Whether you have a camera or a smartphone, you can easily improve your photos for free. Below I share my top tips on how to upgrade your images, and impress your friends and family.
Whether you are a budding photography beginner, or want to take better holiday snaps, here I will explain what you can do to up your game instantly. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the only way to truly improve your photography is through buying better gear. In fact, there is a much cheaper option (well, costs nothing) and a more effective way. I can hear you screaming at me already, "Ok, ok...so tell me already!!". I can respond in one word...composition!
What is Composition?
You probably hear me use this term on social media quite a bit, and that's because it's really the foundation of my photos that everything hangs on. If the composition is off, no expensive gear or amount of editing is really going to be able to counteract the error. Dare I say, you can't polish a turd!!
Put simply, composition refers to the arrangement of the elements within your photo. For example, how you position your subject and how they interact with all the other elements in the frame. Think of it as 'Feng Shui'. Ultimately, the composition dictates how aesthetically pleasing the scene is and compositional techniques can be used to unconsciously guide the viewers eye around the photo. This is why it's a fundamental feature of taking photos. It's not a simple case of pointing and clicking, it requires a bit of thought, a moment to stop and assess the scene.
Sounds a bit complicated right? Well once you have practiced what I'm about to share with you below, these will be second nature and you will be automatically using these without thinking.
So, let's get to it.
Rule of Thirds
What is it?
This is where you imagine that the scene is divided into an equal 3x3 grid. Most modern cameras will actually give you the option to add this to the screen when taking the shot which can be really handy. You can use this in a multitude of ways, and this is probably why it's my go-to:
One way of using it is to separate the scene out into thirds, so maybe you have trees in the left and right columns, and your subject in the centre one.
Another way is to use the lines themselves to line up your subject creating off centre compositions.
The final way is you can also use the points where the lines crossover to position certain elements, again, creating another off-centre option.
Why use it?
I think the main reason is that its an extremely adaptable technique as it gives you lots of options as to where you can line up certain elements. It can be helpful if you have a chaotic or busy scene, and can help you pull out the elements and position them in a pleasing way. Almost like tidying the scene up into different sections.
It also helps you create an off centre composition which to beginners can feel slightly counter intuitive. You'd think you want your subject dead centre right? Well, not always. One art of stepping up your photos is getting people to intuitively look at the photo for longer. Imagine a centre subject, the viewer's eye will immediately clock the subject, think maybe "ah that's nice" and then move on. However, an off centre subject creates space for the viewer's eye to wander around the photo and therefore spend longer looking and admiring it. To step up even further, you can incorporate other compositional techniques (mentioned below) that will further help the viewer's eye to wander around the image. I say 'wander', but when you get it right, you are almost directing them unconsciously around your photo.
Examples
So let's quickly go through some examples.
Here is a classic example of lining up the subject (i.e. the tree) with one of the lines. This creates space on the right for a better view of the background, and have also lined up a tree further away to the other vertical line. You will also see I have used the bottom horizontal line to overlay the jagged stones on the ground. And, as a little Brucey Bonus, the immediate foreground of stones, you will see sits in the bottom third and I have lined up to the right vertical line (the white arrow).
I have highlighted three of the four crossover points to show how these have been lined up as well. The bottom left sits just at the bottom of the trunk, and the top left in the middle of the trees branches. The background tree sits on top of the bottom right point.
This one was quite fun trying to line up. This scene has a lot of vertical and horizontal lines anyway, so this was just a matter of lining up to the grid to see what sat best. I have highlighted points of the grid that have lined up to certain parts of the sign. Another option with using the lines is not always lining up elements to sit on top of the lines or line up to edges, but actually using them to split in half some elements, like I have done with the top sign on the left vertical line.
If you don't have the luxury of your camera or phone with a grid template, that's fine as this isn't an exact science and you'll see from these examples it's not always perfect. The overarching point to this is to think about the scene split by left, centre and right, and top, middle and bottom. Also think of maybe positioning subjects slightly to the left or right instead of the centre.
Leading Lines
What is it?
This is using natural lines in the scene to draw the viewer into where you want the viewer to look (i.e. the subject). These can be straight lines or wavy/bendy lines, but the point being that these aren't the main element of the image.
Why use it?
This is a classic way of getting the viewer's eye to subconsciously follow a path around your image. Again, another technique that gets the viewer to spend that bit longer viewing your image, but also controlling the way the viewer sees your image. It's also a really good way of adding depth to an image as well, linking in foreground elements to the background. So think of a road or path that leads you into a forest, or maybe sides of buildings that lead you to the focal building or subject.
