Rules of Composition

Below are some great rules of composition that will give purpose to all your photos! Using one or more in each of your pictures will make them excellent art, but there's no need to put all of the rules in every photo :) This book is a fabulous assistant for photography and Photoshop techniques. 'Digital Photography A Complete Visual Guide' by Micheal Wright.

(The cover may be different in stores, mine is pink-covered with a photo of a little boy on the front.)

Point of Focus

Whenever you place a person in a composition,
they will be the psychological focus, even if they are not
the largest or most striking part of the composition.
You can create a dynamic tension between the visual
and psychological focus by moving the figure
away from the obvious center of the image.

Positive and Negative

When you frame a composition,
consider how you crop the scene
to create dynamic andvisually
active negative shapes.

Rule of Thirds

Dividing the composition in proportions of thirds,
relates to the aesthetic device of the Golden Section,
creating a far more interesting and dynamic balance
of shapes. The rule of thirds is just a general principle
that you can explore, not a rule that has to be followed rigidly.

Counter Balance

Position your subject in the camera viewer to
arrange the shapes in the scene to either harmonize
or contrast with the rectangular frame. Diagonal
and curved lines will create a dynamic movement,
forming a counter balance between stability and movement.

Complementary Colors

Complementary colors are the warm and cool color
pairings of red and green, orange and blue, yellow and violet.
When you place these pairs next to each other in a
composition, they will energize and create points of
focus in the composition. You can use fully saturated
color or a more subtle contrast.

Rhythm

Repetitive lines in a scene create a rhythm or movement
that leads the eye through the composition. Vertical and
horizontal lines create a sense of division, proportion and
order, while curved and diagonal and lines create movement
in a composition.