Tips & Tricks

Composition

Another aspect of successful photography isn’t always the subject, but how the photographer skillfully moves your eyes around their picture, creating a dynamic aspect to something stagnant like a photograph. Good photographers always keep in mind composition and how to frame their photographs, where in not doing so, pictures will look awkward. Several techniques to achieve good composition are used, such as using grids which split a photo into thirds or the golden ratio spiral, capturing subjects while in movement or implied movement, and paying attention to visual balance.

Using grids within your camera is becoming increasingly popular where most smartphones have the ability to put a grid in their camera apps to help nonphotographers frame their pictures well. The reason why the three-by-three grid is so popular is because the rule of thirds generally creates immensely better visual balance than if you were to take a picture of a subject in the dead center. Having the subject take up around a third of the composition allows the eye to breathe in the other twothirds, giving an automatic sense of movement. Another uncommon grid is the golden ratio grid, which is usually seen in the form of a spiral. The golden ratio is a concept derived directly from nature, which is an unspoken law which creates essentially all natural proportions we see in life. Visually speaking, the golden ratio is very similar to the rule of thirds, yet when seeing the golden ratio spiral and rectangular grid on an image, proportions make more sense to balance the composition better.

Capturing movement in pictures is a difficult task by itself, yet will result in incredible photographs which will help audiences feel as if they are moving themselves. In a way, getting the movement in these pictures do in fact move the audiences’ eyes where successful capturing of movement will make the audience scan the picture in specific directions. Imagine a sports photographer taking a picture of a football player running towards the end zone, the entire opposing team behind on to his right in a chase.

F-stop

Creating a soft and alluring background blur with hazy circular lights behind your subject is something very desirable in photographs nowadays. An aesthetic which can only be created with the help of a camera

system is very unique only in the photography world. Cameras are mostly seen as instruments which capture what human eyes see, yet because of the physics that come into play with cameras and lenses, the camera essentially becomes a second perspective, with new ways to look at things. Other photographers appreciate having their entire composition in tack-sharp focus, where no detail is left behind. Landscape photographers or those who like to capture architecture, for example, don’t want any part of their subjects out of focus. Famous photographer Ansel Adams is well-known for his incredible black and white scenery, where his entire photograph essentially becomes his subject.

Blurring the background or creating focus everywhere in a picture is achieved through knowledge and utilization of your lens’ aperture, also known as its f-stop. Within its name, photography is a practice which literally captures light. An analogy I love to use is to think of light as water, where every camera setting controls the flow of water. Increasing or decreasing the aperture of your lens, in a way, opens up the water pipe wider and sprays water in every which way, or tightens the pipe to let in a more controlled stream of water. When the f-stop is very wide, say at f/0.95, the aperture becomes so wide that the edges of subjects themselves become out of focus. With a very tight f/22 f-stop, light is way more controlled and sharper, leaving the entire frame in focus.

There are considerations when changing your f-stop, however. As mentioned before, changing the aperture is one way to control the amount of light which comes into your camera. Think of opening your blinds all the way, versus leaving a tiny crack in the window. Tips & Tricks