Basics

Elementary steps to better pictures

by Bruce Helps

Elementary, really!

Every beginner will hear a judge comment on composition within the first meeting or two that they attend, and invariably ask "What is Composition?"

What is Composition?

Composition in photography is no holy grail or magical formula – it is simply the process of arranging your picture in a way that is most likely going to make the viewer prefer your picture to another. Provided it is done with knowledge of what you wish to achieve and avoids stereotypes, this is a good thing.

Why should we arrange a picture in a special way? What’s wrong with just taking a picture the way you first saw the scene?

Over the centuries, artists learned to arrange their pictures in a way that was attractive to the viewer, and by doing so were more successful in selling their work. Art critics and buyers began to analyze these pictures, and wherever they discovered a common thread, they described the arrangement as a "Rule of Composition". Photographers have adopted these "rules" to explain why some pictures work better than others. By learning the rules and learning to apply them when taking pictures, your photographs will improve. Then, as you advance further, you learn how to "break the rules" effectively for further impact.

Rule 1: Simplify

All too often, beginners are asked to do all sorts of complicated things to do with composition. The most important ad effective start to good composition is to simplify your picture. Get in close. Use a longer lens. Try a different viewpoint. Eliminate everything you can that is not a part of the story. Avoid including anything that does not add to the subject in a way that tells a story.

But! Leave some space, particularly if your subject is a living one (people, animals, etc.) so that we get the impression they have somewhere to move. Leave more space in the direction the subject is moving (or if static the direction it is likely to move, or the direction it is looking). Practice this when looking through your camera and when taking pictures and you will soon notice an improvement.

Rule 2: Rule of thirds

The next rule to learn is to divide your picture up into an odd number of sections, and arrange the elements around these sections. Most common is to divide the picture vertically and horizontally into thirds (hence the rule of thirds). You then place major lines (such as a horizon line) on one of these imaginary lines, and your major subject element at the intersection of a vertical and horizontal line – the lower right intersection gives the strongest effect, then the upper left one, then the upper right one.

Practice this basic rule until it become second nature when you look through a camera, and you will soon find it easy to prevent the "Bull’s Eye" shot (where the subject is in the centre of the frame) that judges will always complain about.

As you get to know this rule, try its main variation: the rule of fifths. Here, you divide the picture into five segments each way, and use the main intersections to arrange your picture, but be warned – many judges will not recognize the inner intersections (since they are so near the middle of the picture) and may accuse you of using the bull’s eye again! The rule of fifths is very effective for getting rid of unnecessary and uninteresting sky.

Rule 3:Balance

This is a little more difficult to master, and depends on a full understanding of the Rule of Thirds. It involves placing your main subject on one of the intersections of thirds and placing your secondary (normally smaller) subject on another intersection of thirds.

If the subjects are not much different in size, you can sometimes get this to work by having the more prominent subject on the strongest intersection (e.g. bottom right) and the secondary subject on the opposite intersection (i.e. top left). The subject need not be the same – for example, in a landscape, one element could be a tree and the other a large rock.

Practice this to see if it makes sense, and if you are not successful, go back to the basics (rule of thirds) for reinforcement then try again.

Let us build further on the first three rules, and remember – if it’s not working, ask one of the senior members for helps, and revisit the rules from the beginning. Most important, practice, for experience alone will make the elements of composition come naturally.

Rule 4: Lead-in

Try to arrange the elements of the picture so that there is something that provides a line starting near a corner and following a line into the picture. The most easy to envisage example is a landscape with a road starting bottom left and leading you to middle right of the picture, where you place a building, tree or similar on the upper right intersection of thirds. The line does not have to be a road – it could be a path, a line of different coloured vegetation, or a fold in the land. In portraits, it could be provided by the placement of the sitter’s hands so that the arms provide a lead-in, or the way a scarf is draped to provide the necessary supporting line. Look for these lines while arranging your picture, and use them to advantage. Practice, and keep remembering to integrate what you learn from this new rule into all the other ideas that you have been practicing.

