10 IMPORTANT TIPS TO IMPROVE

COMPOSITIONS IN YOUR PHOTOS

Here are 10 tips to help you improve the composition in your photos. Whenever youre stuck
figuring out how to compose a photo, you can use any one of these tips to get you started.
Rule of odds
In simple terms, the rule of odds is to have an odd num!er of o!"ects in your photos. It could
!e a photo of "ust one o!"ect or a group shot of three people. #his techni$ue makes the photo
more appealing and interesting to the human eye.
#his photo of four straw!erries is $uite !land and !oring. It is difficult to find the center of focus
in this image.
% similar image !ut with "ust three straw!erries. %lthough "ust the image is similar to the
previous photo, the odd num!er of straw!erries make it significantly more interesting.
Limiting focus
&imiting the focus is an easy way to add focus. It may not !e necessary in all photos !ut is useful
whenever you have distracting o!"ects that you want to hide. #he most common use of this
techni$ue is to !lur distracting !ackgrounds. 'lurring the !ackground turns any distracting
!ackgrounds into a pleasing one. (ou can minimi)e the depth of field in your photos !y using a
large aperture *e+. ,1.-., )ooming in, and using a camera with a larger sensor *e+. full frame
/0&1..
If the trees in the !ackground were in focus, it would have distracted the su!"ects of this photo.
'y !lurring out the !ackground, the focus is emphasi)ed on the couple.
'lurring out the !ackground helps draw the attention to this persons eyes.
Simplification
#he !est way to improve the center of focus is to create simple looking image. #he easiest way to
do this is to limit the amount of o!"ects in your photo. (ou can also use the previous tip to !lur
out distracting details.
#he simplicity of this photo makes the story clear. % simple photo gets attention and makes
people look at it longer.
Centering
2entering an o!"ect gives the photo !alance. 2entering works !est on simple photos with few
o!"ects.
(ou can improve the emphasis on the su!"ect !y keeping the spacing around the su!"ect clean.
% !oring o!"ect made interesting !y keeping it simple and centered.
Rule of thirds
#his is one of the most effective and popular ways of composing a photo. (ou can improve your
photos compositions simply !y using this techni$ue. #he rule of thirds adds interest to the
photo !y aligning the su!"ect on one of the four points of an imaginary 3+3 grid in the photo.
% simple image made more interesting !y positioning on the rule of thirds.
When shooting portraits, you can use the rule of thirds to add focus to the eyes. 0imply position
one of the eyes or the area !etween the eyes on the rule of thirds to create a great portrait.
Lead room
&ead room is the the space in front of an o!"ect. #his element is usually used with the rule of
thirds to create a more interesting photo. 'y leaving room in front of the su!"ect, the viewer will
see that it has someplace to go.
#he snow!oarder is positioned on the rule of thirds with some lead room in front of him.
&eaving some lead room in front of the runner makes the photo look more active. It also puts
more attention to the sunset.
&eaving room !ehind the runner makes her appear to !e almost done running.
S curve
0 2urve is an imaginary line in a photo that is in the shape of an 0. #his type of line makes
photos look more interesting !y additing motion guiding the viewers eye in the shape of an 0. 0
curve can also !e used in posing to improve the appearance of the models figure.
%n e+ample of a highway with an 0 curve. #his photo of a simple scenery is made more
interesting with the 0 curve.
% similar photo of a highway !ut without the 0 curve is less dynamic.
0 curve can also !e used in posing. #he earliest e+amples of 0 curve can !e found in 4reek and
1oman sculptures.
Foreground
5ost photos have a middleground and a !ackground !ut very little foreground. (ou can improve
your landscapes photos significantly !y including some foreground o!"ects. #his is a great
techni$ue for creating a sense of scale and making the viewer feel like he6she is in the photo.
#he rocks in this landscape photo gives the photo a sense of depth and scale.
%dding more foreground to the photo creates the feeling !eing there.
Fill the frame
When you think youre close enough to the su!"ect, try going closer. ,ill most of the frame with
the su!"ect and you got another composition.
4etting closer and filling the frame with the wolfs head gives more emphasis to the wolf and
creates more drama. 'oth photos are of the same wolf !ut the story it tells is completely
different.
