One of the easiest and fastest ways you can improve your iPhone photos is by mastering composition and composition is so critical I really cannot stress it enough. You can be standing in front
of the most beautiful view in the world, but if you
don't compose it correctly, it's not going to work out. You will not get a good photo. Composition is that big of a deal. And while composition can
seem a little bit difficult, it is relatively easy to master if you follow some proven composition techniques and guidelines. I'm going to share with you my seven favorite composition techniques that I use all the time to capture the best
iPhone photos possible. Again, these aren't composition rules, they're composition tools, so feel free to use them if they work for that particular photo, but you don't have to
use them all the time. However, if you know these
composition techniques, they'll make a big, big
difference when you're out there on your own looking for
photo opportunities, because you will already
know what to look for. All right, let's get started. Now, the first composition
technique I have for you is really simple and that's simplicity. And I'm not kidding, it is actually a really
important rule or principle in composition that you
want to keep your photos as simple as possible. The world around us is really cluttered, there are all these things that are just kind of scattered about, and for the most part, that doesn't look so good in your frame. So as a photographer, try to get in the habit of looking for the simplest
possible scene you can find, and then on top of that, try to frame that photo in such a way where you only capture
the essence of that image. Anything that doesn't belong there has to go out of the frame. Let me show you an example. So here I've framed up
this beautiful oak tree in the middle of a grain field. Now, you'll immediately notice that I have a bit of a problem at the bottom, so that is actually my own shadow. I know I don't want that. So I'm going to reframe the shot so that the shadow goes out. And now look at this. It is as simple as a
shot could possibly get. All we have here is a single oak tree in the middle of this huge field, and that actually looks
really, really good. Now, it is a regular tree. There's nothing special about it, it's not too big, it's not too unusual. It's just a regular tree, but because I framed this tree
in such a simple composition and because I've eliminated
all possible distractions, all I have left is a
simple, beautiful image. Now, Steve Jobs had the saying that simplicity is the
ultimate sophistication, and I think he was onto something. So if you look at the
design of any Apple product, it's all about simplicity. Anything that's not needed has
been removed from the design. So all you have left is the
true essence of the product. In photography, it's kind of the same. Always try to simplify the
scene as much as you can, and more often than not, those simple images will
work really, really well. Now the next composition technique I'd like to share with you is kind of related to simplicity and that is using negative
space in your photos. So what is negative space? Well, the easiest way to think about it is that it's everything
that's not your subject. So if I'm taking a photo of a tree, everything that's not that
tree is negative space. However, typically it's
the part of the frame that is essentially not
filled with anything. So it can be filled with blue
sky or perhaps with water, but negative space is
the part of the frame where nothing's going on. Now, why would nothing be a
good thing in composition? Let me show you. Now, we're still looking at that same shot I just captured before, but let me show you what
happens if I switch over to my 0.5x, my ultra wide. Now once again, my shadow is in the frame, so I have to be careful about
that, but take a look at this. If I reframed the shot in such a way where all we have is
this closest oak tree, and then that other oak
tree more in the distance, I can create something really interesting and it looks kind of cool, but look at the top half of the image, there's literally nothing
there, just blue sky. Actually that blue sky
takes up perhaps 70 or 80% of the frame. Now, normally I wouldn't like that because I'm responsible for
everything in that frame. However, there are times
when I can compose the shot in such a way where I leave as much negative space as possible. And here's the great irony
about negative space. The more negative space you
have around your subject, the more your subject will get emphasized. So the more I moved my iPhone up, the more those trees start to stand out. However, there is obviously a limit. So if I go too far, then I no longer have that
field in the foreground. And that field to me is an
important part of the frame. It kind of grounds the image, it tells the viewer where I'm standing, that we're standing in
this beautiful sunlit field and that this is where
we have those oak trees. So I don't want to leave
too much of the field because I want all this
negative space at the top, but I still need to
leave just a little bit so that it looks pleasing to the eye. I think this is roughly the
framing I'm interested in, so I'll go ahead and take a photo. Now, if you look at this image, I think it really turned out interesting. You'll notice that most of
that image is actually empty. We have so much negative
space above the trees, and yet those trees stand out even more because we have all that negative space. And in general, negative space can be a really
powerful tool in composition. It goes hand-in-hand with simplicity because the more negative space you have, the simpler your image will be. I recommend that you practice both of these composition guidelines. If you do so, our images will definitely get better. A lot of composition guidelines tell you where to position your subject if you only really have one
important subject in the frame. But what do you do if you
have more than one things that are really prominent in the frame? What's the best way to
compose a shot like that? Well, oftentimes the best thing you can do is place these subjects
diagonally from each other. Let me show you what I mean. So we're still looking at
the same beautiful oak tree, but now I'm looking at it
from a different vantage point and you'll immediately notice that here we have two things of interest. So we have the oak tree itself, and then we have this
beautiful road that's extending into the distance, but look at how these
subjects have been arranged in the frame. You'll see that the oak tree
is at the top left-hand corner while the road is at the bottom right. And that is not an accident. If you have two subjects
that you want to align in the frame, often the best way to do that
is to align them diagonally. This has one really important benefit. You will be able to frame
the shot in such a way where you're using most
of the space in the shot. In other words, if I frame the shot using
the diagonal principle, you'll see that I have
some strong interest on the left-hand side of the frame, I have the tree and I
have some strong interest on the right, which is the road. I also have some strong
interest at the top section of the frame, which is
once again, the tree and at the bottom, I also have interest, which is the road. So this way I'm essentially
using most of that frame. So this is almost the opposite of the negative space guideline. When you're shooting
photos with negative space, you're intentionally
leaving large sections of your frame blank to draw
more attention to your subject. Well, here, I'm kind
of doing the opposite. I'm trying to fill the
entire frame with interest, and if I'm working with two subjects, the best way to do that is
to align them diagonally in the frame. If you frame your shots like this, you'll often get some really interesting and really powerful compositions. Next, let's talk about symmetry. Now, symmetry is perhaps one of the most powerful
composition guidelines of all. When you have the right kind of scene to frame up a symmetrical shot, that always, always,
always look spectacular. Let me show you what I mean. Now, I'm still standing
at the same location. I'm still next to this oak tree. We're now at the peak of the golden hour, this is the best light we'll
have for the entire day, and I don't think he's going
to get better after this point because the golden hour is almost over, so I will stop talking and I'll show you how
symmetry works in composition. Now, you'll notice that I have this road going through my frame from
the foreground all the way into the background. And I framed up this shot in such a way where the road is perfectly symmetrical and that is not an accident. If I just move a tiny bit to the left, you'll immediately see that
I have lost that symmetry and it no longer looks the same. So the trick to getting
a symmetrical composition is standing exactly in the middle. So if I'm taking a photo of the road, I wanna be standing exactly
in the center of that road. If I was taking a photo of a building, I would be standing exactly in
the center of that building. This is important. If you're using symmetry in your shots, you wanna get it exactly right. If you get it kind of right,
that's not good enough, that's not a symmetrical shot. So I'm going to adjust
my frame to make sure that I get that symmetry exactly right. And you'll also notice that
I'm using the top grid line as my horizon line. So above the top grid line, I have the blue sky, below that I have the road. Now take a look at what would happen if I didn't have that road at all. If all I had was just this field, you'll immediately see that the
image is not working at all. There's nothing to catch
the interest of the viewer. All we have is essentially two
colors, so that doesn't work, but because we have this road and because we have that symmetry, I can actually capture a beautiful photo. So before I press the shutter, I'll experiment with different heights and you'll see that as I go lower, I kind of start to lose that road. It is now coming in from
the sides of the image, so I don't want that. As I go higher, actually the road becomes more prominent. And for this specific image,
since it's all about that road, I have to be just a
