11 Best Photo Composition Rules for Beginners
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Josh discusses the importance of composition in photography, emphasizing how it elevates photos regardless of the subject or location. He introduces 11 key composition rules, including perspective, negative space, filling the frame, symmetry, leading lines, and framing, among others. Josh uses his own photography examples to illustrate each rule, offering practical tips on applying them. He concludes by encouraging viewers to experiment and break the 'rules' creatively. It's a useful guide for both beginner and seasoned photographers aiming to enhance their compositional skills.
Takeaways
- 📸 Composition is key: Proper composition elevates any photo, regardless of the subject or location.
- 🖼️ Definition of composition: It refers to what is included and excluded in the frame and how elements are organized.
- 👀 Perspective matters: Experimenting with high and low angles can dramatically alter the impact of your subject.
- 🌿 Negative space: Leaving space around your subject can create a more dramatic, isolated, and interesting effect.
- 🔍 Fill the frame: Zoom in and focus entirely on your subject when the background is too busy or distracting.
- 🔄 Symmetry and reflections: Symmetry creates balance and reflections (in water, glass, etc.) add aesthetic appeal.
- ➡️ Leading lines: Lines like roads, buildings, or paths guide the viewer's eye through the photo, creating structure.
- 🏞️ Framing: Using objects like doors, trees, or windows to frame a subject can draw attention and add depth.
- 📐 Rule of thirds: Aligning elements along horizontal and vertical thirds of the frame makes photos more dynamic.
- 🌗 Contrast and lighting: Playing with shadows and bright spots emphasizes the subject and adds depth to the composition.
Q & A
What is composition in photography, and why is it important?
-Composition in photography refers to how elements are arranged within a photo. It is crucial because it helps direct the viewer's attention, enhances the visual appeal, and can elevate a photo, regardless of how interesting the subject or location is.
How does perspective and vantage point impact photo composition?
-Perspective and vantage point affect how a subject is framed and perceived. By shooting from different angles, like getting low to the ground or high up, you can create more dynamic and interesting compositions that emphasize different aspects of the subject and the background.
What is the concept of negative space in photography?
-Negative space refers to the area around the subject that is intentionally left empty or simple. It gives the subject room to breathe, making the composition feel less crowded and more dramatic, often emphasizing isolation or simplicity.
When should you fill the frame in a photo?
-Filling the frame is useful when you want to cut out distracting elements in the background or highlight the subject's details. This technique works well in portrait photography or when the background is too busy to include.
What role does symmetry play in photography composition?
-Symmetry creates a balanced, harmonious image that is aesthetically pleasing. It is often found in reflections, architecture, or natural scenes and gives a photo a sense of stability and calmness.
How can leading lines and diagonals be used effectively in a photo?
-Leading lines and diagonals guide the viewer’s eye through the photo, directing attention to key elements. Common sources include roads, trails, or architectural features, which can create structure and flow in a composition.
What is framing in photography, and how does it help highlight the subject?
-Framing involves using elements like doors, windows, or branches to create a natural boundary around the subject, drawing focus to it. It helps emphasize the subject and adds depth and context to the image.
What is juxtaposition, and how is it used in street photography?
-Juxtaposition involves placing contrasting elements together in a photo to create an interesting or thought-provoking image. In street photography, it might pair people with artwork or objects that either complement or contrast with them to tell a visual story.
What is the rule of thirds in photography?
-The rule of thirds divides an image into three equal sections both horizontally and vertically. Placing key elements along these lines or at their intersections can create a more balanced and visually appealing composition.
Why is balance important in photography composition?
-Balance ensures that no part of the image overpowers the rest, making the composition feel harmonious. It involves distributing visual weight across the photo by placing elements strategically to complement each other.
What is contrast lighting, and how can it be used to improve a photo?
-Contrast lighting involves using areas of shadow and light to highlight the subject or create mood. Placing the subject in a well-lit area or along the edge of shadow can add drama and focus to the composition.
Why are photography rules considered guidelines rather than strict rules?
