In this article, we will investigate what composition is and why it can be important for your work. As with all my articles, this article is meant for beginners and seasoned artists alike. Non-artists, if there is such a thing, are obviously welcome too! We discuss some basic composition guidelines and some more advanced. Nobody is left behind. However, since photography is my thing, the emphasis will be photography related.
Some time ago, I wrote an article I called; “Why every photographer should watch Bob Ross”. That article was two parts. The first part was about my opinion that it would be in the advantage of photographers to study painters and paintings, and the second part was about composition.
Over time, I began to realize that neither of those two parts were complete and neither of those two parts received the attention they deserved. There was simply not enough space. Articles can only be so long before they lose their educational fun factor.
So, I decided to attempt to do both composition and studying painters the justice they need. I split it up in two.
This article about composition is the first one. Studying painters will come later (There is a lot of work involved in that one). This composition part is still not complete, but although no article about composition will ever be complete, it comes close!
———————————–
“My theory of composition? Simple: do not release the shutter until everything in the viewfinder feels just right.” — Ernst Haas
Like I often do, I was looking for a befitting quote for the subject, and I found many, however, there were about as many quotes against the rules of composition as there were quotes in favor of it.
Unlike many of my photographs, the rules of composition are not that black and white. There is no “love them or hate them” here. Whether we like it or not and whether we are aware of it or not, the rules are there. In fact, they are embedded in our being, just like they are embedded in everything in nature. From quantum physics to simple compositions, as we discuss here, some kind of rule was applied.
So, even though I agree with Ernst Haas it’s fine as long as it feels right, sometimes the viewer is engaged or attracted to an image, and they can’t figure out why it feels right, but creatives should be able to, shouldn’t they? Shouldn’t creatives at least be familiar with most of these rules and know when to apply them and when not?
The “rules” as we know them are generic rules of composition, of which some are hundreds of years old. They are aids. Nothing more, nothing less. The rules of composition are often a cliché, but the thing with clichés is, they usually work. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be a cliché. Clichés earned that title.
Although many beginning and seasoned artists are, undoubtedly, familiar with (if not all) the composition guidelines we discuss here, the hope is that this article is helpful with either learning some of these guidelines one might not be familiar with, or that they serve as reminders. Experienced artists are probably not aware, but it is likely, if not inevitably, that after a while (years?) most of these guidelines will be taken for granted. Therefore, it probably doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves not to do that. Taking things for granted can lead to complacency and loss of appreciation for the medium, or worse, your own art. Keep in mind, this article is not just about composition guidelines, but also to remind ourselves that we need to stay critical of our own work. Regardless of how experienced, or inexperienced, one might be.
It seems better to use the word “guidelines” instead of “rules”, it doesn’t sound so stringent and definitive. Rules are there to be broken and while you can’t brake guidelines, you can ignore them if you like, which seems to allow for a greater artistic freedom. Semantics probably but, nevertheless, I stick with it.
What is composition, and why is it important? Simply put, composition is the arrangement of the available elements. These elements can be anything, really. Not just tangible objects or people, but also shadows, rays of light, colors, etc. you name it. Anything that our visual senses perceive as something.
Arranging or composing these elements has the purpose of creating a certain balance in the finished work that is easy and pleasing to those visual senses. Even with single subjects, close-ups and macro images, there should be a certain balance. The way a model stands, sits, or holds her arms, or the position of close up flower petals contributes (or not) to the balance of an image.
Lots of elements in this image
Composition is truly universal, and with “universal”, I mean the universe! We might not always realize it, but we find composition everywhere. It is like wallpaper, everybody knows it is there, but nobody notices it until it is no longer there or poorly executed. A good composition will make you feel at peace, comfortable and worry free. It makes you feel at home, so to speak. It warms you up. A bad composition might make you feel the opposite. It gives you that uneasy feeling of knowing something is wrong, but you can’t really figure out what it is. The art of Feng Shui design capitalizes heavily on this realization. In Feng Shui, composition guidelines are a philosophy that serves the purpose of bringing balance into one’s life. Not to mention, good luck! Now, I am no expert in Feng Shui, but if you are interested, contact me. I know people!
Good or bad composition in 2-dimensional, or flat art, has the same effect as in anything else. We get the same comfortable feeling looking at a flat art piece with a good composition, while a bad composition can make us feel uncomfortable. After all, we tend to look at a well composed work just a little longer than at a poorly composed work, as if we don’t want to deal with a poorly composed work. In other words, composition deserves our attention. Your work deserves that level of attention.
I bring up Bob Ross a few times and I do this, not only because I liked the man, but also because this article is a spin-off of my Bob Ross article, as I mentioned, and his TV series “The Joy of Painting” and more current, “The Best of the Joy of Painting” are in my view a must-see for any photographer regardless. In these series, he utilizes almost every composition rule/guideline/trick in the book on his paintings, but he’s purposely a little stealthy about it, and you won’t notice it that much if you’re not looking for it, but there is a reason why his trees are happy and why his clouds are just having a good time. Let’s find out why.
