a much more interesting and aesthetically pleasing image.
Taken with a Nikon D5100 & Tamron 18-400 MM f/3.5-6.3 75 MM, 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 200
Orientation & Cropping
Finally, I want to briefly touch on orientation. I will talk about cropping in more depth in the next post, but generally, I shoot all of my images in a horizontal orientation. Cropping is much easier than always shooting vertically, which is not the most ergonomic a lot of the time. I would encourage most photographers to do this as well. The only time that I shoot vertically is when I am certain that the elements to the sides of my subject add nothing to, or even detract from the overall composition, while the elements above and below the subject add to it. There are also occasions when I have a lens too long to capture the whole scene, so I shoot vertically because the vertical elements are more important to the overall image than elements to the sides.
Taken with a Nikon Z6 & Nikon 70-200 MM f/2.8 @ 140 MM, 1/2000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200
Conclusion
As you can see, there is a lot that goes into the composition of a photograph. Obviously, not every single one of these things will come into play in each picture, but each of these techniques, approaches, and ideas have all been used by me in my young career. This is also, by no means, an exhaustive list. As I’ve said before, people are constantly out there experimenting with new ideas, and I would encourage anyone to do the same. Follow some basic guidelines, but keep pushing the envelope and figuring out what you like. I hope you enjoyed this post. My next one will wrap up this series. As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or comments, please let me know!