little higher than normal. So I think this height works really well and it really amplifies that road. So now that I'm happy with the framing, I'll go ahead and press the shutter. And look at that. Even though this composition is so simple, it's also extremely powerful. We have these really strong lines, these strong leading lines leading the eye all the
way into the distance and the shot is perfectly symmetrical, which looks really, really good. But let me quickly show you what happens if I switched to my
0.5x, my ultra wide lens, look at what happens to the foreground. As I switched from 1x to 0.5x that foreground got
bigger and more prominent. So now I'm seeing all
that grain even better. And number two, the road got even longer. So even though I'm taking the same shot and the composition is kind of the same, what's not the same is how the foreground relates to the background. Now I think that 0.5x actually
looks really interesting and I'm really happy to
include those sunlit grains in the foreground, so I think it's just another detail that makes this photo even stronger. So let me carefully adjust my framing to make sure I get that
symmetry exactly right. And once I'm there, I'll go
ahead and press the shutter. And this is how you can use
symmetry to greatly improve the composition of your iPhone photos. It doesn't always work, you can't use it in every scene, but when you have something
that's already symmetrical, going for symmetry will often be the most
powerful composition you can possibly use. The next composition technique
I absolutely love to use is called leading lines. Leading lines are any strong lines that the viewer is going to notice when they're looking at your images. Some of the best leading lines come from the foreground of the image and they lead the eye of the
viewer towards the background, or even better towards your main subject. Let me show you an example. Right now, you'll see that I'm standing on this wooden pathway
that goes through a lake, and it's a really interesting,
really unique place. And you'll notice that
I have a strong line or I should say a set of strong lines going from the foreground all
the way to the background. So those are leading lines, but you'll also notice that
I have these hand railings on both sides of me and watch what happens
if I start to get lower, you'll see that those hand
railing start to become more and more prominent, and at some point I can
frame the shot in such a way where I have really strong lines originating from all the
corners of the image, and that looks absolutely stunning. Now to make sure that
this is exposed properly, I'll quickly lock exposure on the sky. And now I'm going to make
some final adjustments to the framing. I wanna be really careful
to frame this in such a way where those lines at
the top are originating exactly from the corner and with the leading lines in general, it's a good idea to have them originate from the corner of your image. It's not always possible, but if you have a strong line that's close to the corner of the frame, make sure it comes out
exactly from the corner. So now that I'm happy with the framing, I'll go ahead and take a photo and look at that. I'm really happy with how this turned out, but I think I could further
improve this image if there was a person in the frame, because then all those lines would be leading towards that person. Now I know that every now and
then someone walks by here. So if I just wait for a moment, I think I could get an even better shot. Okay, I can see that someone's
coming from behind me, so I'll let that person pass. And once they're past me, I'll make sure I take some photos. Okay, I'll quickly get in position. I'll take a whole bunch of photos, just a few more to be
sure I get the right shot. And now look at that. That is absolutely stunning. I have this really strong composition with strong leading lines coming in from all the corners of the image, and they all lead towards my main subject. This is such a powerful composition. Another great composition technique I like to use is repetition. And this tends to work really well when you're shooting manmade objects. For example, if you're taking
photos of architecture. Let me show you how you can
reuse repetition in your photos. So right now you can
see that I am standing on this little street in the old town of a small Latvian town and here on the left, I have this beautiful old building and what really attracted
me to this building where those windows on the top floor. So you'll see that these
windows have these structures that kind of come out of the
roof and we have five of them, and to me that shows a potential for a really strong composition. So I want to make this shot
all about those windows on the top floor. So how can I do this? I'm gonna start by switching
to my 2x, my telephoto lens, and you'll see that two
things are happening. One, I'm much closer to the building and I've kind of
eliminated everything else that's not the building. And two, now the building
is compressed together. Since I'm using the 2x, the end of the building
now appears closer to me because of how compression works. So I'm quite happy with this 2x view, but I think I can improve
this framing even more. And normally I like to
say that composition is a game of inches. Well, here, we're not talking inches, we're talking millimeters because I wanna be sure
