IMAGE COMPOSITION

Yahaya Lawal

DEFINITION OF COMPOSITION
Composition has been defined as a laying of comparative
objects and elements in an artwork ( www.photographylife.com).
DEFINITION OF COMPOSITION IN PHOTOGRAPHY
This can be described as placing essentials or features within a
photograph in a way that fits the central idea or target of your
work
(www.digitalcameraworld.com).

GOOD COMPOSTION
Good composition has been defined as the careful selection and arrangement
of the photos subject matter within a frame (Busch: 2009)

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD COMPOSITION

It is a fact that best pictures are not by accident, they are calculated and
crafted. The following will guide us on how to prepare and apply good
composition in our photography. They are only guidelines your intelligence will
tell you when to break the rules.
VISUALISING A CONCEPT FOR YOUR PICTURE
Photo talks. You should decide what your picture will say and also determine
your audience. Is your photo communicating emotions: happiness, sorrow,
mourning, sympathy, pains or a pathetic situation.

PHOTO TALKS

It is significant to remember where the image will be used. If it is for display you
need to have tight composition for adequate sharpness and should be framed
And enlarged. If it is on the web page, you need to move back a little, you can crop it later.
Another essential factor is for who is the photo: family, friends, colleagues, etc
SELECTING A SUBJECT AND A CENTRE OF INTEREST
You should not leave your viewers in limbo or confused on what is your soul
intention or focal point. Every picture must have one strong Mecca. Do not
include everything, rather narrow down your subject matter by eliminating all the

unwanted object, cropping or excusing them to leave. Choose one main subject
and allow the other interesting secondary subject to appear.

SIMPLICTY / CENTER OF INTEREST

CHOOSE ONE MAIN CENTER OF INTEREST
Some of the prominent compositional techniques to have centre of interest are
as follow:
Most prominent should be your center of interest : you may think that Sister Hafsat
should be pictured but if she stands in front of a latest car in town, she can hardly be
noticed.

SINGLE CENTER OF INTEREST

Center of interest should be the brightest object or should not be conquered by
a brighter object. Dazzling background and reflections should not distract
viewers from your core subject.

SUBJECT SHOULD NOT ALWAYS BE IN THE MIDDLE

Avoid placing your center of interest always at the at the center of the picture
do not use the literal meaning of the word center every time

USING SECONDARY SUBJECT

Presenting multiple center of interest is confusing. If a picture has many
important subjects just include secondary objects that enrich the photo.
Secondary objects can be identified through: brightness, location, and sharpness
( by editing).

ARRANGING YOUR SUBJECTS

One of the essential basics of composition is appropriate arrangement of subjects within
a frame. It matters seriously: where subjects are facing and where they are placed.
The most important arrangement is selection of the subjects distance.

Choosing Subject Distance: Distance selection should not be permanent, it should be

reviewed according to the situation demands. The following are ways to select subject
distance:
Use wide angle lens or move back to create the feeling of space or depth.
Your subject should not be appear too small.
For pictures that stress a person, group or object move as close as possible.
Fill in the frame entirely.

Optimizing Background: Unwanted background is somehow indispensible

unless if the picture is in the night or somehow. Background can be an
advantage or disadvantage to you. The following points can help in managing

Your background.
Make sure your background is not flamboyant, brightly colored or occupied.
Plain background suits portraits.
Natural settings such as trees, skies, mountains, waterfalls, etc can make an

attractive compositional background.

FRAMING & THE RULE OF THIRDS

The best position to be assigned to an important subject is usually at one of the

points located one third of the way from top or bottom and sides of the frame.
Burch (2009) defined rule of thirds as a process of breaking up your picture
horizontally and vertically into thirds.

PLACING IMPORTANT OBJECT AT IMAGINARY JUNCTION POINTS

To stay away from placing your subject at the middle, you can

stage it at off-center position with the support of imaginary rule of

thirds. We can do this by:

Splitting the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically.

Place your center of interest at of the four intersections of the imaginary lines.
Do not position your object at the edge of your picture.