-Photography rules are flexible guidelines meant to help improve compositions, but breaking them can lead to creative and unique results. Mastering the rules allows photographers to know when and how to deviate for artistic expression.
Outlines
📸 Introduction to Composition in Photography
Josh introduces the topic of photo composition, emphasizing its importance in elevating photography, regardless of the subject or location. He explains that composition is not a binary skill but something photographers continually improve on, whether they're beginners or professionals. Josh previews the content of the video, which will include a definition of composition, 11 of his favorite composition rules, tips for applying them, and examples from his own photography.
🎯 Rule 1: Perspective and Vantage Point
Josh highlights how perspective and vantage point can drastically change the composition of a photo. He demonstrates this by showing how getting low or high alters the impact of the subject and the background. He advises photographers to explore different angles to achieve more dramatic compositions, such as shooting from the ground or high above. He provides tips on utilizing camera features like flip-out LCD screens to shoot from unique angles, showing how different perspectives can add depth and intrigue to a photo.
🌌 Rule 2: Negative Space
Negative space is discussed as a powerful compositional tool, offering a way to make subjects stand out by zooming out and incorporating empty or simple backgrounds. Josh explains how giving subjects 'room to breathe' can create a sense of isolation or drama, especially when the background is minimalist. He shares examples, such as a shot of a town with the Mediterranean Sea as a large, simple backdrop, and suggests using silhouettes to simplify textures and emphasize shapes in photos.
🔍 Rule 3: Filling the Frame
Josh covers the opposite approach to negative space: filling the frame with the subject. He explains that this is useful when the background is too busy or distracting, and emphasizes the subject by cutting out unnecessary elements. This technique is commonly used in portraiture. He compares both techniques, advising that photographers assess their background to decide whether to zoom in or out based on its simplicity or complexity.
⚖️ Rule 4: Symmetry
Josh explains that symmetry brings balance and simplicity to a photo, making it pleasing to the eye. He shares tips on finding symmetry in nature, architecture, and reflections, especially in water. He notes that achieving symmetry often requires careful positioning, such as centering yourself between reflective points in a landscape or puddles, and humorously warns about the risk of getting splashed while trying to capture these reflections in the street.
➰ Rule 5: Leading Lines and Diagonals
Leading lines guide the viewer’s eye through a photo, helping structure the composition and making it more digestible. Josh discusses classic examples like the S-curve and everyday lines found in both nature and urban environments. He advises photographers to look for these lines and angles, experiment with perspective, and use them to highlight the main subject. He also touches on creating leading lines through action sequence photos and explains how diagonal lines can add dynamic energy to an image.
🖼️ Rule 6: Framing
Framing involves using elements within a scene to create a 'frame within a frame,' drawing attention to the subject. Josh shares examples of using doors, windows, and natural elements like trees and branches to frame subjects. He emphasizes that framing can be creative and deliberate, offering control over composition and making subjects stand out. He shares personal anecdotes about finding perfect framing opportunities while shooting photos in unexpected locations.
⚖️ Rule 7: Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is about pairing contrasting or complementary elements within a single frame to create visual interest. Josh explains that juxtaposition is especially useful in street photography, where unexpected moments can make for powerful compositions. He provides examples, such as pairing street art with people passing by, or contrasting natural elements like a large tree with a person to highlight differences in scale and context.
📐 Rule 8: Rule of Thirds
Josh briefly introduces the Rule of Thirds, explaining how dividing a photo into horizontal and vertical thirds can make compositions more aesthetically pleasing. He provides a quick example of applying the rule to portraiture, noting that subjects placed along these lines or intersections naturally draw the viewer’s eye. He encourages viewers to watch a separate video he has on the topic for more in-depth information.
🔺 Rule 9: Corners and Triangles
Josh explains how using triangles and lining up leading lines with the corners of the frame can improve photo composition. While he warns against overthinking this rule, he suggests that small adjustments to positioning or cropping can help align elements more perfectly with the corners. He dismisses the complexity of 'golden triangles' and instead recommends focusing on natural alignment of lines and shapes in the frame.
