Knutsford Photographic Society

Composition Guidelines

These Guidelines were developed jointly by Knutsford P.S.'s Cyril Caulkin and his brother Keith, a member of South Liverpool Photographic Society. Why not use these for your club?.... or let us know how our guidelines could be further improved, by contacting the KPS webmaster.

Compositions Guidelines

Put the picture elements in a harmonious and interesting way. Try to get the picture to tell a story.

Thirds Rule 

The traditional way – centres of interest are placed on or near intersections of vertical and horizontal lines at the four ‘third’ points of the picture.

Viewpoint

Moving the camera a little changes the balance of elements considerably. Go up, down and around, to obtain the best viewpoint for good composition and more impact.

Perspective

An optical illusion – how does a two dimensional picture express depth in a three dimensional world? There are three ways to create depth :-

a)  Diminishing scale – same size objects become smaller further from the viewer

b)  Linear perspective – parallel lines converge to a point in the distance

c)  Overlapping perspective – one object masks another of the same size.

Framing

This helps to focus attention on the centre of interest in the picture. We can use natural frames, e.g. a tree, or artificial ones, e.g. a doorway. Framing helps to stop the eye wandering out of the picture.

Scale

Use something of known size to give scale to natural features.

Leads in to the Picture

The eye needs to be taken to the centre of interest. Left to right is best – the direction of reading.

Lighting

There are three types – front, side and back lighting. Side lighting is good to prevent flatness in landscapes and bring out the texture of rocks, etc.

Pattern

Repetition of a feature can make a good composition.

Numbers

Use odd numbers in preference to even numbers for the main subject(s).

Be creative!!!

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