Composing Your Picture
We all, at times, fall victim to selective seeing. We look at a scene and we pay close attention to the main subject, failing to really see what is behind or in front of it. If there are elements within the frame that do not add to the picture, the chances are great that they are detracting from it by diverting the viewers attention away from the main subject.
After few years in photography, when I see a subject that I think has possibilities, I automatically look at the background and the foreground. If they are not to my liking I will go out of my way to change my shooting position, either getting down lower, up higher, or to the side.
By getting the camera low and using the sky as a background the composition was kept simple and the picture has much more impact because there are no distractions.
For the picture of the street clown I politely asked him to move to a spot a few feet away that had a dark background and I used tight framing to further increase impact. Doing these simple things will improve your photographs immensely. I realize the photographer cannot always do these things but should try to do them whenever possible.
Reducing unused space in the photograph is another way to improve it. In the picture of the old saw and barn almost every pixel is taken up with the subject with very little to divert the viewers gaze away from what I intended them to see.
There are times though, that having space around your subject suits the picture very well, as in this photograph of a glass of tea and its shadow taken on my front porch. But the composition was kept very simple and balanced and no distractions were allowed.
Keeping your picture uncluttered and simple in its message is just one way, along with accurate focus, the rule of thirds, and correct exposure...of getting that extra WOW! in your shots.
Give "keep it simple" a try and I think you'll be amazed at how much improvement you'll see. More improvement than buying the latest camera or a new lens, more than just about any one thing you can do.
It really is very simple!