A further refinement of the lead-in structure is one that takes your eye wandering across the picture and back in an S-shaped curve. This special variation is known as the Hogarth Curve (just in case a judge tries to confuse you). When used effectively, it creates a very strong picture, particularly if it leads you from the bottom of the picture near the corner to the opposite side lower intersection of thirds (where it is supported by a secondary centre of interest), then back to the upper intersection of thirds on the original side, with a strong centre of interest stopping the curve. Pictures in the snow of roads leading to hedges or fences and finally to the farmhouse come to mind when I think of this compositional structure.

Rule 5: Colour (or Contrast)

Colour plays an important part in Colour photography, and Contrast plays that role in Monochrome photography. Try to arrange your pictures so that you use the cool, muted colours (blues, greens, and browns) for your backgrounds and strong, advancing colours (reds, yellows) for the foreground centre of interest. Use contrasting colours to attract attention and create a centre of interest. Use muted, harmonizing colours to subdue your background. Avoid using light or bright colours near the edge of the picture, as it draws you attention away from the important elements within the picture.

In Monochrome pictures, use contrasting tones, highlights and shadows to produce these effects. In a predominantly light picture, dark objects will stand out and provide a muted centre on interest. In predominantly dark pictures, light objects will stand out in the same way advancing, bright colours do in a colour picture. Dark pictures with a light centre of interest provide a more advancing, dramatic subject than light pictures with a dark centre of interest.

Once again, practice and combine what you have learned about colour and tone with all the other tricks of assembling your picture. Go back to the beginning and make sure you are using all the rules to your advantage, and keep on practicing. The more good pictures you make the better the next one will be. When a picture does not work, begin to analyze it – which rule let you down? Then go out and practice, till you get the offending one right.

Rule 6: Light

Light is what photography is all about, and the quality of light when you click the shutter can affect the structure of a picture significantly. There are three qualities that we are particularly interested in, and you need to train your eye to recognize these qualities.

Direction: This is the most obvious, and has some interesting effects. Light from behind you falling on the whole scene in an even way will give you a very flat, uninteresting picture. Why? Basically, because your picture is a flat representation of a three-dimensional subject, you loose the shape of the subject with this flat, even lighting. The light should come from around 45° to the side and not too high up to give shape to your subject. If the subject is translucent (hot air balloons, flowers, parachutes, etc.) you should use back-lighting, where the subject is between the camera and the light source (but off to the side a bit). This causes the subject to glow and stand out very strongly, creating a very dramatic picture.

Colour: At different times of the day, the colour of the light changes, which will change your picture. Early in the morning the light is a warm yellow to orange, which is ideal for most photography. During the day it cools, being about "normal daylight" on a partly cloudy day at two to three hours after sunrise. During the middle of the day, and particularly on a cloudless day, the light turns very blue, and is not suitable for most photography until about three hours before sunset, when the light warms up again. The late afternoon light and we approach sunset then turns quite red, giving very pleasing warm colours to our pictures. Finally, just after sunset, the light turns purple, giving a surrealistic quality to pictures taken as the light fades away.

Diffusion: During the middle of the day, light casts very harsh, sharp shadows with high contrast. Most films cannot handle this contrast, which together with the high angle, gives unpleasant, hash pictures. In the early morning the light gets diffused by moisture in the air, and late afternoon the light is diffused by dust in the air. This gives a softer quality of light, with less distinct shadows which we also find when it is partially overcast (hazy sky) that is particularly suitable for the capturing of great pictures.

An interesting variation of this is a special light we get (usually late afternoon) when the sun shines out from under a cloud with dark clouds in the background of the picture. We call this "storm lighting" and it gives a beautiful glow to your subject. When you see this type of light, drop everything and get your camera – this lighting always produces winning pictures.

Learn to see and read light, and use the best light to your advantage. Good light combined with the rules we have learned so far will get you producing great pictures.