Framing
Heres a creative way to add a foreground to your photos7 8se elements around you to create a
picture frame of the su!"ect. #his techni$ue is a great way of adding interest and making a photo
stand out from the rest.
#his photo uses a silhouette to create a frame around the #a" 5ahal.
,rames dont have to stand out or !e perfectly shaped. #hey can !e natural like the two trees in
this image.
8 TIPS FOR SHOOTING LANDSCAPES
WITH HORIZONS
Improve your landscape photography skills with these must9know tips for !reathtaking landscape
photos.
1. Shoot abot !0 "#$t%& b%'o(% a$) a't%( &$&%t.
% sunset is a great thing to capture, !ut even if youre not shooting the sunset !ut instead
shooting at a :09degree angle to the sunset or even shooting with the sunset at your !ack, having
that su!tle light !rings out the colors in landscape photos. 5ost outdoor photography maga)ines
wont even consider shots that havent !een shot around this time, as well as !efore6after sunrise.
*. Shoot abot !0 "#$t%& b%'o(% a$) a't%( &$(#&%.
%s well as !efore and after sunset, shooting !efore and after sunrise causes a lot of detail and
tone to !e seen. #he lighting avoids !eing overe+posed, which happens many times when
shooting in the middle of the day with harsh light. ,or portraits, you can shoot in the shade for
su!tle light even during the middle of the day, !ut with landscapes, you cant put the entire
landscape into the shade. (ou have to rely on the weather for that. (ou can shoot a little longer
after sunrise if theres some slight cloud cover, !ut usually an hour or two after sunrise and its
already really !right.
#his is an e+ample of a slightly undere+posed landscape photo. Its not shot during the right
amount of light, and was shot when the sun was too far down or with too much cloud cover.
!. Ha+% a 'o(%,(o$)- "#)).%,(o$)- a$) ba/0,(o$).
#his is part of the rule of thirds, which I cover in the ne+t tip. 5ake sure you have three elements
in landscape shot in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing. ,or e+ample, if there are some
seagulls running on the !each along the shore, that can !e the foreground, while the
middleground would !e the waves crashing and part of the ocean, and the distant ocean and
hori)on would !e the !ackground.
1. U&% th% (.% o' th#()&.
#he rule of thirds applies to landscape photography as well. Imagine drawing out a tic9tac9toe
design, with two lines running vertically and two hori)ontally. #he plane is divided into three
e$ual parts. #ry to put the su!"ect where these lines meet; for e+ample, to top left or top right or
!ottom left or !ottom right.
In this photo, the um!rella is in the lower right corner.
#he angles and placement of the two o!"ects near the upper left corner work well here.
2. U&% a &"a.. a3%(t(%.
#o include as much as the scenery possi!le, use a long depth of field. 8sing a more closed
aperture makes the depth of field longer *and the f9stop setting a higher num!er.. #his allows for
more things to !e in focus. While !lurring out the !ackground is sometimes preferred, with
landscape photos, we often want to have many elements in focus.
In this photo, the camera focuses on the grass, !ut we want the depth of field to !e high so we
can see more of the landscape as well.
#his is one e+ample where we can see the detail of even elements far away.
4. Do$5t 3t th% ho(#6o$ #$ th% "#)).% o' th% &hot.
#his tip is closely related to the rule of thirds tip< dont put su!"ects *the su!"ect !eing the
hori)on in this e+ample. in the middle of the shot. While many !eginning photographers may !e
inclined to divide the photo in half, having the hori)on the top third, or even top fifth or top
eighth, is much !etter, as is having the hori)on in the !ottom third, fifth, or eighth. #his allows us
to focus on either the sky or the ocean or earth so we have some kind of focus.
7. I' th% &$ #& ha(&h- &hoot a8a9 '(o" #t to ,%t b.% &0#%&.
0hooting close to where the sun is causes the areas to !e !lown out.
#his e+ample of the 2hinese #heatre in Hollywood shows how areas are !lown out when
shooting to close to the sun.
8. F#$a..9- 0%%3 th% ho(#6o$ .%+%..
#his one may seem o!vious, and although there are times when the hori)on may need to not !e
level to accommodate a !etter composition of a su!"ect, keeping the hori)on level when possi!le
is good practice.
#his is one e+ample where the hori)on isnt level. Well fi+ it in the ne+t part of this article.
