Rules Of Composition

Rules Of Composition

  1. Rule Of Thirds- 9 equal segments, 2 horizontal lines, 2 vertical lines. The rule of thirds says to position the most important element(s) along these lines, or at the intersections. It is one of the main rules of composition and stems from the theory that the human eye naturally gravitates to intersection points that occur when an image is split into thirds.

2. Balance- placing your main subject off-center, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo. You should balance the "weight" of your subject by including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

3. Lines- when we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along

 lines. By thinking about how you place lines in your composition, you can affect the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the subject, or on a journey "through" the scene.

4. Symmetry And Patterns- They can be eye catching, particularly in situations where they are not expected.

5. Point Of View (POV)- the angle of which you shoot your photo from (birds eye/bugs eye).

6. Background/Foreground- make your background/foreground plain and unobtrusive so as to not distract the viewer from the focal point.

7. Depth- middleground, foreground, and background.

 

8. Framing- find natural framing (trees, arches, other natural things).

 9. Cropping- what you want the viewers to look at; get closer.

10. Break The Rules- break the rules.