Saturday, January 17, 2009

Photography: Photo Composition

By SFXsource

Photo composition is important because it not only makes your art interesting, but it also keeps the viewer engaged. These tips are meant to help you improve your composition. If you are a beginning photographer, it will take a little bit of time to get an ?eye? for composition, but you will continue to get better.

1. Make sure that you always keep composition in mind. Try not to rely on cropping your photos later. While you can crop your photos later, you will waste a lot of time cropping all of them in order to get an interesting image.

2. Subject placement is the first thing to consider. Rarely do you want to place your subject in the middle of the frame. Instead, place your subject in a "sweet spot."

To visualize these sweet spots, first think about a blank, rectangular photo. Next, draw 2 vertical lines that break the frame into 3 equal sections. Draw 2 horizontal lines that break the frame into 3 equal sections. There are 4 spots where these lines intersect, and these are called sweet spots. Experiment placing your subject in one of these imaginary sweet spots for a great photo.

3. Lines and texture can be used to draw your view in. Lines will allow the viewer to be guided around the photograph.

For example, if your subject is a spiral staircase, the lines will draw the viewer around the entire photo. A cycle can be made if you have grass that draws the viewer from the bottom of the photo to the top, and rays of sun that draw the viewer from the top of the photo to the bottom.

Horizon lines can be placed either above or below the center. Lines from subjects such as trees, ladders, buildings, or railroad tracks can also be used to create strong composition. - 16651

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