RULE OF THIRD

BREAKING THE RULE

WHEN TO BREAK THE RULE OF THIRDS
The rule of thirds is just a guide, one can break it rationally. We can neglect the
rule if:

The main object is big enough to occupy one of the imaginary intersection points.
Placing the image at the centre will help in demonstrating a concept.
If illustrating symmetry

LEADING LINE AND CURVES

Your viewers will like to see the subjects arranged interestingly. Lines and
curves within your image can direct your eyes toward your focal point. Line and
curves can be in a form of walls, fence, building, roads, falls etc

BALANCING AN IMAGE
Putting every subject of interest on one side of the picture leaving little or nothing to look at on the other
side is making the composition of the photo to be unbalanced. Balancing an image requires that all the
object that occupy one side should be counterbalanced by other objects on the other side. This is not
akin to multiple centers of interest. Object can be balanced in two ways:
Symmetrical balance: this is where objects of the same size and weight can be placed on both sides.

Asymmetrical balance; Here the objects of different sizes and weights are stationed on both the opposing
sides.

BALANCING IMAGE

FRAMING AN IMAGE
Usually, printed pictures are put in physical frames for some reasons. Border
delineates the shape of the picture and help to center attention on the image
Within the frame. We can apply the basic notion on framing to create an
attractive border within our picture by utilizing the following guidelines:

Search for clear framing shapes where you can place your composition, example; doo-ways, windows,
spaces between building, etc
Change position to edge the shot so that the forefront object create a border around your image.
Situate your frame in the foreground
Use your frame to breed a sense of depth.

FRAMING IMAGE

DEPTH

 As conclusion there a few basic composition which are;

Photo Talk
Simplicity
Rule Of third
Breaking the rule
Balancing
Line
Framing
Depth

REFERENCES
Busch, D.D (2009). Digital Photography, Wiley Publishing, Inc. Canada.

THEME AND MOODS

Mohd Emran Ngadiman
MP111370

What makes these

images effective?

CREATING MOOD
Overall feel of a picture
Created by

Perspective
Color
Focus (isolation and distance)
Weather and light
Sunrise/sunset
Misty, rainy days
Sun vs. overcast

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PHOTO

Shape
Line
Pattern
Texture

Size and space

SHAPE
Tends to be noticed first, before texture and pattern
Easiest and most recognizable composition tool
Shape helps create a mood/character for the picture
Search for the unconventional or surprise shape in
objects

CREATING SHAPE
Common
use backlighting to create a silhouette

Uncommon
side lighting with simple background
underexpose to focus on shape vs. color or texture

LINE
Lines create

Shape
Pattern
Depth
Perspective

Line leads the eye

Focal point/subject
Diagonals
S-curves

LINE CREATES PERSPECTIVE

Lines into the horizon show depth and perspective for the viewer
Vanishing point
Point at which lines converge and vanish in to the horizon
Place off-center

Close-ups decrease perspective while wide-angles can exaggerate it

PATTERN
Orderly combination of shape, line, or color
Pattern can help echo the character of a photo
Catching attention
Random patterns
Slight variation in a pattern
Pattern in common places

TEXTURE
Adds realism (sense of touch) to a photo
Sharp (hard) light highlights texture

Especially important for close-up and b/w shots

Side lighting highlights texture
Most portraits use front lighting to decrease texture on skin

USING LIGHT FOR DEPTH

Sometimes hard light is inappropriate for illustrating shape and depth

Soft side lighting can give a sense of shape and depth without high contrast
Portraits
Still life
When shape/depth is more important that texture

SIZE AND SPACE

2D pictures distort depth, relative size, and distances

Include reference item

Include parts of the fore- or background
Use a frame
Be creativemaybe you want to distort

GIVING PERSPECTIVE
LinearLines which converge into the distance
Diminishing sizeobjects further away are smaller
Aerial perspectiveatmosphere creates haze, which lightens objects farther
away

CUT OFFS
Avoiding cutting out parts or wholes of people or main subjects
Avoiding cutting out the path of a moving object

Give the object

somewhere to go

SHOOTING TECHNIQUE
Ahmad Fathur Rahman bin Hasmiy
MPP141070

HIGH ANGLE
High angle from the subject

LOW ANGLE
Low angle from the subject

EYE LEVEL/NORMAL ANGLE

Eye level from the subject

PANNING
A moving object become static but the background still moving

PANORAMA

SILHOUTE
Picture that the background is brighter than the subject and make the
subject black but people well know what is the subject

ZOOM IN ZOOM OUT

We use the bulb setting or slow shutter speed and we zoom our lens

ZOOM OUT

ZOOM IN

CREATIVE LIGHTING SYSTEM

We use the flash as a slave them we put out of the camera body

REFLECTION
Take the reflection of the object

There is only you and your camera.

The limitations in your photography are in yourself
-Ernst Haas

THANK YOU