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Improve your composition with these tips from a photographer who worked with Ansel Adams

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When it comes to composition, there are generally two schools of thought. The first is to strictly obey the “rules” they’ve read or been taught. The other is to simply go with your gut and what feels right. This video from Advancing Your Photography featuring photographer Huntington Witherill leans more towards the right.

While Huntington talks us through some very specific thoughts and processes, he says there’s no formula or list of things to do that will guarantee a good composition. Good composition is a strategy and a skill that is largely intuitive. Learning more “rules” isn’t going to make your composition any better.

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This photographer is using video games to teach photo composition

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Game screenshots are common and popular on social media, and have been a thing ever since streamers started streaming. I’ve never been a big fan of calling “video game photography” photography (they’re still just screenshots), but they can still be a valuable teaching aid when it comes to things like composition and lighting (depending on the game).

And that’s exactly what Texas-based pro car photographer Mir-or-Image has been doing in his new series on YouTube. With as popular as in-game screenshots have become, many games now come with a “photo” mode that allows you to freeze the game and move the camera to get yourself that perfect competition. Mir has been utilising this feature to help teach other photographers.

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Learn to understand the “rules” so you know when and how to break them

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Photography is packed so full of “rules”. Well, they’re more like guidelines, really. But the “rules” seem to tear photographers up into two camps. The first wants everybody to strictly adhere to them and the second wants to shoot whatever and however they like. There’s nothing wrong with either approach, really, but the two are not mutually exclusive.

Some of the best images out there break the “rules” of photography. But as this video from Craig Roberts at e6 Vlogs explains, whether you choose to follow them or not, understanding them and why they exist can make for much greater impact when you choose to break them.

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The importance of background in photography composition

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Today I will discuss the importance of background in photography composition illustrated with some examples of mine.

Part of a larger series covering elements of composition in photography for which you’ll find links at the end of this article.

I taught myself photography in quite a specific order, I navigated / progressed through various urban photography genres:

Graffiti Photography > Urban Landscape Photography > Street Photography

It’s the reason I realised early how important an image’s background really is, allow me to explain:

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Check out these unique camera angle ideas to step up your composition

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Composition is a wonderful thing. There are so many ways to compose your shot effectively, and there are all kinds of “rules” out there as to what makes for a good or bad composition. Often you get people spouting off these rules as “the only way to compose a shot!” but they are of course, speaking complete nonsense. There are many ways to frame a shot depending on the story you want to tell, whether it’s with stills or video.

Zach Ramelan leans more towards the video side of composition in this one, offering up a number of unique camera angles, compositions and techniques that aren’t very common. At least, not effectively. But they can be very effective and a great way to tell a story and provide extra narrative and subtext to the shot.

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How to use symmetry to create strong impact in your photography

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I’m currently writing a series of blog articles on photography composition. The two previous articles on composition covered are The Rule of Thirds in photography and Leading Lines in photography. I thought this time I’d cover symmetry and include some of my own symmetry photography examples to illustrate this.

Now… I cannot speak for others but in my opinion, symmetry is key in photography. Of course, it needn’t be present in all photography but it’s hard to deny the strong and positive impact it has on any photograph. Symmetry seems to satisfy a need within us. It fills me with calm and feels relaxing to my brain. It feels good. But why is that? Why do we take pleasure from symmetry?

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Back to basics: Mastering the Rule of Thirds in photography

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The rule of thirds in photography.

I know… I’m going back to basics but since I just published an article on the importance of Leading Lines in Photography, I thought it to be a good idea to go back to the beginning and explain crucial bits of photography which I hadn’t covered until now.

A note on rules: I have always held the belief that rules, however useful at times, are meant to be broken.

Don’t go slap your boss, it wasn’t meant that way.

I’ll put it in bold for you:

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The importance of leading lines in photography

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Leading lines in photography are existing lines within the frame of a photograph which the photographer has deliberately aligned/arranged (prior to taking the photo) by adjusting their composition either shifting their body or camera. It should result in lines which “lead” to the subject, increasing the focus of the viewer, allowing for a more enjoyable viewing experience.

It is often paired with the rule of thirds although not necessarily.

Since I started photographing London (back around 2008), I have made a conscious effort to practice and master this as it greatly improves photographs, their impact, and the ease with which a viewer will appreciate your work, a certain user experience I guess.

I include some examples of my London photography so you can see for yourself the importance of leading lines in photography.

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Seven composition techniques you can learn from “The Queen’s Gambit”

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Watching movies and TV series is not only a great pastime activity on cold winter days but also a great way to find inspiration for your photography. Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit has become insanely popular, and it’s one of the shows photographers definitely should check out. In this video, Martin Kaninsky analyzes the series from a photographer’s point of view, giving you seven composition rules you can learn from it.

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