How to Photograph a Single Subject Composition

Simple, direct, and singular compositions. Perhaps photography needs more of this.

Some practical ideas:

1. Shoot from behind, hold the camera high, and shoot downwards

Simple background.

Note the curved lines acting as leading lines to the mans head:

What I like about this photograph is the texture in his jacket, the cobble stone textures on the left, and the detail of his balding head. Perhaps as sense of loss or deep thought.

The tones and brightness of the frame is easier to see when we inverse the image and apply Gaussian Blur:

If we look at the intensity of the tones, his head is whitest (main subject pops out), the leading line is darkest, and the curves are the mid tones.

If we made the photo extremely minimal and simple, it would look like a single circle cradled against two curved surfaces:

Why does this composition appeal to us? Perhaps the feeling of movement of the ball (circle) through the curved walls:

2. Single subject, off center, tilt, 21mm lens

A more ambitious single subject composition. A boy reading by the window. Shot with RICOH GR III and 21mm adapter.

Tricky to compose this scene, but what I did was tilt the camera, and placed him in the far left of the frame.

Also according to the golden rectangle composition, note how he is placed in a dynamic location:

Animated GIF:

3. Single subject walking by a wall

Find an interesting wall and wait for someone to walk by it. In this case, shooting -1 exposure compensation to get more dramatic shadows and silhouette in my subject:

Note the division of the frame in different quadrants. The purple on bottom, his head, and the square on the far right.

Animated: