8 IMPORTANT Composition Tips for Better Photos

this video is sponsored by squarespace if you need a website a domain or an online store make it with squarespace [Music] so you're looking to improve your photography and you're rightfully told that composition is the key to a great photo you proceed to read up on compositional rules and you realize that there's a lot to learn the rule of thirds seems quite simple but then there's the golden spiral and you're not entirely sure how to use that and then there's a grid that looks a bit like the third grid but it's slightly different people call it the five grid it's got something to do with the fibonacci sequence but you're not quite sure leading lines seem quite simple but then there are arabesques and leading lines that aren't straight and then there's dynamic symmetry and you're told about some maths that you don't quite understand you're not quite sure how to use the baroque diagonal and the sinister diagonal and the reciprocal lines and you're showing an annie leibovitz picture that seems to be overlaid with three of these dynamic symmetry grids in a row and it all looks very complex and confusing so you decide maybe it's best to look at those photos that inspired you to take up photography in the first place and see how these rules apply to them you examine bodies of work taken by a variety of well-respected photographers you also look at contemporary photographic journals and a wealth of exciting imagery they offer you look at shortlists for prestigious photographic awards but you rarely find any examples to fit with these rules in fact most of these images almost seem to read like a case study of what not to do weren't you told not to center your subjects why is there so much empty space above this person surely this background doesn't help this subject stand out at all by this point you're confused and you're overwhelmed and you really don't know where to start maybe you should just go buy a new lens and see if that helps you take better photos the problem is that composition is a massive subject and learning all the grid systems and ratios is only one tool in your visual toolbox i'll probably make other videos focusing on specific elements of composition in the future but for now let me give you eight simple tips that will hopefully get you started on improving your composition [Music] number one get your position right every representational photograph has two key factors firstly the position of your subject or subjects and secondly the position of the photographer and by extension the position of the viewer now changing either one of these can change how your shot feels what it means what story it tells now this may sound simple and obvious but a lot of people really do overlook trying the same shot from different positions don't always default to shooting at eye level it's how we see the world every day and there's nothing wrong with that but it's not always the most interesting angle once you've composed your shot stop evaluate everything in your frame is everything exactly where you want it to be are there any elements or areas that shouldn't be there if not change it now this may mean just taking a side step to the left or to the right it may mean climbing up something to get a higher vantage point it may mean crossing the street be vigilant and rigorous with yourself a small bit of effort here can mean the difference between a mediocre shot and an absolute masterpiece remember to shoot portrait aspect ratio as well portrait aspect ratio draws attention to objects in the foreground and use landscape format for a more natural feel as we often use our eyes this way unless we're looking up at something tall take multiple shots in a variety of different ways push yourself out of your comfort zone a bit it's all about finding that position where all the elements in your shot work together to create the feeling you are aiming for two use your phone most of us have a camera phone these days and one of the biggest hurdles you have to overcome when learning how to compose and visualize an image is being able to translate what we see moving in 3d without these borders into a still flat two-dimensional image because we have two eyes we see three-dimensionally and so we have a greater perception of depth than a photograph can communicate our brains can easily filter out distracting background elements because we can see them as further away but when you flatten that down to a 2d image those distracting background elements can become much more prominent and take away from what you want the viewer to look at in your photograph using your phone screen to compose an image can be really helpful when shooting on my pentax 67 for example if i'm using a black and white film i'll often set my phone to black and white and i'll pinch into the screen to match the field of view that my 105 millimeter lens offers which is around about a 50mm equivalent on a full frame camera this way i can see the world framed and in 2d i can see how colors translate into tone and i can also tap different areas of the screen to see how the image would look if exposed for the highlights for the shadows this isn't cheating it's using tools at our disposal to help us get the best shot possible think of this more like an exercise in learning the more we practice shooting like this the more we'll start to naturally translate what we see into a 2d composition it's a great learning tool if you want to improve your ability to naturally visualize a photo in your mind's eye number three beware the rule of thirds if you look up any tutorials articles tips on photographic composition you will likely be met with the rule of thirds right at the top of the list now the rule of thirds is a great little shorthand to start you thinking about composition but understand just because you place a subject to one of those intersecting points of the grid this won't guarantee you a balance to composition you must think about your shot as a whole one thing i see a lot when the rule of thirds is used is too much empty space on one side of the image it can lead to the image feeling unbalanced and there's also more to balancing your shot than where you place elements within the frame tone color and contrast also all have weight darkness feels heavier than light saturated color feels heavier than pale hues areas of extreme contrast draw the eye when composing a shot as well as lining things up mathematically look for where the areas of contrast are look for where the darker tones are consider how your image feels as a whole does it feel like it's tipping too much to the left or to the right consider compositional rules when finding the perfect place to take your shot from but don't go against your gut feeling if something feels right in a certain place but doesn't immediately make sense to you then just go for it there's probably a reason it works that you're not yet aware of compositional rules are like a scientific formula you can use them in art but first you must know why if you want your image to look classical use a classical compositional technique like dynamic symmetry but you don't need to use these all the time learn them but be mindful about when you use them don't fall back on them just because you know them think firstly about what you are saying before you decide how to say it number four a nice simple one whenever you're setting up a shot squint or blur your eyes this will help you see abstract color and shape and form we're so used as human beings to reading the world around us that sometimes it's very difficult to take that step backwards and look at it in a more abstract way but squinting or blurring your eyes will help you see where the contrasty areas are they'll help you see where the more saturated and the light areas are and this can really help guide you in setting up a nicely balanced shot think conceptually as well as aesthetically why are you shooting what you're shooting what do you want your viewers to think when they see your shot what do you want your audience to feel everything about the way you compose an image will tell part of a story for example the angle you shoot from can change how a subject is represented being up high looking down can detach the viewer emotionally it becomes more of an overview short very matter of fact it's a slightly godlike position looking down on the world below the viewer is a privileged observer and not part of the scene but if you shoot from ground level then you are part of the scene and by extension anyone viewing the shot a low shot looking up at the subjects can give that subject a sense of dominance and of power cropping in close to someone's face can make a shot feel more intimate and more claustrophobic having a subject surrounded by a lot of space can make them feel more vulnerable and more defined by their environment sometimes moving further away or using a wide lens can add some wider story to your shot decide whether context is important are you making social or political commentary about the subject you're shooting you might want to consider showing something in relation to its surroundings but when making your subject smaller in the frame be careful as your subject should probably still be the focal point of your image you can achieve this by using light contrast color leading lines or any of the other tried and tested techniques to draw the viewer's eye to your subject maybe employing those mathematical compositional rules will make your image feel perfectly balanced but what if you don't want it to feel perfectly balanced what if you want your viewer to feel uneasy because of the subject matter of the photograph always consider what you want your image to say before you decide how to say it six keep it simple in slight contrast to my previous point about showing wider context a really common compositional mistake i see is people including too much irrelevant detail in the frame everything in the frame should be relevant it should be part of the story if it's not get rid of it look for simplified backgrounds for fewer distracting elements try making your subject fill the frame the act of composing a shot is in itself a form of editing your audience won't know what they can't see throwing stuff away can be difficult but it can also be very liberating seven watch the edges pay particular attention to the borders of your frame try not to cut off people's elbows or the top of someone's hair or the top of trees or buildings or whatever it is you're photographing distracting elements of the edge of the frame can draw the viewer's eye away from your point of focus so try and keep them clean eight work in post don't be afraid to also work in post-production to get that perfect composition you can crop you can re-level your image of course it's better to do it in camera but you have quite a lot of options in post-production taking time to compose your shot is important but so is not missing the moment the more you crop in post the best you will become at judging composition in camera try testing your shot by flipping the image into a mirrored view try inverting the colors try turning it upside down does it still feel balanced and while cropping in post is great also don't be afraid to photoshop out elements that are making your shot unbalanced or creating tension by being too near the edge if there's something brightly colored in the background that's drawing your eye from the subject change its color desaturate it or simply clone it out that's why the clone stamp is there steve mccurry does this all the time you could argue it's cheating and by all means follow your own set of ethics and values but be aware that you are making things harder for yourself it's up to you but the key thing here is practice there are so many compositional rules that you can't possibly consciously think about every single one every time you take any photograph but do take time to learn them do take time to practice them learn one at a time go out and try practicing that particular one and eventually you'll kind of absorb them all and they'll become kind of a natural part of your intuitive visual understanding so a massive thank you to everyone who supports me on patreon you guys are the absolute best and also a big thank you to anyone who's bought my lightroom preset packs because those both help fund this channel and keep me making videos if you want to have a look at my presets then i'll put a link down below this video which will take you to my website my website was built on squarespace which is the sponsor of this video squarespace is an all-in-one web hosting platform i've been using squarespace for many years and so do many professional photographers designers filmmakers etc there's no software or patches to install it's all done through your browser so you can easily update your site from wherever you are as long as you have an internet connection you can easily keep up to date with your analytics or you can even manage sales through your site as they offer a range of e-commerce tools the website templates are really nicely designed and are customizable but you can also paste in your own bespoke css code if you want to add some extra functionality like i've done here with this before and after slider to show my lightroom presets so if you want to give squarespace a go they offer a completely free trial so you just go to squarespace.com and you can start building your site and see how easy it is and if you like it you can go to squarespace.com forward slash jamie windsor to get 10 off your first purchase of a domain or a website i'll see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Jamie Windsor

Views: 1,956,601

Keywords: Photography, photographic, photos, photo, composition, rule of thirds, rule of 3rds, golden spiral, golden section, steve mccurry, phi grid, fibonacci, tutorial, tips, techniques, better, compositional, rules

Id: VArISvUuyr0

Length: 13min 18sec (798 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 27 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/wanakoworks]

I'm a fan of Jamie Windsor and his videos dealing with deeper aspects of photography. I always feel he discusses important topics. I wanted to link this here as I feel it could be a good tips video for beginners and a nice refresher for those of us more advanced.

[u/ShadowStrikerPL]

PRO TIP FOR LIGHTROOM: If you are using Crop option, press O to change the overlay to different composition overlays and not just Rule of Thirds

p.s. big fan of Jamie Windsor

[u/aarondigruccio]

Jamie is so refreshing. I love hearing discussions about creating and images, and the philosophy and thought processes of photography, instead of yet another gear review/preview.

Thanks for posting this!

[u/rootCowHD]

First I thought this will end as the next "look how cool I am and get on my level" video, but this is actual helpful for people (like me) who just need some more ideas of composing.

[u/rammo123]

That example of cloning at 11:03 is crazy. It feels like too much but at the same time it has drastically improved a photo that would be next to impossible to improve in camera (unless you want to pay 1 dozen people on the street to pose).

[u/Locutus_D_BORG]

Love that he has something for both beginners and experienced photographers.

[u/S_E_P1950]

Thank you. Great little vid. I will share my favourite rules with you. The first rule is there are no rules. The 2nd rule is follow the 1st rule at all times.

[u/theandylaurel]

Always nice to see original content not focussed on shilling new camera gear.

[u/whatwouldyouexpect]

What’s that camera that he’s holding in his hand?