⚖️ Rule 10: Balance
Balance is about distributing visual weight across a photo. Josh discusses how to create balance by placing elements on opposite sides of the frame, using examples from action shots and landscapes. He shows how balancing a dominant subject on one side with a complementary element on the other side helps create harmony in the composition, while also touching on how symmetry and leading lines contribute to balance.
💡 Rule 11: Contrast Lighting
Josh concludes with a rule he loves for street photography: using contrast lighting. By placing subjects in areas of strong contrast between light and shadow, photographers can emphasize their subjects and create dramatic, visually striking compositions. He discusses how 'light baths'—isolated patches of light—can add interest to photos, and encourages experimenting with shadows and light for unique results.
🚫 Bonus Rule: Breaking the Rules
Josh wraps up the video by emphasizing that photography rules are more like guidelines. He encourages viewers to learn the rules thoroughly, as they can enhance creativity, but also advises knowing when to break them. He stresses that developing a personal style often involves ignoring the rules, once a photographer has a strong grasp of them. He closes by urging viewers to experiment and adapt these rules to fit their unique approach to photography.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Composition
💡Perspective and Vantage Point
💡Negative Space
💡Filling the Frame
💡Symmetry
💡Leading Lines
💡Framing
💡Juxtaposition
💡Rule of Thirds
💡Contrast Lighting
Highlights
Composition in photography is crucial for improving photos, no matter how beautiful the subject or location.
Composition involves what you include or exclude in the frame and how you manage it, and it's something photographers constantly work on.
Perspective and vantage point are key: changing your angle, such as getting high or low, can drastically change how a subject appears.
Negative space creates emphasis on your subject by allowing space around them, making the image feel more dramatic and isolated.
Filling the frame is the opposite of negative space: by zooming in on the subject, you remove distractions and focus on their details.
Symmetry in photos creates balance and is visually appealing, particularly when using reflections or architecture.
Leading lines and diagonals guide the viewer's eyes through the photo, helping to highlight the subject or main point of focus.
Framing, or creating a frame within a frame using natural or artificial elements, can help draw attention to the subject and add depth to the composition.
Juxtaposition pairs contrasting elements within a frame to create a visually engaging image, commonly used in street photography.
The rule of thirds suggests placing important elements along gridlines that divide the image into thirds, which enhances the aesthetic balance.
Corners and triangles involve aligning lines or shapes in your composition with the corners of the frame to add structure.
Balance in a photo ensures that all elements are harmoniously placed, preventing any one side or part from feeling too heavy.
Contrast lighting, often involving bright areas and deep shadows, adds drama and emphasis to the subject, particularly in street photography.
These photography 'rules' are more like guidelines, meant to be learned and then selectively broken to enhance creativity.
Experimenting with different angles, perspectives, and compositional elements can dramatically change the outcome of your photos.
