What makes a photograph pleasing to the eye? What makes it tell a story without including a single word of text? In many cases, careful composition by the photographer can transform an ordinary image into art.

Composition, like most of art, defies exact analysis. An artist, through innate talent or experience, will often compose a photo by simply sensing what "looks right". Nevertheless, there are a few basic rules that can help better convey what the photographer visualized when capturing an image.

    Rule of Thirds
The early Renaissance artists (Da Vinci in particular) are credited with defining the rule of thirds although it's been used for much longer throughout history. It's based on the natural tendency of the eye to view a scene in "thirds", and helps to draw a viewer into the photo.

Placing a subject dead center in the frame is often less pleasing (with exceptions, of course) because the eye has "nowhere to go" after locking onto the subject. The artist's intent is to guide the viewer through the picture using subtle cues and the position of elements within the scene.

The photo below is an example, taken way back in 1978 when I was first learning about photo composition.


Positioning these statues dead center would have produced a rather dull photo. Instead, I placed them in the left third of the frame, which makes them appear to be looking into the scene, not simply off frame (they are "Guardians" after all). Furthermore, the horizon line (between the line of trees and sky) is in the lower third, giving the sky greater impact.

With landscapes in particular, photographers often place the horizon line either 1/3 up from the bottom, or 1/3 down from the top. In cases where the sky is the focus of the image, the top 2/3 of the image is devoted to the sky (as shown in the example at right). City scapes or countrysides, on the other hand may devote only the top 1/3 to the sky, emphasizing the foreground instead.

    Leading the eye
In the top photo, notice how the clouds at the top right and the rocks at the bottom both lead your eye directly to the statues. Photographers will often use background elements or secondary objects within the image to direct the viewer through the scene. Diagonals leading from the edges or corners are particularly effective. All of these cues give the photo much more interest and engage the viewer.

    Diagonals
Speaking of diagonals, positioning the subject or strong elements in the image along a diagonal is also a common practice. This can be particularly helpful with subjects that don't fit into the "rule of thirds" scenario, but need an interesting "angle" to improve presentation. In this photo (at right), shooting the car from a prominent corner along the diagonal improves upon a simple "straight on" shot.

There are other compositional rules related to the position (such as the "golden ratio"), lighting, or the focus of a subject (depth of field is particularly useful), but these will be covered in other articles.

Using the basics of good composition can certainly improve your photos, but ideally you should learn to frame a shot subconsciously. Approach each scene from a fresh perspective and take in all the elements before pressing the shutter. Consider the viewfinder as a blank canvas upon which you, the artist, will tell a story.