Examples
This example is a very simple leading line to a subject. The line here being the path that meanders down the hill and leads you to the hills in the background. What makes this particular one effective is getting close to the path in the foreground as well, which adds to the depth that this image creates.
Now it may not necessarily be leading 'lines', but the scene may have natural elements that are positions to lead the viewer to a certain point of a scene. Here I managed to line up the people against where the sun was about to rise. The standing stones were positioned in a way that created diagonal leads towards this point. Note as well, the point is positioned is off sent using rule of thirds here as well.
City or urban shots can be fun to play around with as there are many straight hard lines that can be used in various creative ways. Here, I used the lines on the buildings either side to direct you straight to the Shard. The well defined lines here really get a strong sense of being drawn into the skyscraper, in a way a feeling of physical movement into the image. Note as well this scene is split into thirds from left to right.
Natural Framing
What is it?
Using elements in a scene to frame your subject or image. For example, using branches of foliage to surround the outer elements of the photo.
Why use it?
I go through phases of using this and I especially like it as it tends to contextualise the scene you are taking a photo of. I love using out of focus leaves around the edges and it gives the feeling of discovery for the viewer. Like you are peeling back the foliage to reveal a location. You see this a lot in films when they want to reveal a place and the individuals pull back the branches and reveal the oasis before them, you can even hear the dramatic music starting up.
Examples
This, I think, really demonstrates the feeling of discover in this image. It's almost like you have emerged from under this tree to this beautiful view of Mallards Pike. What is also good about this image is there is depth here, not only in the image itself, but also with the framing. It's almost a fusion of framing and leading lines in a way, wrapping you around the image before you get catapulted into the centre of the frame.
Framing doesn't have to be all around the image, but just enough to add emphasis on what the subject of your image is. Here are the remains of Foxes Bridge Colliery and by surrounding the subject by the foliage, it shows the context that this site is now derelict and has been taken back by nature. In amongst the growth, you will find relics of the past.
Foreground/Background
What is it?
Not a specific technique in itself, but where you incorporate foreground and background elements in a scene. Using some of the techniques above you will naturally do this, but sometimes, just concentrating on what's in your foreground and background is enough to create depth. You can even think of mid-ground elements as well.
Why use it?
This helps to get you thinking about changing your photo from a photo 'of something' to a photo 'about something'. Especially when you go sightseeing, and you see a lovely building and just take a picture of it. However, if you start thinking about the elements that surround the building, it starts to build a picture of the building and the place it's in. It might be that it's actually on a hill and that's what makes the building stand out, so you may want to capture it from a distance with the city/town laid out below in the foreground. Or from a forest perspective, you see a lovely tree, but actually it's the fact that it's an Oak tree surrounded by pine trees that makes the tree feel more prominent.
One thing to note on this, feel free for one part of these elements to be out of focus...not the subject thought! Sometimes an out of focus foreground creates the feeling of depth but doesn't distract from the main subject of your scene. Or it maybe that the foreground is what you want the viewer to focus on, and that the background's charm is more it's colour and shapes and therefore out of focus would work well here. It can also add a bit of mystery too. Sometimes it's good to leave the viewer with more questions than answers.
Examples
This image is very clear cut in it's foreground and background. This is emphasised by the natural line of the tree reflections of the lake separating the two elements. Notice here that the background is not particularly in focus, which given the mist would not naturally be anyway. So the focus here are the fishing platforms, contextualised by the misty forest background. The reflection also adds another interesting element to the image that actually draws the eye deeper into the image, behind the tree leaving a mystery to what may lie beyond.
This is a classic use of foreground and background. Here we are close up to the foreground which leads the viewer up the image with the river to the bridge. Arguably the mid ground here and the background then being the hills.
Guides over Rules
So, I think that probably gives you enough to play around with. One thing I would say about the above. These are presented as rules, but I would treat them more as guidelines. As you will see in some of my examples, they don't perfectly fit the 'rules' but are guided by them. Ultimately, the goal is for a great photo, and in my beginnings in learning about composition, I worried so much about 'the rules' and it sometimes creates overly complicated images. Practice, practice, practice, and it will soon become a muscle memory and more instinctive. And eventually, make your own rules up!!
I would also add that composition is one element to a great photo, but once you have an interesting subject or scene, you can use these elements to make the image more pleasing or emphasis your subject.
Have you got any other compositional tips to share? Or have you tried out one of these techniques? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy snapping!
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