that I include everything that I want to include in the frame and everything that's not
relevant has to go out. So one thing that's really
going to improve this photo is if I don't show the
end of the building, and this is kind of counter intuitive, but if you have a long building like this with a lot of repetition, if I don't show the very
end of the building, you get the sense of a
never ending building. So, because I don't show
where the building ends, that's leaves room to the imagination to kind of draw this
building out even further. And in the photo, it looks like the building never ends, so that's a really great technique when you're dealing with
a composition like this. I also wanna make sure I leave
just a little bit of room around that door on the left-hand side, but I can't leave too much space there because there's this
chimney at a top-left, and I wanna make sure
that that chimney is not in the composition. So once I've adjusted
the framing carefully, I'll go ahead and press the shutter. Now, I'm really happy with
the shot we just captured. I think it manages to show
repetition really, really well, but you also notice we have these really strong leading lines leading from left to right, and all these lines kind of converge on the right-hand side of the frame. And if those lines led to a subject, that would be even better. So I'll wait here for a moment
until someone comes along and hopefully that way I can
take an even better photo. All right, I can see a bicycle coming, so I'll quickly grab some photos, and look at that. Exactly where I wanted, we have this beautiful bicycle and all these strong leading
lines that we have in the frame are pointing directly at the cyclist. It's a really strong composition, with both repetition and leading lines. And finally, the last
composition technique I wanna share with you is
simply filling the frame with the thing you're taking a photo of. This works particularly well if you have a strong texture or a pattern. I'm standing in front of
this old green wooden wall, and the paint is peeling off, so it hasn't been painted for a long time. And for me as a photographer, that gives a great opportunity to capture interesting textures. Let me show you. If I open up the camera app, you'll see the wall I'm standing next to. And the first thing I'm going to do is switch to my 2x telephoto lens. If you're shooting close
up details like this, I recommend using the 2x lens if you have that available. Now, you'll see that
with the telephoto lens, I'm actually so close to the wall that I no longer see the building. I no longer see the individual planks that make up the building. All I see is texture and patterns and on this wall, literally without moving my feet at all, I could probably find dozens
of unique texture photos. Let me show you. Now, this is already an abstract pattern, but I think I can make it more interesting if I get even closer. So as I get closer and closer, you'll see this paint
really start to stand out. So I'm gonna go ahead and
take a photo right here. And now let's move on to the next plank. So literally right above that, I have an entirely different texture. This looks like little cubes, and it's really, really interesting. So once again, I'm just gonna move my
iPhone around for a bit until I find what I think
will make a good composition and I'll go ahead and take another shot. As the last example,
I'll go all the way up. And right here, we have another
really unique opportunity. So here, if I'm taking this shot, actually at the top right-hand corner where the grid lines intersect, you'll see I have a bit
of an opening in the paint and that kind of becomes
my subject almost. So I'm gonna use the rule
of thirds to frame this up and I'll take another photo. Now, as you can see, I could probably spend all
day in front of this wall, and honestly, I would not run out of unique photo opportunities, there are literally so many different patterns
you can find here. But the point I'm trying to
make is about composition. So if you are taking a
pattern or a texture shot, simply fill the entire frame with nothing but a pattern or texture. You wanna take it out of context, so you don't wanna take
a photo of the building. You don't even want to
take a photo of the plank. You just wanna take a
photo of the pattern. If you fill the entire
frame with the pattern, that way you can create a really strong, really unique photo. Now, I just shared with you my favorite composition techniques for taking beautiful
photos with the iPhone. Please understand that
these composition techniques are not composition rules. Instead, these are composition tools. You can use these tools if you want to, but you don't have to
use them in every photo. In fact, there's no way you
could use all these tools in the same photo. It's just not possible, but
the more tools you know, and the more tools you
have in your toolbox, the more you'll start to recognize photo opportunities around you. So practice using these techniques. And over time, they'll start
to feel natural to you, and you'll start to recognize
opportunities to use them more and more. And as a result, you'll be able to take
incredible iPhone photos even more often.
