Photo Composition Tips
by Neil Turner

#1 Keep It Simple

The text books will all tell you that there are a number of rules for composing a photograph (or a painting for that matter) and it isn't a bad idea to follow these rules 90% of the time. Working on a newspaper has taught me that simple compositions often work the best and that there are several ways of keeping it simple. One of my favourites is to work with a small depth of field. The human eye will always be drawn to the subject that is in sharp focus with a simple out of focus background. Usually this will mean that the background doesn't contribute to the image, but every so often an out of focus background forms a really important part of the image.

Techniques are there to be used, altered, modified and adapted. This one should become really useful to you once you have mastered it. When you are struggling to make an interesting composition it's always worth considering narrowing your depth of field.

#2 Six feet up is bad

It is very easy to hold the camera to your eye and take a picture. Good photography requires us all to think about where we are taking the picture from as well as what we are taking. The best photographs are made when the photographer chooses a vantage point to suit the subject, and it is surprising how few subjects are suited by the height of a human standing at their full five to six feet. This is compounded by the fact that when someone views the image they will see pretty much what they themselves would have taken because they haven't been told about bending your knees or climbing a ladder to shoot better pictures.

It is no accident that many of the world's best photographers wear denims most of the time, and I take pride in the fact that I spend so much of my time kneeling that I have "housemaids knee". Sooner or later I will end up flat on my face or up on a chair to give something extra to a composition - namely a point of view that the person looking at the image would not have seen themself.

My point is that when you get your camera out think about the height of the lens. If you end up shooting from a standing position, well that's OK - but I will lay good money that 90% of pictures are better when taken from below four feet or over seven.

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