13 Photo Composition Tips

There is no mathematical formula for achieving a perfect composition while clicking photos. It all depends on the situation, on what you are clicking, what time of the day it is etc. But there definitely are certain things you need to take care of to get the composition of the photo right.

Here are 13 simple tips which would help you. If you want to see the difference, then re-click some of your old pictures using these pointers and you will find a new life in those photos.

1. Follow the rule of thirds. This is a very simple rule, in which you draw an imaginary tic-tac-toe board on your frame and place the subject of the photograph on one of the four intersection points.

2. While shooting portraits, always make sure that the eyes are above an imaginary horizontal line going through the centre of the frame.

3. While viewing a photo, the eye will automatically first look at the brightest part of the photo. So make sure that the subject of your photo is also the brightest part of the snap. Any other object which is brighter than the subject will simply steal the attention away.

4. A road, a river or a running trail through the jungle are best captured on their S-turn. These gentle curves are composition-friendly settings. Which is why you will notice sports photographers would use these curves to shoot motor-racing photos or rowing pictures.

5. While shooting landscapes or a city skyline, do not keep the horizon in the centre of the photo. Either include more of the ground/water in the lower part of your photo, or let the sky dominate the upper half of the composition.

6. Take a moment to check if there is any unwanted object peeping in the frame. These could be things like people in the background, a tree, an electric pole, wires, light sources etc. Why click and crop later, when you can do it during the composition part itself.

7. Try to get depth of field in the photo. This way, only the subject will be in focus while rest will be blurry.

8. Keep it simple. Sometimes, a simple picture with a perfect composition will tell you stories which complicated angles and lights won’t.

9. Get down to eye level of certain subjects, like kids, pets, flowers etc. This gives a new perspective and will enhance the dynamics of the photograph.

10. Be careful of how you are cropping the photo while clicking it. For example, while shooting friends and family, make sure you do not cut off at joints like knees, elbows or ankles. Of the tail, if you are capturing a dog or cat. These are important for the composition of the photo, believe it or not.

11. Balance the layout of the photo properly. You do not want to cramp in too many things in a single frame nor do you want to leave out too much empty space in it.

12. Contrast in terms of natural lighting is one great way of crackling up the composition of the photo.

13. Finally check whether your settings are right. There is no point if the composition is good but your white balance is way off the mark, or if the photo comes out blurry and shaky.