5 Composition Techniques Used in National Geographic Photos

[Music] in this video you're going to learn about some of the composition techniques used in images published with National [Music] Geographic I'm going to share with you why I think composition is key to creating powerful and impactful photos and how you can use these techniques as well to level up your photography [Music] hi my name is Shan Gallagher I'm a professional photographer and filmmaker if you're new to my channel welcome for the past 20 years I've been producing work for clients including National Geographic the guardian and the puleta center here on my Channel I want to share with you some of the things that I've learned throughout my career so that you can use these same techniques and ideas to help you improve your Photography in today's video I'm going to be sharing with you some of the composition techniques that I've used in images that I've had published with National Geographic these are tried and tested techniques and I know that if you learn them and if you implement them and practice them you can also use them to level up your photography and improve the impact and meaning of your photographs keep watching until the end of the video where I will share with you how you can join my private online communities share your images and get feedback from me and the community okay let's get started with composition technique number [Music] one the rule of thirds is one of the most basic and fundamental principles of Photography now you might think it's almost too basic when we're talking about National Geographic level photographs but actually the rule of thirds often underpins so many of those great photographs that you see so let's review and have a look at the rule of thirds and remind ourselves why it's so important I'm going to assume that many of you have already heard about the rule of thirds and maybe have already studied the rule of thirds as well so let's just jump in have a look at a few photographs and let's remind ourselves about how the rule of thirds is actually this hidden framework that underpins many of our photos in this image I was photographing a story about e waste in India and I came across these three children standing near a polluted pond in their small village I decided to frame the boys to the top left of the frame on the intersection created by the classic rule of thirds in this image taken in Shanghai China I was photographing along the famous Bund area in the center of the city I found my backdrop first of the iconic Skyline and then simply waited for someone interesting to walk into the the frame I was lucky enough to get the man carrying a kite and captured him on the bottom left point of the rule of thirds so even though the rule of thirds is a basic principle it's one that we should always refresh and remind ourselves about because it often forms the kind of underpinning framework of many a great photograph so next time you're out taking photographs make sure to remember the rule of thirds and use those intersections and lines to give you a useful guide how you can make images that have form meaning and impact throughout many hundreds and thousands of years of human history patterns and shapes have formed an incredibly important part of our perception of the world the human eye and brain are especially attuned to recognizing patterns and shapes and as photographers we can tap into that natural appreciation and recognition of patterns and shapes and use them in our photographs to create more impactful and interesting scenes for our viewers let's have a look at a few images that I've taken on assignment over the years to see how I've used patterns and shapes and give you some ideas how you might be able to use them too in this image taken in China from a story about renewable energy you can you can see that the pattern is created by the solar panels that dominate the bottom half of the image the repetitive nature of the pattern provides a visually pleasing scene when you look at it in these two images from a story about deforestation in Cambodia you can clearly see how lines shapes and patterns are the main compositional tools used in this image the Triangular Peaks capture your attention the mesmerizing patterns of the forest seem to hold your attention especially when viewed from above in this drone image so next time you're out taking photos no matter what scene you might find yourself in look out for those patterns and shapes so whether you're photographing a drone scene or a closeup shot whichever situation you find yourself in there will always be opportunities to look for patterns and shapes so make sure you focus in on them and use them to your advantage to make more impactful and interesting photos [Music] symmetry is another very powerful compositional tool that you can use to help draw your viewers attention into your photograph like patterns and shapes symmetry is one of these techniques that the human brain and eyes love to recognize and see within scenes so again we can tap into that natural appreciation of symmetry and use that to our advantage in our photographs in this image I was working on a story about sea level rise in Indonesia when I came across this Lone Tree on a beach in the capital Jakarta I wanted to create an image telling the story of the fragility of the coastline so I framed the tree in the center of the frame and used a slow shutter speed to blur the waves in the foreground the whole frame is balanced and symmetrical drawing your attention in I used a similar principle in this image Tak of the taipe 101 Tower in Taiwan like the tree in the water from Jakarta I framed the tower directly in the center in this image however I broke the Symmetry by Framing the image with the darkened buildings and sloping mountain in the foreground to make a more interesting and dynamic composition framing your main subject matter in the center of the frame is a great way to heighten the effect of using symmetry in your photographs next time you're out taking photos look for those main subjects that you might be able to frame in the center of your frame look at what's happening to the left and the right of the main subject and think if you can position yourself in a way that creates that symmetrical scene that is naturally pleasing to the viewer when they're going to be looking at your photographs when you start to do this more I know that you're going to be starting to take more interesting and impactful photos [Music] good composition often comes down to how you use just a few different elements within the frame of your photograph but not all scenes are like that sometimes you come across very busy scenes where there's lots of action lots of different elements or it's just a very busy scene that doesn't allow you to simplify it so what do you do in that situation well in that situation you might want to consider filling the frame now this means that you need to fill the frame with the action using multiple elements or incorporating all the action within the frame to make an interesting composition let's have a look at a couple of images to show you what I mean with this concept in this image taken with a drone I was photographing forest fires during a story I was working on in Cambodia in Southeast Asia from this vantage point you can see that there is no single element or point of interest in the scene because of this I decided I needed to fill the frame with the overwhelming fire and smoke in this much simpler and quieter image taken of a an exhibit in a museum you can see there's no one focal point to the composition so to make the image more interesting I had to fill the frame with the patterns created by the circular shapes so filling the frame might be a good compositional option for you when you're taking photos if you find find yourself in a situation that has lots of patterns shapes or even action like in the photos that I just showed [Music] you essentially three appears to be the magic cut off number before the brain starts to perceive a scene as unordered and and messy so if we're able to focus our viewer's attention on just three elements within a frame this can help heighten the effec of order within the photograph and increase the images impact have a look at these images to help you understand this concept A little better I took this image during an assignment in Mongolia photographing some of the world's last Wild Horses the horses were grazing in a large herd but I decided to focus my attention just on the three horses grazing side by side you can see that there is something inherently pleasing in this composition of three the same principle is applied here in this image of three boys in a village in Cambodia having just three main elements is just enough to provide your composition with added interest but not too much to create too much distraction for your viewer so whether you are photographing people animals or inanimate objects make sure to look out for opportunities where you can use the rule of three in your images you'll find that this techniques helps give your images more form and balance and overall they'll appear to be much more pleasing to your viewers eye when they're viewing your photographs so use this to your advantage and look out for opportunities to use the rule of three I love playing with different compositional techniques as a way to make my images more interesting and also try to tell deeper stories and give added meaning to my photographs you'll notice that many of my images actually combine different compositional techniques so it's okay if you want to try to experiment and use different techniques or combine them because that's part of the fun of composition and it can help make much more unique and special photographs if you're just getting started I suggest you pick one of these techniques and next time you're out taking pictures just try to practice it over time and with enough practice these ideas of composition will become second nature to you and you won't even think about them when you're taking photos if you've made it this far on the video I'd like to invite you to join my Online private chat groups I have one on WhatsApp and I have one on WeChat and Within These groups members share their photographs and I also give my feedback on members photos if you want to really improve your photography however why not send me a message and ask about portfolio review or you can contact me to discuss a mentorship program where I work with you oneon-one to improve your photography thanks for watching today's video If you enjoyed it don't forget to like And subscribe I'll see you in the next video

Channel: Sean Gallagher - Pro Photographer

Views: 31,392

Keywords: photography composition, photography composition tips, composition, photojournalism, national geographic, national geographic photographer, photography tips, professional photographer, photography for beginners, photography course, photography ideas, photography beginners, photography composition basics, photography composition for beginners, photography composition techniques, photography composition rules, photography composition advanced, sean gallagher

Id: Kx8FelfAM28

Length: 12min 14sec (734 seconds)

Published: Wed May 22 2024