7 TIPS FOR GREAT PHOTOS IN THE
DAR:
,ollow these seven helpful tips to improve your night photographs.
Shoot During Dusk
0ome of the !est night photos are taken during dusk; when the sky isn=t completely !lack. #aking
pictures during dusk will show more colors and details in the distance and will let you use a
faster shutter speed.
Use High ISO
8se a high I0> if re$uired. It is !etter to get recogni)a!le photos of your friends that are grainy
than !lurry photos. (ou can reduce noise with image editing software !ut you can=t remove !lur.
Keep it Stead
#aking photos at night re$uires slow shutter speed. #o shoot !right pictures without the !lur at
night, use a tripod or monopod to keep your camera steady.
In addition to using a tripod or monopod, ena!le your cameras mirror lockup setting and gently
press the shutter. If your camera doesn=t have mirror lockup, you can use the self timer mode
instead.
If you don=t have a tripod or monopod with you, find some support o!"ects to keep your !ody and
arms sta!le. ,or e+ample, you can lean on a wall or place your el!ows on a ta!le to keep your
arms steady. If there=s nothing to help keep you steady, stand with your legs far apart from each
other and hold your !reath while taking the picture.
!otion "lurs
?ot all !lurs are !ad. 0ome !lurs such as motion !lur can add interest. #ry shooting photos of
moving o!"ects, or deli!eratly move your camera to create a motion !lur. @ooming in while the
shutter is still open will also add an interesting forward9motion effect.
Free#e our Friends
When taking photos of your friends at night, com!ine flash with a long e+posure. #he flash will
free)e the foreground and the long e+posure will reveal the !ackground. 'ecause people tend to
move right after they see the flash, set the shutter curtain sync to the second curtain *8sually in
the custom functions settings.. #his will fire a flash "ust !efore the shutter closes instead of in the
!eginning. 8sing second curtain sync will also put your friends in front of any motion !lur so
nothing is covering their faces. 0econd curtain sync is availa!le in most new digital 0&1 cameras
!ut rarely seen in point and shoot cameras.
Shoot for High Dnamic Range $HDR%
Alace your camera on a tripod and shoot three e+posures< one darker, one lighter, and one "ust in
the middle. (our camera may have auto e+posure !racketing to help you with this. &oad the
images into Ahotoshop and create H/1 file out of the three e+posures. ?ow you have a H/1
image that you can apply tone mapping to to reveal more details. #one mapped night photos can
give results similar to shooting during twilight with more post9processing control.
Shoot Several and Stack
0ometimes when you shoot long e+posures, noise and hot pi+els will appear even at the lowest
I0> setting. #o overcome this pro!lem, shoot the same photo a few times *more is !etter., and
use Ahotoshop 203 image stacking to com!ine the analy)e the image to remove noise and hot
pi+els.
1. 0tart Ahotoshop 203.
B. >pen the ,ileC 0cripts menu and choose &oad files into 0tack
3. 2lick the 'rowse !utton and load all the images.
D. 2heckmark the E2reate 0mart >!"ect after &oading &ayersE and click >F.
G. >pen the &ayersC 0mart >!"ectsC 0tack 5ode menu and choose 5edian.
RAW +& ;PEG
What #& Ra8- o( RAW<
(ou may have seen 1aw spelt in all capitals like 1%W. 'oth ways of spelling is correct, !ut don=t
mistaken the word for an acronym. 1aw is !asically the raw analog data from the camera that
needs to !e converted into digital through a converter such as the Ahotoshop 2amera 1aw plug9
in.
Wh%$ to &% Ra8 o( ;PEG
#here are pros and cons of !oth 1aw and HAI4 files and there are actually reasons other than file
si)e why not to use 1aw.
8se 1aw if<
you need to post process the image
the scene contains high contrast
the image will be enlarged beyond the camera sensor's resolution
the white balance cannot be properly set with the camera
you can't decide whether to use Raw or JPEG
8se HAI4 if<
all the Raw fles won't ft in your memory card
you don't want to post process the image
you want to develop the photos right away before you get to use a computer
(some photo fnishing labs still do not accept Raw fles)
you are using continuous shooting mode and want to tae as many photos as
you can before your camera's bu!er is full
5ost cameras that support 1aw files also support a mode called 1awJHAI4. #his mode stores
!oth images into the memory card so you get the !est of !oth worlds. However, it takes longer to
store a 1aw and HAI4 file into a memory card than "ust one 1aw or HAI4 file. Whenever you
are using continuous shooting mode and need to capture a fast se$uence of images, stick with
HAI4 or 1aw.
