{"id":127401,"date":"2019-01-27T12:36:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T20:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=127401"},"modified":"2019-01-27T12:37:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-27T20:37:00","slug":"10-simple-composition-tips-to-make-better-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/27\/10-simple-composition-tips-to-make-better-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Simple Composition Tips to Make Better Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Practical tips to inspire you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. Orange and blue complementary colors <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Get more epic colors shooting at sunset (the light becomes more orange, and the sky is bluer). Also experiment with -1 or -2 exposure compensation when shooting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Assymetric composition <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When shooting, look at the corners of your frame. Get the diagonals or the shapes and forms of the photo to be off-center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Remember, symmetry is boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also with your subject, place them off-center (top left, top right):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Framing\/leading lines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When photographing your subject, put them in-between a frame, to add more focus to them. Bonus points if they turn their elbow into a triangle or diagonal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Abstract imagery <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Woman through dotted window decal. Kyoto, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shoot through windows, blurry or obscured surfaces, anything that will make your photos more abstract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Curve composition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Curved leg selfie when lying in bed. Saigon, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curved composition makes the image more dynamic (think racing tracks that are curved and arabesque shaped).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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6. 3 rectangles in your frame<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Shoot a scene, and include 3 rectangles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Got the idea from Henri Cartier-Bresson (via Adam Marelli<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Henri Cartier-Bresson \/ MEXICO. Natcho Aguirre. Santa Clara.1934.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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7. Repeating forms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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If you see repeating forms, shoot it. For example this photo with the repeating white boxes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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8. High angle perspective (hold your camera high up in the air, and shoot downwards) <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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To simplify your background and also to make a more unique perspective, hold your camera high in the air and point downwards:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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9. Fibonacci Spiral composition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photograph subjects in a stairwell to do the Fibonacci Spiral composition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10. Extreme darks \/ shadows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Fill the frame with more black and shadows to make a more extreme minimalist composition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conclusion <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kyoto, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately I think photography and art is all about composition. Some more simple ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Study painters to discover new photographic compositions (Piet Mondrian, Franz Kline<\/a>). <\/li>
  2. Best photography composers: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka, W. Eugene Smith <\/li>
  3. To improve your composition, keep practicing. I find shooting with a phone the easiest and simplest way to practice your composition of shapes and forms. <\/li>
  4. When you’re shooting a scene, seek to SIMPLIFY<\/strong> the composition. Generally speaking the simpler the composition, the stronger the composition is. <\/li>
  5. Follow your gut<\/strong>: There isn’t a science in composition. Divide your frame and balance the different visual elements in your photo in a way that feels good to you. <\/li>
  6. Never stop shooting<\/strong>: You will never make a perfect composition. But always strive to improve your compositions to drive you forward. <\/li>
  7. Just shoot it<\/strong>: Don’t over complexify photography. Just have fun with it! <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    ERIC <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Practical tips to inspire you:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Screenshot_20190127-122530_Chrome.jpg?fit=1079%2C718&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127413,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127401\/revisions\/127413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}