Compositional rules help you compose pleasing pictures, however, you will often find that a really striking picture will show a blatant disregard for the rules. In photo contests, once you are aware of the rules then break them as often as you want but, at least, know you are breaking them and why. In most photo contests, photographers take pictures of anything they think is qualified to the theme of a particular picture contest. Then they decide what elements they will include inside the frame and what to leave out. Today’s modern world of automatic cameras, which can adjust the exposure in an ever more perfect way (most of the time), the biggest difference between a good photograph and a mediocre one is the composition.
Deciding where the boundaries of the photo is called cropping. In every photograph we take in every picture contest we join determines how we understand the various compositional rules. Cropping, viewpoint and arrangment are among the few. If we are taking pictures of people or movable objects then, often, we also have the opportunity to arrange them into the shapes we want.
Rules of Thirds
Landscape photographers are particularly fond of this one, but it works well for many types of subjects. The rule of thirds simply says that, instead of placing the main focus of interest in the centre of the frame, which gets a little boring, that you look to position it on an intersection of the thirds. That is to say one third up and one third in or two thirds up and one third in etc. To enhance your photo composition in the next photography contest in your list, here’s a “thirdsy” sort of picture. Placing the boat near the top of the picture tells the viewer that what they are supposed to be looking at is the reflection. We could take the boat out altogether, of course, this would focus our attention even more on the reflection but the picture might then be a little too minimalist. Also the mast is almost exactly on the ‘third’ line. There is a little space to the right of the bow of the boat which helps to give the impression that, although the boat is not moving, it has somewhere to go. Although a nice illustration of composing ‘on the thirds’ this picture falls foul of another ‘rule’ in that it has very light corners, especially at the top right and, coupled with the yellow stripe, the effect is to lead the viewer’s eye out of the picture. We’ll talk about this more later.
Using Diagonals
In photography contests, setting your subject matter on a diagonal will almost always make for a more dynamic picture. Even if this is an invisible diagonal that draws your eye between two points. Move around the subject (not too close in the case of my crocodiles) and look for a diagonal.
Cropping – What to leave out, what to put in and where to put it.
Tip - One of the easiest ways to improve your chances in photography contests is with careful attention to framing. Look into the corners of the viewfinder to see what is there. Do you need all that background? Can you get closer to your subject or zoom in? Would the picture look better as an upright or landscape?
The most common mistake people make in photo competitions is not filling the frame with the subject. If your photo competition entry is about your granny waving from the doorstep, let’s just see granny and the door, not half the houses in the street with a small granny shaped blob in the middle. I think the culprit for this phenomenon is the focusing aid in the centre of the viewfinder. Most cameras have some sort of circle or rectagle etched onto the glass and we are inclined to think, in our less thoughtful moments, that this is the whole picture area. Take a moment to glance around the viewfinder to see what you have got at the edges and especially in the corners. Watch out for clutter in the background, that lam post growing out of granny’s head. Make sure that everything in the viewfinder is there because you want it to be.
To see how John Warton, senior photo editor at Photo Laureates reviews photographs and meet, go to www.thephotochallenge.com
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