The beautiful thing about photography is that in each picture there is a story told. Memories from your favorite vacations, your friends goofing off, or childhood memories. Looking at pictures is such a joy and each one stirs up a different feeling. I’m sure that after scrolling on Instagram for hours that you also thought that you could take amazing pictures as well. There are a few pictures that got me interested in photography, but one stands above them all: Michael Jordan’s Free Throw dunk. But how do you compose these pictures? Sports photography is even harder because you have to create on the fly from unexpected occurrences. A major problem with iPhone photographers is that they don’t know how to compose shots.
When I was younger, my grandfather always had a camera with him. I would often get to take pictures with it as well. The problem I came across was that you could tell it was taken by a child. It was blurry, blown out, and it just never looked like the professionals would take it. The problem I kept coming across was that I would have great ideas for pictures, but I never knew how to execute them. I was always placing my subject directly in the center and hoping a great picture would come out of it.
Today, we are going to talk about 3 different composition techniques that you can choose from. Before we get started, I want to remind you that these rules are not set in stone. In the world of photography, you are able to break these rules. This is all about what you (the artist) want to create.
The first and most common style is the “Rule of Thirds”. This style consists of a 3×3 grid over your screen and you line a focal point of your object up with either an intersection or line on the grid. People have a natural tendency to place their subjects in the center of the frame, but this isn’t always very appealing. The Rule of Thirds allows room in the picture for the viewer to look across the scene and to the focal point. Both your phone and your DSLR camera will have the Rule of Thirds setting so that way anytime you’re shooting, the grid will be placed on your screen.
The second composition style is “Leading Lines”. Leading Lines is when you use your environment to draw your audience to the focal point of the image. These lines can be anything from a tree line, power line, or even a staircase. The line(s) doesn’t have to be a straight one. There are many ways you can use those lines. It is important to remember that these lines will take your viewer on a trip through the entire image which is what is so great about the composition style.
The third composition style I want to introduce you to is the “Leave room” style. Leave room is a great style to use in sports. For example, if you are shooting a Track and field race, Try putting the runner at the far end of the image while the rest of the image is basically negative space. This allows us to visually see where the runner is going, and it makes the image more appealing versus if the runner was in the center or even at the opposite end of the image with no room to run.
These three are great styles and ones I use all of the time. For practice, next time you are out taking a walk, even if you don’t have a camera, try some of these rules out in your mind. Another way to practice strengthening your creative muscles is to find an object and see how many different ways you can compose the shot.
If you have practiced these composition styles or you have composition styles that you like, please comment and tell us what your thoughts are. What have you struggled with or what are you unsure about? Are there techniques that work better for you?
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