Co""o$ Ra8 +& ;PEG D%bat% To3#/&
&he Famous '()"it
>ne of the most popular features of 1aw files is that they=re capa!le of holding 1K9!it of color
data compared to HAI4=s -9!it. However, most digital cameras only produce 1B9!it 1aw files. Is
it really that !ig of a differenceL &ets have a look at the comparison ta!le !elow<
8=>#t 1*=b#t 14=b#t
"ones per
channel#
$%& '()& &%%*&
+olors#
,ver -&
million
,ver &.
billion
,ver $.-
trillion
%s you can see from the a!ove ta!le, there is a really is a !ig difference !etween the !its levels.
With that said, however, -9!it is still produces e+cellent results and is usually good enough for
most photos unless they contain delicate colors that need ad"ustments.
*+posure ,d-ustments
1aw files can provide greater e+posure ad"ustments than HAI4 files; over G0M more e+posure
detail *depending on the sensor capa!ilities.. When ad"usting e+posure in a HAI4 file, the
highlights and shadows gets clipped resulting in lower details.
.hite "alance
'ecause 1aw files contain a wider gamut of color, the white !alance can !e corrected without
any noticea!le loss in detail. 8sing 1aw converters such as the Ahotoshop 2amera 1aw plug9in
is easier and produces !etter result. >n the other hand, the white !alance of HAI4 files can !e
easily corrected without much noticea!le loss in detail.
Sharpness
1aw files are commonly mistaken to produce images that aren=t as sharp as HAI4 files. #he
reason for the misleading information is !ecause most digital cameras sharpen the image !efore
creating the HAI4 file. #his in9camera sharpening effect can !e ad"usted in 1aw files to produce
the same results. #he noise reduction can also !e reduced in a 1aw converter tool to increase
sharpness.
Image Up Sampling
1aw is known to produced !etter results when up sampling an image. If the HAI4 file you are
working with is at the ma+imum $uality setting, the results are unnoticea!le. I have tried
upscaling a HAI4 with Ahotoshop=s Image 0i)e tool and a 1aw image using Ahotoshop=s 2amera
1aw plug9in, !ut I was only a!le to see the differences when )oomed in at 300M or higher. Iven
then, the differences are very su!tle. #he 2amera 1aw plug9in produced smoother results, !ut
!oth were very similar.
/oise
5ost raw conversion tool allows ad"ustment of the level of noise reduction. #his can !e handy,
!ut if noise can !e much !etter handled with Ahotoshop 20B=s 1educe ?oise filter or
independent noise reducing software such as ?oise ?in"a or ?eat Image.
.riting Speed
HAI4 files are smaller and get stored into the memory card faster than 1aw files. When using
continuous shooting mode to capture a se$uence of images, use HAI4. /igital camera have a
!uffer and when the !uffer is all used up, the shooting stops. 'ecause of the longer writing time,
1aw files do consume more power than HAI4 files, !ut unless your camera=s down to the last
drop of "uice, this isn=t a reason to use HAI4 files over 1aw files.
Th% Ft(% o' Ra8 a$) ;PEG
Ra0123*4
%s memory card si)e increases and price drops, it is !ecoming more and more common to use
the 1awJHAI4 feature found in many digital cameras. %nd with faster memory card speeds and
larger !uffer depth, it may one day !e reasona!le to use the 1awJHAI4 in continuous shooting
mode.
,do5e6s D/4 Format
#he /?4 */igital ?egative. format was introduced !y %do!e as a universal 1aw format. #here
are many different 1aw formats, such as 21W *2anon., ?I, *?ikon., /21 *Fodak., etc.. #he
pro!lem with having many different types of 1aw formats is not only !ecause it=s confusing, !ut
!ecause the formats may one day !e discontinued making them hard to use. 2urrently, the /?4
format isn=t availa!le in any digital cameras and there are no word a!out it also. While %do!e
promised to always support /?4 files, hopefully the /?4 format will !e availa!le in the ne+t
generation of digital cameras.