Plenty of Happy Trees
Focal point
Very often we see something that we really like. Let’s say a group of birds on the beach. We snap a picture and when we come home and look at it, all we see is a big blob of tiny birds. It is like a big confusing jigsaw puzzle. To make the image more interesting, there needs to be a bird that stands out from the rest. With one or two birds as the main birds, we have something to focus on instead of looking at a pile of something that reminds us of those “Find Waldo” books.
Occasionally, it is better to take a shot of just one bird by itself, or a few, instead of a bunch. We also have to make sure that the subject or object we focus on is not too small in the frame, or it is doing something that the others are not doing, it has to stand out. Otherwise, it defeats the purpose of a focal point. (back to that later)
No birds, but grass in this image.
Rule of Thirds
Now we have this focal point, what do we do with it? Leaving it smack in the center of the picture, which could be fine for close-up portraits for example, would not be very inviting most of the time and just plain boring for other subjects. That is where the second guideline comes in. This one is called: the “Rule of Thirds”. It means that the photograph or what you see in your camera is divided into nine equal rectangles.
Rule of Thirds
This rule is very old, but it has been said that in more recent years it was developed for commercial purposes by Japanese marketing experts. Apparently, they found out that the eye is drawn to objects/subjects placed on any of the intersections first. If you look at ads in magazines etc. you will see that often the most important part of the ad, such as the product, logo, or name, is strategically placed on one of those intersections. Photography adopted this notion quickly, and today it is probably one of the most effective ways to instantly improve your work. Some might think that the Rules of Thirds turned into a cliché, and that might be true, but it might only be true for artists and curators who are familiar with it. I think that most of the viewing public doesn’t realize it, and I am not 100% sure of many curators either. Artists shouldn’t think in those terms either, in my opinion. As said, clichés became clichés for a reason.
Leading lines
Leading lines are naturally, or man-made, occurring features in a picture or a scene that function as lines or look like lines. Power lines for instance, but also a road, a path, a waterway of some sort, a row of trees or plants, or anything else that resembles a “line”. The line doesn’t have to be a continuous one, it could be a row of puddles, nor does it have to be really obvious, such as a valley seen from above between two hills, a gorge, a streak of sunlight, or even a shadow.
As the name implies, these lines lead. They lead the eye of the viewer deeper into the picture, so to speak, instead of leading them outside the picture. By doing so, they engage the viewer with what is going on in the image. They ensure that you keep your interest in the image just for a while longer. Very often, you will find the Rule of Thirds, Focal Points, and Leading Lines combined in an image. In addition, they also provide the three-dimensional feel we need. The key with these leading lines is that we have to make sure that they lead towards somewhere in the picture. A curved road, for instance, has to curve inward. It cannot curve outward and face the edge of the picture, which would defeat the purpose. It must be looking inward vs. looking outward.
Rocks
This image would not be the same without the (leading line) shadow on the left.
Subject Placement
A less desirable way is to place a subject that faces to the right and is placed on the right half of the frame, looks outward towards the edge of the picture. It would be as if looking at a wall from a close distance. Not very pleasing, unless you shoot a prisoner, and you want to show that this prisoner is imprisoned and cannot go anywhere, or you want to convey some other message with your image. A better way is to position a subject that faces to the right on the left half of the frame. The purpose is that the subject looks inward to keep the focus of the viewer on your image, and only your image. This is particularly important with anything that has eyes. (Fake or real). It is also important with objects that could point to several directions, like a flag waving in the wind for instance.
Go Down
One easy way to improve the composition and overall impact of your pictures is to go down on your knees, especially with children and pets. Why is this? Shooting down is almost like looking down on somebody. In a way, it is almost condescending. It’s like saying: “Look, I am bigger than you”. Being on eye level or even a bit below eye level empowers your subject. Your subjects look better, and your pictures have more impact on the viewer. This little trick works especially well on subjects that are alive. With landscapes and buildings, it could also work, but it depends on how majestic the landscape or building is. Especially with buildings, there is sometimes little choice unless you carry a 50-foot ladder or use a tilt/shift lens, or an adjustable camera. What you could do, if there is enough room, is to back up. Remember, the longer the distance from you to your subject, the lesser the angle from your camera in relation to your subject. For people and pets, go down on your knees.
One big exception might be with groups. Somehow, shooting from a higher vantage point than your subjects seems to work with groups. With very large groups, it is sometimes the only way. Group shots are less invasive and personal, and therefore this “go down” thing becomes less important.
Fill the frame
This little stump is in reality one 2 1/2 feet high
Fill the frame
This tip has a similar effect as going down on your knees. Like taking pictures from a lower viewpoint, filling the frame has more to do with impact than with engagement. When subjects are too small in the frame, they might lose a lot of the impact one tries to achieve, and the desired results are just not there. If people are your subject, don’t be afraid to close in on your subject, but make sure that you are not too intrusive in a way that makes your subject uncomfortable. Having your picture taken is for many people a very personal thing, and getting too close may be a little too personal. There is also this thing called “Personal Space”. Frankly, I am not sure what that is exactly or how big this is supposed to be, but we will know when we overstepped it. Filling the frame has something to do with the value, or importance, you want to give your subject. A more prominent position shows that you value your subject. It makes the image all about the subject and not just some other component.
