How To Compose The Perfect Photo
Filling the Frame & Clearing ClutterThere are exceptions to this as you"ll see in a second, but generally filling the frame is one of the easiest things you can do to compose interesting photographs.
Most people make the mistake of trying to include too much in their picture and end up with a boring photo where nothing really stands out.
For example, if you are taking a picture of your child playing on a swing, you should fill the frame of you child on the swing and leave out the swingset and other background clutter like Uncle Ed tending to the barbeque.
Otherwise your child will be lost in the clutter and the picture won"t capture the wonderful details of your child"s fun flight through the air on the swing. You can always go back and take a close up of Uncle Ed flipping the burgers.
A nice thing about digital cameras is that after you take the picture you can check for clutter in playback mode. By checking the picture right away, you often can retake the picture and make it better by getting everyone smiling or removing clutter from the background like a lamp post or tree branch.
Sometimes leaving lots of empty space in the photo also works well. You might take a picture of something that fills two thirds of the photo for effect. Just be sure to get a close enough shot that your subject fills at least about a third of the frame. So now it"s time to talk about one of the most important tips for taking digital photographs.
Rule of Thirds Technique
Most pictures have the subject directly centered in the picture with a lot of empty space (or clutter) around them. That happens because most digital compact cameras with autofocus have center weighted focus.
Professionally taken photographs rarely have the subject in the center because they use manual focus (we"ll look at a trick that digital compact users can sometimes use). If you have a DSLR you can also use this trick too.
The "Rule of Thirds" is one of the most popular techniques. With this method, the photographer imagines six evenly spaced lines breaking the image into nine even parts. Some cameras have a feature that lets you opt to have this tic tac toe grid, superimposed over your image in preview mode.
Using this grid in preview mode ò€“ or your imagination ò€“ you can frame the composition so that the subject (whether an individual, group or object) is on one of the lines of the grid. And you don"t need to line this up exactly. With a little practice, using the rule of thirds will become second nature.
Keeping Focused
Now lets talk about getting your subject focused without placing them dead center in the picture. This technique works great for subjects that are not moving, like people sitting down or a picture of a statue or tree. Here is how you do it:
* Using the viewfinder"s focus point, move the camera until your subject is in the middle of the frame, and press the shutter release button half way down.
* Wait for the green light to glow steadily signifying your focus is locked.
* Keeping your finger on the shutter release button so it remains pressed only half way, move the camera until you have the composition you want.
* Now, hold the camera steady and press the shutter the rest of the way down.
* As always, wait for the green light to signal the camera has captured the shot.
More Composition Tips for Taking Digital Pictures (Or Film)
Focus on something specific on your subject. With people and animals, the eyes are often the most expressive area so they tend to be the center of attention.
If you want your pictures to stand out, train your eye to look for photo opportunities with contrast. Contrast in a picture is good when the brights are bright and the dark colors are dark.
Too add interest to a set ofÒ photos of a given subject, take photos from different angles. Stand on a chair or lie on the floor. Don"t always take your pictures from the same vantage point.
Start using these tips and before long you"ll be getting all kinds of compliments on your well composed pictures displayed on the wall.