Let us build further on the first six rules, and remember – if it’s not working, ask one of the senior members for help, and revisit the rules from the beginning. Most important, practice, for experience alone will make taking good pictures come naturally.

Rule 7: Impact

Having learned the basics of the structure of a picture, we now need to look for something different. There must be something about the picture that makes the viewer say "Wow!" - something that makes it stand out from all the similar pictures of the same subject. This "something" is what gives a picture impact – it makes a dramatic statement through using all the elements of design we have learned up to now to create a picture that is different.

Strong use of colour, or design, or adding humour to a picture, or capturing the peak of the action can do it. In a landscape, spectacular lighting adds impact. In a portrait, a look of shock or surprise on the subject’s face creates impact. A clever combination of light, careful placement of shape and design and the use of strong colour and texture does it for a floral shot.

We have reached the stage where all we have learned needs to be combined, where we need to think about our pictures, a time when bold experiments bear fruit. Practice, and try everything that comes to mind. There will be many failures, but among them will be the occasional shot that will excite our viewers and us, and these are the shots that win awards in competition.

Rule 8: Story-telling

Every photographer is faced with the challenge of achieving the ultimate – a picture that tells a thousand words. When we describe our pictures, we give a title of two or three words. Does the picture tell us any more? In rule one, we said "simplify". Is that not a contradiction? How can a simple picture tell a story that is a thousand words long?

This is indeed a challenge, and the photojournalist must tell a story. Once again, only practice, expert control of our equipment and materials, knowledge of our art form and persistent effort will get us to our goal. Although we must simplify our pictures to remove the unnecessary, we need to include enough to tell a story.

The secret is to include the right elements, not just anything we find there. If all the elements of a story are present, and none that conflict with the idea we are conveying, we will succeed. Once again, what is necessary is the highest degree of thought, effort and expertise in our craft.

Study the great pictures by leading photojournalists. Visit exhibitions and try to see what has made these pictures successful. When you begin to understand the difference between what is no more than a beautiful picture and a picture that tells a story, you are ready to try and add the story-telling element to your own pictures. Then the time has come to practice, try different techniques (all of which we have now learned), accept failure when it happens, and rejoice when we are successful.

Rule 9: There are no rules!

Rules? What rules? There are no rules in photography!

For example, correct exposure is not something you can measure scientifically (only normal exposure can be measured). Correct exposure, regardless of what the meter reads, is the one that has impact; it is the exposure that makes a picture successful. In the beginning of this series, we learned that by studying good pictures, students of art learned some basic design concepts to explain why the picture works. These are not rules, but merely guidelines to help us learn to arrange our pictures in a pleasing way.

Once you have followed these ideas and learned to take pictures that are successful, you are ready to "break the rules". Next time you have taken your pictures according to the way we have taught the design concepts, examine your picture carefully and decide which rule is not the backbone of the picture, and break it. Examine each picture when you are taking them, and when you think you have done your best, choose a rule to break. Keep practicing until you have broken every rule. If the pictures are not successful, try and work out why, then find the right way, and break the rules again.

The secret is to get the basics right, then break only one rule, deliberately. Sometimes it will fail, but when it works the picture will stand out from the rest and we will have success. Pictures that successfully break the rules usually win competitions.

If for some reason it all goes wrong and we are no longer successful, there are always the rules – we can learn all over again!

Rule 10- Self-satisfaction

Finally, enjoy your photography. You are (I hope) doing it for you own enjoyment, not for the judges. Please remember, judges are there to guide you when you are learning, as a sanity check when you know how to do it, and a selector to compare and choose the best pictures in competition. They are not there to feed your soul.

To summarise:

Simplify

Rule of Thirds

Balance

Lead-in

Colour and Contrast

Light

Impact

Story-telling

There are no rules!

Satisfy yourself – not the judges!

And now for something different – if you have followed all these ideas and practiced enough, go out and show the world your works of art.

Published courtesy of the author, Bruce Helps, the PSSA's magazine IMAGE and Benoni Camera Club, Gauteng, RSA.