Composition Styles: Part 2

Rules were meant to be broken. This is why I love photography because the “rules” are more or less, suggestions! You heard that right. In the world of photography, there are many different composition styles. You can choose anyone you want. There are guidelines and things to follow when using specific rules but above all, your creativity is what is going to make your photos special.

We talked before about three of my favorite composition styles. The first one being the rule of thirds. To recap, ROT is when you divide your picture into 9 rectangles and you line up your object or a focal point onto an intersection or a line. The second style was Leading lines. Leading lines is when you use lines throughout your picture to lead you to your subject or focal point. The third was the Leave room. Leave room is when you place a moving subject to one side of the frame in order to show where they are going. If you put the extra space behind them then the photo would feel claustrophobic.

Today, I want to talk about three more composition styles. The first one is a unique one called, “Fill the frame”. This is when you have a subject take over the entire frame. There isn’t room for props or anything else. For example, if I were to take a picture of a man’s face then his face would fill the entire frame. This allows your audience to fully focus on the subject. With this comes a lot of detail. So, you need to make sure that your image looks crisp.

The second style I want to talk about is the exact opposite of Fill the Frame. This style is called, “Leave Negative space. This composition is actually pretty cool. If I were to take a picture of a friend while using this composition, I would more than likely put them off-centered or to one side of the image while having a blank background or even the sky. This style is so pleasing because by adding negative space, you are always being attracted to the focal point.

The third style I want to talk about is to “change your point of view”. This one sounds pretty simple and that’s because it is. Allow your audience to see a subject in a different frame. If you were wanting to take a picture of your dog, then don’t just point your camera down at your dog. There are many pictures like that! Try getting down on your dog’s level and taking the picture. Be at eye level with your dog. This gives your audience a different perspective.

I hope that these styles are interesting to you and that you may find it easy to use these different styles.
To get the hang of these styles, you need to practice. With or without your camera. Always be in the mindset of a photographer. Once you are in this mindset and always looking for creative shots then all of these will become so much easier for you. For practice, get three different subjects. For each subject, try and find out how many different ways you can compose the shot without taking them out of the same setting.

If you liked these composition styles and want to learn more then please comment below and tell me what you want to learn more about. Also, let me know what your favorite composition styles are. Don’t forget to check out my other blog posts. Thank you so much!