Transcripts
how's it going guys I'm Josh and today
we are covering composition in
photography
now composition is what's going to take
your photos to the next level no matter
how beautiful your subject matter is or
how it's a gamble your location is
without proper composition you were
blowing it so today we're going to start
with a quick description on what
composition actually is followed by 11
of my all-time favorite photo
composition rules that you should be
aware of as well as tons of my photos to
use as examples plus tips on how you can
actually put these photo composition
rules into action for your photos
starting out what is composition
simply put composition is what your
photo is made up of what you choose to
include and exclude in the frame and how
you manage to do so now composition is
not binary it's not like lungs motion
photography in which you either have it
or you don't it's something people are
constantly working on whether it's your
first day shooting photos or you a
professional photographer there's no
proper way to compose a photo
photography is an art form and submit
you'll be improving at until the data
you die or maybe even after depending on
how philosophical you want to get now
let's get in to my 11 favorite rules
rule number one perspective and vantage
point this is my subject when I shot the
photo I levels standing up now this is a
photo when I got super low note how much
more awesome the subject looks they're
composed against the ceiling which is a
really cool backdrop and here's where
you get an M this is your boring
photographers pose very standard angle
here the two angles you should get
comfortable with immediately angle
number one get super super high and if
you have a flip-out LCD screen on your
camera you can actually position your
camera like so to get it nice and high
in the air and as a result the floor now
becomes your backdrop and the floor has
tons of interesting compositional
elements lines tons of cool stuff and
pose number two get on the floor you're
gonna get some really really awesome
stuff when you're on the floor because
everything looks taller and more
dramatic additionally always look for
places in which you can get high up and
shoot from down below or vice versa
shooting straight up because it just is
a totally different perspective on
photography a few more examples by
placing my camera super low in this
field of wildflowers
it seems like you're in the field with
us in this photo by getting just a
little bit lower and crouching down on
one
I was able to frame my friend James up
against the white sky which makes him
pop so so much more so for the sake of
framing the sky is usually a really
clean backdrop option so when the
background is busy get low and get your
subject super hot you can quote me on
that get your subject high for the sake
of art rule number two negative space
give your subjects some room to breathe
the natural assumption is you want to
fill your frame with just your subject
nice and zoomed in which is good and
sometimes but sometimes you can actually
zoom out a bunch more and have a very
simple backdrop which actually adds a
nice dramatic effect and makes your
subject feel a little bit more isolated
and interesting so for example take this
photo I shot of the town of Cornelia and
chick with Terra Italy and suddenly I
zoom out a little bit and have the
Mediterranean Sea in the top of the
photo which is really just an empty
almost fully white area it makes the
photo look so much more dramatic and
provides actually more emphasis on the
town below now the best time to employed
negative space photos is when you're
taking a photo of a subject and you
realize the area surrounding them is
really simple and plain and I think the
subject actually looked a little bit
more lonely when you have this massive
empty backdrop another awesome way to
simplify a photo and add some negative
space is by doing silhouettes because
suddenly whatever texture you have in
the photo just becomes a shape and rule
number three
filling the frame this is the exact
opposite of negative space this is when
you take your subject and they pretty
self-explanatory just fill up the entire
frame with their face or with the
building or whatever you're shooting
this is my friend John Hale after eating
a ghost pepper and nothing emphasizes
tears like a good old close-up deciding
when to impose either these two rules
really just depends on what your
backdrop is if you have something
interesting and simple then zoom out and
see what you can do with it however if
you have something crazy busy in the
backdrop that you don't want featured in
the photo zooming in is a great way to
cut all that out and provide the focus
where you want it and filling the frame
is a very popular thing when you're
doing portraiture and rule number four
is symmetry which is pretty
self-explanatory the reason why it's so
lovely is because it is balanced it's
simple it's just overall easy on the
eyes now a really popular way to get
good symmetry in a photo is water so if
your shoe
doing a landscape photo just getting a
nice reflection that perfectly balances
your subject and the reflection of your
subjects other things you can do if
you're in a city or a suburb or anywhere
and you see a big puddle of water now
the trick to getting good reflections in
a puddle of water is getting super super
low and really close up and another
little trick is if you're doing this
near a street watch out for coming cars
because I've been splashed so hard show
do these photos in the past you're also
going to find great symmetry in
architecture it's probably going to be a
horizontal inflection and the trick to
