Composition

COMPOSITIONS
LEAD ROOM, NOSE ROOM OR LOOKING SPACE
Like headroom, last week’s topic, lead room is one of the first concepts we are introduced to when we begin learning
camera operation. And like headroom, it’s a rule that’s made to be broken. If a character is looking screen-left,
certainly it’s most common to place them on the right of frame – giving them lead room (a.k.a. nose room or looking
space) on the left, but that is not the only option. In certain situations it’s more appropriate, or simply more
aesthetically pleasing, to place them on the left, or in the centre. And although The Rule of Thirds suggests how far to
the left or right they will commonly be placed (a third, or two-thirds of the way across the frame) it is, again, far from
the only option.
DON'T LEAVE TOO MUCH HEADROOM

Headroom is the amount of space between the top of your subject's head and the top of the frame. It might seem like a trivial
matter, but it's important to get this distance just right. Fail to do so and you'll end up with a photo that has lots of space above the
subject, or one where they appear "squashed" up to the top of the image - both of which can be highly distracting.
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-centre, 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 line - 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 conveys 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 recognises these layers and mentally separates them out, creating an image with more depth.
FRAMING
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 which
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.
Pattern
There are patterns all around us if we only learn to see them. Emphasizing and highlighting these
patterns can lead to striking shots – as can high lighting when patterns are broken.
Symmetry
Depending upon the scene – symmetry can be something to go for – or to avoid completely.
A symmetrical shot with strong composition and a good point of interest can lead to a striking image – but without the
strong point of interest it can be a little predictable. I prefer to experiment with both in the one shoot to see which
works best.
Texture
Images a two dimensional thing yet with the clever use of ‘texture’ they can come alive and become
almost three dimensional.
The depth of field that you select when taking an image will drastically impact the composition of an image.
It can isolate a subject from its background and foreground (when using a shallow depth of field) or it can put the
same subject in context by revealing it’s surrounds with a larger depth of field.

Composition

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COMPOSITIONS

LEAD ROOM, NOSE ROOM OR LOOKING SPACE

DON'T LEAVE TOO MUCH HEADROOM

SYMMETRY AND PATTERNS

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