Beginner's Guide to Photographic Composition

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Beginner's Guide to Photographic Composition - Part I

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
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Feb. 2, 2009

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Choose a Subject

reduce clutter / less is more

One of the tell-tale signs of the amateur photographer (a.k.a. snaptographer) is a distinct lack of subject in their images. It can be caused by an overly crowded scene, an overly wide field of view, or an overly wide depth-of-field. Am I overly driving the point here?

Field-of-view (FOV) refers to the angular portion of the scene that is captured. For example, a Canon 20mm f/2.8 captures a 94° FOV while a Canon 200mm f/2.8L II captures only a 12° FOV.

Depth-of-field (DOF) is the distance in front of and behind the subject which is in focus. As the f-number gets higher, the DOF gets wider. f/1.4 would result in a very narrow DOF while f/22 would result in a very wide DOF.

If a scene is overly crowded with people, you can often keep passers-by out of the frame with a little patience, but sometimes you'll just need to find a less crowded location. If neither of these are really an option, there are still a couple other things you can try.

Getting close to the subject, through zooming, cropping, or [god forbid] using your feet, is a great way to help the viewer connect with the subject. If the subject, assuming it's a person, is too far away, it's hard to make out the details in their face, and therefore you miss on subtle facial expressions and body language that are so important to a really great portrait.

The subject should be the main focus of your image, with everything else playing a supporting role. Using a wide aperture, if possible (lower f-number), helps to separate the subject from the background. Think in terms of foreground, subject, background, and make sure you can distinguish between them.

Unfortunately, part of the problem here is inherent to digital point-n-shoot cameras with their tiny sensors — you can’t help but have a relatively wide depth of field for the most part. A DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera is something you should consider if you really want to get serious about photography (even the cheapest ones produce great images). Not only does it allow for a shallow depth-of-field, but the quality of the pixels are better, the color tones are better, and it will open up a world of accessories for ultimate versatility. You may want to also read a couple of my other articles where I explain 10 Reasons to Buy and NOT to Buy a DSLR Camera.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Choose a Subject
Page 3: Fill the Frame
Page 4: Rule of Thirds, Until Next Time...

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2 User Comments

1 - Posted by wdrx02 on February 2, 2009 - 2:31 pm

Great write up~ Less def. equal more!
Those who are only able to afford or have a point and shoot camera. I suggest trying to apply these "some" of these rules and learn your camera's capabilities and what it offers. For instance, taking a subject with less cluter!

2 - Posted by tomfeinerg on August 21, 2009 - 2:50 am

Wow, thanks a lot for this guide!!!

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