Objective:  to introduce you to the idea of composition and how compositional choices will make a world of difference in your photographs.


Defining composition: the plan, placement or arrangements of the elements in an image.  The general goal is to select and place appropriate elements within the work in order to communicate ideas and feelings to the viewer.

What makes the difference between a great photograph and a mediocre one?  Once you begin to understand the technical basics of photography where do you go from there?  Every time you make a photograph you make choices either deliberately or accidentally.  You might choose to show a whole scene or just a small detail.  You may make use of depth-of-field and blur your background (or keep it in focus).  Do you use a fast shutter speed and freeze your action or a slow shutter speed and blur the action?  What is frustrating to most people is that there are so many ways to deal with a subject (and so many ways to make mistakes as well).  What I am hoping these lessons help you do is make these choices deliberately, intentionally and thoughtfully.


The first step to making better images is to really start thinking about yours and others' images.  I keep an "inspiration board" at my office and an "inspiration folder" on the desktop of my computer.  I tear out images that I like from catalogs, magazines, ads and books.  I collect screenshots from websites that I like and digital copies of images that I love from the web or from friends.


When I used to teach photography at The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts here in Houston, I gave my students an assignment where they had to pick a photographer that they loved and try and imitate their style perfectly.  One of their first questions would be- "but isn't that copying?".  My answer was always no.  No matter how hard you try, it is pretty impossible to completely copy someone because you will always bring your own flavor to the images.  What this project does for students is get them to start noticing work that they like and learn how to dissect an image for the elements that are most interesting to them.  You can do this too.  When you see work that you like you can start asking yourself why you like it and , as you progress in your own artistic and technical skills, you will begin to see the images in new ways.


This week, I would like you to do 5 things.  All of these will help improve the  compositions in your images.


One:  Get closer.  A famous war photographer, Robert Capa, once said. "if your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."  Obviously we aren't in the trenches...wait a minute, I think trying to get an 18 month old to do something (anything) that you want them to do is a battle so maybe this does apply.  Seriously though, many pictures can be improved simply by moving in closer.  This can often eliminate distracting backgrounds, highlight the subject of the image and make it all more intimate and engaging.  Be careful though to watch your focus.  Some cameras and lenses won't focus closer than about 12-18" inches away.  Check your camera and see how close you can get and still keep focused.  Don't worry about cutting off parts of your image either- just experiment!

This image was actually taken using BW film.  I took this at home.  My friend's baby (Mathilda) was laying on my bed and sunlight from the window (and a little bit of light from the overhead lights) was coming in.  I did not use a flash or any other light source.

Two:  Use shallow depth of field.  I really believe that shallow depth-of-field is a fairly simple way to dramatically improve composition- especially when shooting portraits.  For more info on this topic, please refer back to the Monday Lesson about Aperture.

These images were taken at the park using available light.


Three:  Keep it simple and clear.  When a viewer looks at your photograph, they should always be able to tell what the subject is.  Also, watch your focus.  If your image is blurry it can look a lot of its impact.


Four: Look at images.  Find photographs that you love and really look at them trying to discern what it is in the image that moves you.  If it is a feeling, try to analyze the image technically to ascertain what choices the photographer made that allows the emotion to come through so well.


Five: Use vertical framing as well as horizontal.  My husband is so guilty of this.  Every time he goes to take a picture he just automatically holds the camera in a horizontal position.  He's gotten used to me telling him to turn the camera.  He thinks I'm bossy by the way.  The way in which you hold your camera can make a big difference so don't get stuck doing it just one way.

Getting close and getting vertical!

So, what's your homework this week?  Go take more pictures!  Take a look at the 5 things that I suggested and see how it changes your photographs.  Have fun!

Please, please, please post and comment!  I am actually in the process of developing content for a book.  Your questions, comments and overall feedback will really help me create and hone the topics for my book.  Thank you!