The Secrets of Great Photographic Composition

By Lovelyn Bettison

Digital photography is a lot of fun. Taking pictures of family and friends helps build treasured memories. If you want to take your photography to a new visual level you need to learn the basics of photographic composition. Knowing how to frame your photos and making the best use of light are just two of the elements of composition we'll explore in this article.

Before you take a picture you must decide what you're going to include in it. Take time to look around the scene and determine the most striking elements. Pay close attention to the background and foreground. Look for colors and textures that work well together. Experiment with camera angles to see how you can get the best picture of your subject.

In every beginning photography class, the instructor teaches about the rule of thirds. This rule explains very simply how to arrange objects in a picture to make it visually interesting. For this rule, you need to divide your frame into three sections horizontally and three sections vertically. It's kind of like drawing a tic tac toe board on your photo in your imagination before you take the picture. You should place the objects of interest in the photo at areas where the lines intersect.

One of the most important ways to improve your photography is knowing how to appropriately control the amount of light that gets into your camera. You can use light and shadows to create depth in your picture. Shadows aren't always an annoyance, they can add drama to a photograph and help create mood. Making sure you get enough light in your photos is also quite important. Light can help you see the detail in the photo, but too much light can make it look washed out. Knowing how to control light will help you get great photos.

Keep your photos simple. Simple photographic composition will help you make your pictures stand out. Choose one subject of interest for your photo. If you have too much going on in your photos your viewer won't know where to look. Giving the eye a definite place to look makes your photos that much more impressive.

Applying these simple rules to your digital photography will make your pictures look much better than simple vacation snapshots. As you experiment with light and shadow, camera angles and the rule of thirds, you'll notice you pictures getting better and better. Experiment with your photography. The more pictures you take, the better you'll get.

Learn more about taking great digital photographs at the Digital-Photography-Advisor.com. You'll find free tutorials there to help you improve your photography.

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