Composition Basics - How To Get Good Pictures
Composition is one of the most important aspects of photography. It can make or break a photo. Good composition can take an average photo and make it great, while bad composition can ruin an otherwise good photo. There are a few basic composition rules that all photographers should learn. These rules will help you to take better photos, regardless of the subject matter. Once you understand and can apply these composition basics, you'll be well on your way to taking great photos.
Composition Basics
Focus
A shot in focus is crisp and clear, with a good definition of object. Most digital cameras have automatic focus and manual focus. Selecting automatic focus allows you to get quick action photos. Selecting manual focus allows you to determine what you want in focus: background, foreground, usually a person's eyes, or one person in front of another. Some digital cameras allow you to fill the frame with the foreground (a bush for example), press the shutter halfway (locking the focus), then frame the shot with the background (playground for example) and take the picture.
This would make the bush in focus and the playground out of focus. The reverse is also correct. Filling the frame with the playground and pressing the shutter release halfway, composing the shot to include the bush, and taking the picture - would allow the background in focus and the bush out of focus. To keep the focus, stay the same distance from the subject as when you "locked" the focus.
Depth
Photographs are two-dimensional. To make images more real and alive we try to give the illusion of depth. Helpful hints: avoid shooting people up against a wall, pull them away from the wall, have them stand with a room or field behind them. Light the subject or have them be the brightest object. Or, if you're shooting a building, shoot it at an angle (from the corner) and have some branches be in the shot - close, yet out of focus (to add an element of foreground depth).
Foreground - the part of the photo that is closest to the camera - the branches in front of a park scene.
Background - the part of the photo that is farthest from the camera - the mountains behind a park scene.
* Either can be in focus and thus the point or reason for the photograph.
Avoid shadows across faces by putting light and reflected light on the front of the subject. See "lighting hints."
Depth of Field
This is the portion of the photograph that is in clear sharp focus. How much of the picture is crisp? To get lots of the photo in focus, have lots of light and have the subject farther away from the camera. You may want to have a shallow depth of field (only the subject's eyes in focus, for example) then you would decrease the light and move the subject closer to the camera.
Cameras have the ability to focus on foreground objects, mid-ground objects, and background objects. When everything in the image appears sharp and in focus, that’s called “deep depth of field.” On the other hand, when only a small portion of the image is in focus while the rest is blurry, that’s called “ shallow depth of field.” Shallow depth of field can be used to great effect, drawing attention to the subject while de-emphasizing the background. This is often used in portraiture, where you want the viewer to focus on the person’s face rather than what’s going on behind them.
It can also be used in landscape photography to make certain elements pop out from the scene.There are a few things that affect depth of field: aperture, focal length, and distance to subject. Let’s take a look at each one.ApertureAperture is expressed in f-stop values, and it refers to the size of the opening in the lens when a photo is taken. A lower f-stop number like f/2.8 indicates a larger opening, while a higher f-stop like f/11 indicates a smaller opening. So why is this important? A large aperture results in shallow depth of field, while a small aperture leads to deep depth of field. That means if you want your portrait subjects to really stand out from the background, you’ll want to use a low f-stop like f/2.8 or f/4.0.
Can You Guess Which Part Is The Depth Of Field?
Contrast
Variety adds to your photograph. The subject should be the lightest area of the screen because our eyes are drawn to light. The background behind them should be darker. Placing the sun behind you will assist you in getting good lighting. High contrast can be used to create elements of design that can make or break a photograph. One important element is contrast. Contrast is the ratio of light to dark areas in an image. When there is high contrast, the difference between the light and dark areas is great. When there is low contrast, the difference is not as pronounced.
Exposure
Exposure is the amount of light entering the camera. A picture looks its best with proper light and exposure. Usually the camera gives automatic exposure. As you get more comfortable with the camera, try manually controlling the lights and exposure to get the best pictures.
The focal length of a lens is the distance (measured in mm) between the center of the lens and the point where light rays converge to produce a sharp image. A shorter focal length results in a wider field of view, while a longer focal length provides a narrower field of view. For example, a 24mm lens focal length also has an effect on depth of field. A shorter focal length (wide-angle lens) will result in deeper depth of field, while a longer focal length (telephoto lens) will create shallower depth of field.This is why wide-angle lenses are often used for landscape photography, to keep as much of the sceneocal length has a big impact on depth of field in focus as possible.
Framing
Framing is an important composition technique that can be used to add interest and tension to a photograph. By placing the subject off-center, or by using other objects in the scene to create a frame around the subject, you can add visual interest and draw the viewer's attention to the subject of the photo. Fill the screen with the main object. Get a tight shot of your subject. Notice how the Sunflower fills the shot.