this is just being centered between the
reflection points so that it's evenly
balanced on both sides to give it the
nice clean look you're gonna want rule
number five leading lines and diagonals
now lines are a great way to actually
guide your eye throughout the photo and
a welcome post photo is one that's easy
to look at and digestible where you can
easily identify the subject now a
leading line can actually take your eye
and hold your hand guiding you
throughout the photo showing you where
to look it's just a great way to add
structure to a photo now one of the most
classic leading lines is the s-curve and
this is one that just curves like an S
and it's pretty hard to find you have to
keep an eye out for it
but when you can it's this is perfect
way of really guiding your eye
throughout the entire photo but you can
find solid guiding lines just about
anywhere in the city you'll find
telephone poles street wires buildings
columns anything like this in nature
you've got trees you've got trails all
kinds of stuff to take your eye
throughout the photo now two interesting
things you can do with leading lines one
you can actually create the line
yourself by doing action sequence photos
and I have a whole tutorial link to that
over here in which you have the subject
stitch together to be their own line
which is awesome another fun thing you
can do is have a leading line not be the
main element of your photo but actually
just bringing your eye to of the main
element I took this photo of my friend
Rochelle and the line of the building
just leads your eye right up to her
other interesting lines to look out for
our diagonals now this is when a bunch
of lines actually intersect each other
at different angles so take for example
this photo of a painting man
all of these stark interesting angles
now two little tricks to get in good
leading lines photos one you just have
to keep an eye out for interesting lines
whether you're in nature
or in the city they just kind of present
themselves to you and as you get better
at shooting them you'll also get better
at identifying them and ii know that
perspective rule number one on this
video makes all the difference in
finding good leading lines take for
example you're at a sidewalk at ground
level that is just a flat plane from a
rooftop that suddenly becomes a hole
leading line just keep an eye out for
these things at all times and if you see
what might be an interesting line try
walking around different angles to see
how it changes them so you can get that
perfect beautiful line and here's
another example of an s-curve leading up
to a biker who is then placed in a frame
which takes us to topic number six rule
number six is framing and some people
call this frame within a frame because
technically every photo is a photo frame
so any of a frame within it anyway we're
gonna call it framing framing is a great
way to provide emphasis to your subject
because it's a basically just a perfect
outline for them you can use doors
windows and in this example this is a
frame within a frame within a frame or
you can get creative and make your own
frame a really popular one people like
to do in nature is finding a branch with
some leaves on it and shooting through
those leaves you can also shoot through
trees all kinds of options for finding a
good frame now somebody is like leading
lines are something you have to just
kind of find and you have or you don't
framing is awesome because you can
impose it you actually can get creative
in fine frames so for example my friend
wanted to shoot this photo of him
skating a bowl in Puerto Rico and I went
and explored this abandoned Foundation
and actually found this perfect little
sniper hole to shoot my friend through
I'm sorry for the purposely aggressive
language and created this very
deliberate frame around him if you have
a cool subject you can kind of just
explore with them until you find the
perfect frame to put them in and
sometimes frames are more subtle you
might not notice at first but the cross
I purposely framed in between two trees
because I knew that your eye would
probably be drawn to that cross now this
is again where perspective really comes
into play let's try and frame up this AC
remote in between my arm and my head so
if we have the AC remote right here yeah
it's sort of gonna frame now suddenly if
we move it up closer to the camera its
perfectly framed right there at least so
the closer or further away you move with
your subject to the frame the better or
worse the frame becomes so don't be
afraid
to experiment rule number seven is
juxtaposition and juxtaposition is all
about pairing multiple elements together
in a photo that either work together or
contrast each other in one frame and
this is a huge thing in street
photography and I have a whole tutorial
link to that right over here that goes
over this a little bit more but just a
couple quick examples take this photo I
shot in London of a guy yawning now the
guy yawning individually and this cool
piece of street art just kind of
interesting yet suddenly when I waited
an hour for this guy to walk through the
perfect time right in that circle that
juxtaposition suddenly makes it a very
strong photo another example this is the
Empire State Building framed up another
composition element within this dump
setting another example here is a photo
of a tree and use a photo of my friend
Nick and suddenly you actually show you
the full photo and this is Nick next to
a baby tree and it's all about that
contrast the rule number 8 this is
probably the most common compositional
rule in the game that is the rule of
thirds now the rule of thirds is just
