Framing and Composition in Photography

Framing and composition are one of the easiest to explain, but difficult to master. There are no unbreakable rules when it comes to how you should compose your photographs. After all, who likes rules except for your old school principal or heads of H.R. departments? There are, however, several photography composition guidelines you can use to help improve the composition of your photos.

First of all, we have to define what is meant by ‘composition’. Composition refers to the way the various elements in a scene are arranged within the frame. These are not hard and fast rules but guidelines. That said, many of them have been used in the art for thousands of years and they really do help achieve more attractive compositions. You should usually have one or more of these guidelines in the back of my mind as I’m setting up a shot.

The principles of visual art are the rules, tools, and guidelines that artists often use to organize the elements of art in their work. Of course, not everyone follows these rules but most of them do because it is more pleasing for the human eye. Let's take a look at some of these principles and a few other tips to take better shots.

Rule Of Thirds

Imagine that your image is divided into 9 equal segments by 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines. The rule of thirds says that you should position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Doing so will add balance and interest to your photo. Some cameras even offer an option to superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it even easier to use.

Balancing Elements

Placing your main subject off-center, as with the rule of thirds, creates a more interesting photo, but it can leave a void in the scene which can make it feel empty. You can achieve a balanced composition and even out the main subject's "visual weight" by including another object of lesser importance to fill the space.

Leading Lines

When we look at a photo our eye is naturally drawn along lines. By thinking about how you place these leading lines in your composition, you can affect the way we view the image, pulling us into the picture, towards the subject, or on a journey "through" the scene. There are many different types of lines - straight, diagonal, curvy, zigzag, radial, etc - and each can be used to enhance our photo's composition.

Symmetry and Patterns

We are surrounded by symmetry and patterns, both natural and man-made. They can make for very eye-catching compositions, particularly in situations where they are not expected. Another great way to use them is to break the symmetry or pattern in some way, introducing tension and a focal point to the scene.

Viewpoint

Before photographing your subject, take time to think about where you will shoot it from. Our viewpoint has a massive impact on the composition of our photo, and as a result it can greatly affect the message that the shot conveys. Rather than just shooting from eye level, consider photographing from high above, down at ground level, from the side, from the back, from a long way away, from very close up, and so on.

Background

How many times have you taken what you thought would be a great shot, only to find that the final image lacks impact because the subject blends into a busy background? The human eye is excellent at distinguishing between different elements in a scene, whereas a camera has a tendency to flatten the foreground and background, and this can often ruin an otherwise great photo. Thankfully this problem is usually easy to overcome at the time of shooting - look around for a plain and unobtrusive background and compose your shot so that it doesn't distract or detract from the subject.

Depth

Because photography is a two-dimensional medium, we have to choose our composition carefully to convey the sense of depth that was present in the actual scene. You can create depth in a photo by including objects in the foreground, middle ground, and background. Another useful composition technique is overlapping, where you deliberately partially obscure one object with another. The human eye naturally recognizes these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an image with more depth.

Framing in Photography

The world is full of objects which make perfect natural frames, such as trees, archways, and holes. By placing these around the edge of the composition you help to isolate the main subject from the outside world. The result is a more focused image that draws your eye naturally to the main point of interest.

Cropping

Often a photo will lack impact because the main subject is so small it becomes lost among the clutter of its surroundings. By cropping tight around the subject you eliminate the background "noise", ensuring the subject gets the viewer's undivided attention.

Experimentation

With the dawn of the digital age in photography, we no longer have to worry about film processing costs or running out of shots. As a result, experimenting with our photos' composition has become a real possibility; we can fire off tons of shots and delete the unwanted ones later at absolutely no extra cost. Take advantage of this fact and experiment with your composition - you never know whether an idea will work until you try it.