Composition

Words and photography by Paul Worsley

Ah yes, the subjective nature of composition. Everybody knows what’s nice to look at in a photo and what is a bit of an eyesore. You may not be able to put your finger on it but you know all the same. Having said that, there are still some very helpful guidelines that can be applied to the art of picture taking.

This would be ‘the rule of thirds’. This is a very effective way of striking a balance between positive and negative aspects of a picture. For example, if you are framing a landscape picture of the ocean and the sky. If you simply draw imaginary lines through what you are seeing into thirds vertically and horizontally, nine times out of ten you will have a beautifully balanced image. Perhaps it’s a sunrise and the sky has some stunning red clouds. Frame the image so that you will see two-thirds of sky and one-third of ocean. Alternatively you can frame two-thirds of ocean and one-third of sky. That’s the horizontal side of the composing taken care of.

Let’s say there is a fisherman standing down on the rocks creating a lovely looking silhouette. Draw your imaginary line so that he may appear a third from the left or a third from the right. The idea behind this is a simple way of balancing spatial elements of an image. Because the silhouette of the fisherman is quite strong, the two-thirds to the left or right of him weighs it all up nicely.

Always think carefully about what you are trying to communicate in a photograph, especially the subject. Next time you are looking at a picture, try and notice where you eyes lead first and also where they tend to be led from there. As I mentioned this is a general rule that applies to most cases but not all. There are no strict objective rules regarding subject and composition, just some helpful guidelines to producing images that please the eye. Indeed beauty is in the eye of beholder.