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By Emily
Hello again friends. Our fourth step towards making a photograph is composition. What exactly is composition? By definition, in fine arts, composition means the organization or grouping of the different parts of a work of art so as to achieve a unified whole. As the photographer, you have complete and total creative control over the layout and organization of your photos. As we talked about before with Subject Matter, if you are passionate about what you’re photographing, then go for it! The same goes for choosing how you will compose what goes inside the viewfinder of your camera. If you choose to take a photograph of a person and it is zoomed in to where their eyes are cutoff or cropped out and you have a reason for doing this, then why would it be wrong? There are other elements of composition you should consider besides where you are cropping (or not cropping) your subject matter. When it comes to where your subject matter is photographed in the frame, you should think what might make it more visually interesting, or what would better convey your content. Angles of where your camera lens is pointing and depth of field come into play here as well.
Step 1: Decide if cropping the subject matter at certain areas would be more visually interesting than photographing the entire subject matter. Step 2: Determine which parts of your image will be in focus or out of focus. (Keep in mind, your entire image can be completely in focus or completely out of focus). This relates to depth of field which was covered in last month’s portrait article. Step 3: Decide where you want the subject matter to be located in the frame. Do you want it right in the middle, to the left, up close, far away, to the right, at the bottom? Step 4: Decide which angle would make for the best photograph. Do you want to photograph from high up above? Do you want to photograph from underneath? Do you want to photograph straight on with the viewpoint parallel to the ground?
These are all great factors to consider once you’re ready to take your photo. Your photograph, regardless if it turns out exactly how you planned, is still your photograph, your work, your art. Be happy that you are out doing something you love and are passionate about! Good luck and happy shooting!
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