You get to make beautiful, clear and correctly exposed photos, but something is missing making them unique. So, let's look at the composition of the images?
If this notion is new to you, you are in the right place to discover its secrets.
Composition is an art, the best painters have always mastered it, but it is easy to appropriate the essential principles to apply immediately to your photos and get much better results. These principles are simple to understand, accessible to all, and do not require any additional investment. It's all about changing the way you frame, fill the field of your viewfinder, see your subject differently.
The composition corresponds to the organization of the elements inside the frame. It is often neglected while it is a determining parameter. A successful photo is often a photo with a neat composition!
Although there are many ways to compose a photo, it is interesting to rely on certain principles or rules of composition. When you are familiar with these rules, you will be surprised how much of them are universal. It will also be easier for you to understand why some photos "work" and why others are commonplace.
But composition is not a science and the rules are there to help you. And we must know how to move away too when we master them.
There are three main concepts to 'get' a beautiful composition:
Each of these concepts has an impact on others, but each is essential for you to get photos you will be proud of.
This is the element that will catch the eye before everything else.
There are several ways to create a point of interest in a photo:
A point of interest is usually guided by the presence:
Surely you have already heard about the rules of composition: the rule of thirds, the triangle, the diagonal, the spiral of gold, the symmetry ...
Be careful not to abuse the same rule, because your photos will all end up looking alike.
The rule of thirds
It determines how you can divide the image into three identical horizontal and vertical parts. These axes determine the three zones of the image as well as the four resulting strong points, the intersections.
You need to position the most important elements on these lines and if you place your point of interest on one of the four highlights, you will more easily attract the viewer.
The triangle
This rule is inspired by the very common pyramid composition in the creative arts. Portrait and architecture are generally good.
The diagonal
This rule will tend to give perspective by bringing the eye to the point of interest in the center of the image.
The golden spiral
The golden spiral is a rule that allows you to reproduce a form that is often found in nature. It gives more rounded results compared to the rule of thirds which is more geometric. It will also give a less static observation and force the spectator's gaze to move in the image to get to the point of interest.
The symmetry
Symmetry makes use of the mirror effects and reflections encountered in architecture and in nature. She is extremely powerful and immediately draws attention.
Other rules
There are other rules that you can apply like:
A harmonious composition must remain balanced.
You must not have: