Photographic composition

Photographic composition is the foundation upon which we build our photo images by the correct selection, arranging, organising and combining the visual elements within the picture area to produce a harmonious and pleasing image. These rules of photo-composition are for guidance only, not for absolute and complete obedience. Pictures are never made by rules alone, since Photo-Composition involves your personal tastes. Instincts are worth more in photography than many rigid regulations.

You must know the rules before you can break them and only break them when you have a good reason for improving the photograph. Normally, Photo-Composition is based on artistic composition. Photographers always used composition in all their works and of course broke the rules when they thought it was necessary for the improvement of the image.

Now, artists have the advantage over photographers. Artists can move objects around in their picture frame to suit their own artistic decisions. If a tree is not in the right place in nature, the artist will move it to another place on his canvas to make a better view. When a fence or house is not situated correctly in the natural scene the artist moves them around to suit his own artistic desires.

But photographers are limited to the use of objects in the scene.  That does not mean they have to photograph them like a tourist, head on, without looking around for the best angle and lighting conditions in which to take the pic. 

The photographer's job is much harder than that of an artist who can take artistic liberties by moving objects around. Photographers must find a scene that has the best composition by finding the right angle, choosing the right lenses, being there at the right time of day for the best lighting condition.

The Basic Elements Of Photo-Composition. There are objects the photographer is stuck with and has to do the best with what is in front of the camera. Formal Balance and Informal Balance are very important.

Formal balance is sometimes called Equal Balance or Classical Balance. Formal balance illicits feelings of dignity and repose but makes static, unimaginative photo images as the objects in the picture area are of equal size, one balancing the other. A seesaw will not move up or down, it stays horizontal with each child balancing the other.

Formal balance has been used in large public buildings where each side of the building matches each other with wings and the entrance is in the centr. This makes the building uninteresting and boring. This type of photo balance will also be boring and very un-interesting so be sure to avoid it whenever possible, unless you have a definite reason for it.

Balanced composition

Informal balance gives uneven or unequal balance in the picture. When you have a large object in the picture it should be counter-balanced with a smaller object or objects to make a good layout.

Imagine a seesaw with a 5-year-old boy on one side and his Father on the other. The balance will be uneven as the father is larger and will make the seesaw heavier. Now the boy will be high in the air and the Father will be on the ground.

Now, in a photo scene, if you have a large tree on the right side of the picture frame then you must try to balance it with a smaller object such as a house, a small tree or even the figure of a person on the other side of the picture. The ways you balance the objects in your picture frame will determine the success or failure of the photo. You will have to resort to the use of different types of lenses in order to create the balance you require.

A very wide angle lens can create unbalanced composition very easily by taking the objects in front of the lens up close. The front objects will appear very large in the picture frame while the rear or distant objects will appear smaller even though they are actually larger still.

One way to create unequal balance is to find a position that will cause one object to appear larger or smaller because of the angle you took the shot. When you are out creating photographs be sure to keep these rules about balance in mind and try to incorporate them.

Smack in the centre is a definite no, no in good photo-composition rules. With the main subject right smack in the centre of the picture area it is called a Bull's Eye composition. Avoid this at all times, unless you have a definite reason for doing so. When the main subject is in the center of the picture frame the eye will go in to the picture and stay in the center of the frame looking at the main subject and will not move around in the picture to see and enjoy any other items in the image. now, the eye will get tired very fast and lose interest in the photo.

The purpose in taking photographs is to have people look at them, enjoy them, and talk about them. When they cannot get interested in a photograph they will not bother to look at it. It's best to always have the main subject off-centre in the image. Just a little off-centre it will improve the picture's composition.

Photographic print sizes

Now, when we take photographs we pay attention to composition in the viewfinder, but did you know you should be paying attention to how the image will look in different print sizes that are available?

A lot of cameras today record photographs in roughly a 3:2 ratio. This means that the long side is 1.5 times as long as the short side is. That's the reason 4x6 has become a popular print size today. Now, when we look through a viewfinder it is this size that we see and generally compose our pictures with it. But the ratios are not the same for all standard print sizes and that means you image will be cropped to some extent.

An image at 5x7 or 8x10 size has ratios are different than the 4x6 format print. Now, prints at the 5x7 size have a 3.5:2.5 ratio print size. Note that the long size is 1.4 times as long as the short side is. Photographic prints at the 8x10 size have a 5:4 ratio print size. Here, the long side is 1.25 times as long as the short side is. It's often easier to think in terms of the length multiplication factors instead of the actual ratios of the sides.

If you are shooting images (such as portraits) where enlargements are likely, you need to leave some extra room on the long side of your image so that important items are not cropped out. When you plan for the squarest ratio (the 8x10 print), you should almost always be able to crop a nice image out of your original. Many standard prints are not exact matches to one of these three ratios, but few are below the 8x10 length multiplication factor of 1.25, so shooting for 8x10 format should allow room for nice cropping.

Here are the standard Print Sizes and their length multiplication factors:

• 4x6 - 1.5
• 5x7 - 1.4
• 8x10 - 1.25
• 10x13 - 1.3
• 11x14 - 1.27
• 10x20 - 2
• 16x20 - 1.25
• 20x24 - 1.2
• 20x30 - 1.5

Now, how you have your image processed and printed can be just as important, or more important, than the image. The print is your presentation of your image. Always make sure its a good presentation by understanding your different considerations.

Who will print your photographs is a huge decision to make. The biggest difference between amateur photographers and professional photographers was the labs they used. A professional's negatives and raw images looked little better than an amateur's because of the lab. Labs that offered individualised processing and cropping made the images match the photographer's vision of the image. Some photographers prefer to process their own images so they retain complete control over the creation. Remember, photography processing should not be taken lightly or decided upon quickly.