Three things that can change a snapshot into art.

Have you ever looked at an attractive photograph and wondered how the photographer made such an impactful image? Beautiful photography can seem effortless but it isn’t, photographers follow set composition guidelines to improve their images. Understanding these guidelines can improve your personal pictures. Three composition guidelines that photographers use are the rule of thirds, leading lines, and depth of field.

Rule of Thirds

This photo by FancyCrave is a good example of how to use the rule of thirds to add impact and balance to an image. I picked it because I loved that the light is the focal point not necessarily the man. The photographer accentuated the light by placing the sun flare near the bottom intersect point of the rule of thirds grid. The photographer also utilized the rule of thirds by placing the man’s upper back at another intersect point. This adds interest to the photo, lets us know what he wants us to focus on, and makes it impactful

My Example

In this photo, I utilized the rule of thirds by placing the main flower on an intersecting point. My picture is different from the professional example in that I didn’t use light as a focal point but it is similar because I used the same intersect point for my subject. If I had been able to capture the sun shining through the leaves or another interesting element in the lower right intersect point they would have been more similar.

 

Leading Lines

In this photo, Chanakya, uses the lines on the bridge to lead our eyes through the photo to the focal point. Both the bridge at night and the fireworks are interesting by themselves but the way the photographer put them together makes the image much more interesting. The strong leading lines make the focal point almost come alive and pop off the page.

My Example

In my picture, I used leading lines to accentuate the stained-glass window. All of the white lines lead into the window and make the rest of the building fade into the background. Because there are strong leading lines in this image, all the different elements in the photo don’t compete with each other. The viewer knows where to look and doesn’t get overwhelmed.

 

Depth of Field

In this stunning example, Andera Windolph uses a shallow depth of field to separate the subject from the background. The foreground and background are out of focus. This allows our eyes and minds to relax and enjoy the subject that is in focus with no competition from the other elements. Having a clear differentiation between the subject and the background also makes the image look more alive or three dimensional.

My Example

I used depth of field in the same way the Andera did in my own photo. My little flower in in focus while both the foreground and the background are blurry. This photo would be confusing if all the elements were in perfect focus because there is so much to look at. Because I used a really shallow depth of field only the flower is in focus and the photo has a clear subject.

 

Summary

If you look at all of the pictures above you might notice that most of them use more than one of the composition guidelines, these guidelines work together to make great photos that are interesting and impactful. As you work toward improving your photography try using the rule of thirds to add interest to your work, use leading lines to direct your viewer’s eyes around the page, and play with depth of field to accentuate your subject.