the understanding that there are thirds
horizontal and vertical thirds in a
photo and that it's more aesthetically
pleasing to have certain elements of
your photo lined up with those thirds
now I'm not going to get too into this I
actually have a whole video discussing
the rule of thirds linked to that right
over here if you're curious but there's
a lot of potential to be done here and
it's a pretty fascinating topic so
definitely check that video out and
here's a candid photo I took of a bride
on a subway now quick little rule within
a role there's this thing called the
rule of space and it's the idea that if
you have a subject or any moving object
that's looking or moving in one
direction then the extra space and the
photo if you're using the rule of thirds
should be in the direction that they're
looking or moving rule 9 I'm actually
combining a few rules in one we're going
to call this the role of corners and
triangles now triangles are a beautiful
beautiful shape they look really nice to
see in photos
additionally when you have leading lines
in a photo it's really awesome when they
line up with one of the corners in a
photo or better yet actually having it
line up with two corners in your frame
or even better three or all four corners
now this is one of those rules you
shouldn't go out of your way to follow
however if you're taking a photo and you
realize oh there's this line that's
coming into my photo that is kind of
near
the corners then try and reposition to
get it perfectly lined up with one of
the corners and what you can do to do
this is move in a little bit move out a
little bit a little bit the left-right
up-down just sort of play around the
camera until you can find that perfectly
locked corner also rotating the camera a
little bit can really help it's not
going to be easy to be perfectly precise
which is where cropping comes into play
you can then just crop your photo after
your editing in Lightroom or rotating a
little bit just to make sure those
corners perfectly align changing the
crop ratio that can really help you nail
those corners and the perfect spot that
you want them to be now a more
professional compositional term you'll
hear is the golden triangle which looks
like this now personally I think this is
a load of crap actually deliberately
using this I'm sure there are
professionals that too however what I
recommend you do is focus on the rule of
corners that I said and this is gonna
happen naturally I guarantee it
don't overthink it and rule number ten
is balance now balance in general is
kind of the all-encompassing rule that
involves the rule of thirds framing lean
lines all these things keep a photo
balance but I want to talk particularly
about the balancing of elements so if
you have one very strong element over
here having something over here just to
balance it out a little bit so my two
examples one take this kid flipping in
one corner of the frame now I added this
other kid in the opposite corner of the
frame to balance it out another example
in Olympic National Park I had this very
tall tall forest so on the other side I
had this cool rock structure that just
created this nice balance additionally
working with the symmetry of the
reflection plus there's also three nice
corner lines in rule number 11 one of my
all-time favorite rules for street
photography is contrast lighting and
what this is is looking for areas of
interesting shadows or areas of light
baths which is when everything's in
shadows except for one specific area and
then putting your subject either in that
light bath or on the line between the
light bath and the shadows to then have
interesting shadow play essentially in
your photo what's great about having
bright areas and shadow dark areas in a
photo is that it provides way more
emphasis on your subject as well as just
balance in terms of lightness and
darkness and for our last bonus rule
rules are dumb these are not rules these
are guidelines
and there's that classic line about
knowing the rules before you break them
and I really strongly believe in this
for photography now especially when
you're first starting off these rules
are going to help you get way way more
creative and give you a nice leveraging
off point so get to know the rules
try them out and get comfortable with
them and then you can really do your own
thing no one you want to use them and
know when you have to say forget them
anyway that is it I hope you guys found
this super helpful if you did be sure to
subscribe and give this a thumbs up for
more content and just to help me out
also if you have any thoughts on more
important rules things I forgot to add
things that I suck at leave a comment
down below because they're fun to read
also if this video helped you let me
know because that's a huge reason why I
like doing these photo videos also if
you liked my photos all the examples
were mine of course be sure to follow me
on Instagram as well as check out my
photography website which has links to
all of my photos tutorials as well as
reviews and all my camera setup prints
of my best shots and more photos for you
to check out link to that right over
here anyway thank you guys so much for
watching I'm gonna go eat some pretzels
so I will see you eventually
関連動画をさらに表示
What is Composition?
Master COMPOSITION in PHOTOGRAPHY - 13 Tips to take Better PHOTOS | SUNNY GALA
4 Framing & Composition Techniques for Beginners | Photography & Video Training
How To Build A Newsletter For Beginners (Using Beehiiv)
The MOST IMPORTANT wildlife photography tip, BY FAR!
¿Qué deberías saber de composición fotográfica?
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)