Simple Composition Tips to Improve Your Photography

By Pat McCarthy

You can improve your photography dramatically by following a few simple principles of composition. This article give you some tips to help you shoot well-composed photos.

1. Decide on your subject. Know what you want the viewer to look at and focus attention on that part of the picture. How do you do that?

1. Leave out any distracting elements. Make sure the overflowing trash can and the cluttered kitchen counter are not in your picture. You may be concentrating on your subject, but the camera records everything in the viewfinder.

2. Simplify the background. If you're shooting people or animals, try to position them against a plain wall, a background of grass or trees, or a sheet or curtain you've hung up.

3. Zoom in on the subject. Let it fill up most of the frame. Then there will be no doubt what the subject of the photo is.

4. Use leading lines. Diagonal lines are great for leading the viewer's eye into the picture. A road, a fence, or something similar coming in from the bottom left corner does a wonderful job of leading the eye straight to the subject of the photo. Curves are pleasing and do the same thing. Using triangles helps the composition of your photo, too. If you have three people, don't arrange them in a row, but have two in front and one behind, to create a triangle. You can do the same thing with elements in a still life or landscape. 2. Use the Rule of Thirds

Envision a tic-tac-toe grid in your viewfinder. Position your subject where two of the lines intersect for the most pleasing photo. 3. Frame your subject. Use something around one side and the top of the subject, or all the way around.

1. You can frame a person in a doorway or a window.

2. Often you can use tree branches to frame the subject. It can be a log cabin, a person or a barn.

3. If you're shooting in an area with rock formations, you can sometimes frame your subject within one of the formations. 4. Watch the placement of moving objects. Make sure to place them where they look as if they are moving into the picture, rather than out of it. Also have people or animals looking into the picture. 5. Avoid mergers and amputations. Watch for trees growing out of people's heads or similar distracting elements. Also be careful not to cut off a person's arm or leg at a joint. 6. Decide between landscape and portrait orientation.

1. Things such as trees, windmills, lighthouses and people are taller than they are wide, so they usually look better if the picture is taken in portrait orientation, or vertically. Simply turn your camera sideways to look through the viewfinder and snap the picture.

2. Long, low objects such as cars, trains, animals on four legs and some scenery work best in landscape orientation, which gives you a horizontal picture. 7. Vary your camera angle. If possible, walk around your subject, looking at it from all angles. Try a high camera angle and a low one. Also try a close-up shot and one not so close to see which looks better.

If you'll put these principles into action, your photography is bound to improve.

Pat McCarthy is an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature and the author of over a dozen books for children. Learn more about her books at her blog, http://www.PatMcCarthysAuthorBlog.blogspot.com If you have a question about writing for children, e-mail Pat at patmcbirder@woh.rr.com . More resources for children's writers will soon be up on the blog.

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