Background
The trick with backgrounds is to keep them simple. Less is more. There is probably nothing more distracting in an image than a cluttered background. In numerous instances, the background is almost as important as the subject itself because a background can either add visual impact to the main subject or take it away. Light blobs from a lamp, telephone poles or trees that are right behind the subject and are seemingly growing out of somebody’s head, trash (!), and overall clutter will take away from the main subject. Simple backgrounds with no clutter, very bright spots, etc., will add visual impact to the subject. This tip is important, and maybe even more important than any of the other tips discussed here.
If a clean and simple background without unwanted elements is just not there, a shallow Depth of Field (DoF) might be just the thing the doctor ordered. Most of us know that a shallow DoF can separate the main subject from the background, so your subject stands out more. However, a shallow DoF is not used to make your subject stand out but is used to clean up the background by making it blurry. A blurry background can make all the clutter and distractions disappear, and consequently, that makes your subject stand out.
As a side note, that is one of the challenges of using a pinhole camera. With a pinhole camera, everything is in focus from the camera to infinity.
Horizon
We talked about leading lines and there is one other line that is not so much a leading line, but a line, nevertheless. This line is the horizon. In general, the preferred position for the horizon is either 1/3 from the bottom or 1/3 from the top. Depending on what the scene calls for, but either way, smack in the middle is rarely good. I must admit, I don’t always follow this guideline myself. But in my defense, it is tricky to pre-visualize the position of the horizon with a pinhole camera.
The layers are quite obvious in this image.
Layers.
Pretty much any image is made up of layers. Layers are like different planes. There can be a row of trees, or houses, or whatever, and 20 feet behind that, another row of something, or just one object. All these different planes are layers. Think of the scene in front of you as a giant pop-up book. (Remember those?) In a pop-up book, the layers are clearly visible and if you look at the pop-up pages at eye level, you can see the 3D feel and depth. They are the same as the layers in the real world. They contribute greatly to the illusion of distance and depth, especially if these layers overlap. You know, an object on the left, then on the right, in the middle, one layer/object partially obscuring the layer/object behind it, and so forth.
Contrast
Layers alone are not enough. If those layers are of the same tonal value, meaning they are similar in contrast, the illusion of depth will get lost. Contrast is one of the most important aspects of the quality of a photograph. Notice that Bob Ross always put in a white water line at the water’s edge and dark rocks right next to it on the shore? This was to create the contrast needed to separate the water from the land. Especially when the reflection of his trees, or what have you, blurs this separation. If there is not enough contrast or separation of the different layers, the image will look flat, and the opposite of the illusion of depth and distance is created.
Notice the white line at the water’s edge.
Scale Shift
Technically, it is called “Scale Shift”, but I prefer the equally technical term “In your face”. Objects appear to be smaller the further away they are. Distant objects are also less detailed. This phenomenon gives us a sense of scale and distance. So, how can we accomplish this sense of distance and scale? One way is to have a large object in the foreground. Bob Ross called it the “Bravery Test”. I call it the “In your Face” approach. He had the habit of putting a huge tree right in front with the purpose to give the painting a sense of scale. Big objects in front, little ones in the back. This big object does not have to be the focal point. It can serve as an element that can lead the viewer to the focal point, like the starting point of a leading line. In an interior, for instance, you can have a large couch in the foreground with a fireplace on the other side of the room. This fireplace would be the focal point, and the couch might give the viewer an idea of the size of the room or the fireplace. Besides the sense of scale, this technique can also give a sense of intimacy. It’s almost like the viewer becomes part of the scene. As if the viewer is there in person. In this case, the element can be all over the place, as in the image below. The feel of intimacy in this image is created by giving the viewer the illusion of being there.
Scale shift example
People told me that they feel like they are actually there with this image. That they were the ones holding the camera. That’s because the scale of things on this image is about equal as the human eye perceives it in real life. The trees in the foreground are only 4–5 feet tall, while the trees in the background are obviously a little taller.
Aerial or Atmospheric Perspective
As a rule of thumb, darker shades and colors go in the foreground, and lighter shades and colors go in the background. Bob Ross always painted his “Bravery Tests” trees very dark and trees in the background very light. Bold colors or darker shades in the foreground, and lighter, less contrasty, colors and shades in the background will give the illusion of depth. Now, in photography, dark objects in the front are not always possible. Often, these potential candidates for the bravery test are just not dark. Occasionally, they are even white. It is remarkable how much light is reflected by concrete, painted surfaces, and even tree trunks, for instance. If that is the case, don’t worry. As long as there is enough contrast between that object, and that of what is directly behind it, you will be okay. These challenges are a beautiful thing for photographers.
As was brought up in the “Background” section, photographers can manipulate the aerial perspective with the aperture setting. A large aperture with a shallow depth of field can separate the foreground from the background by making the background blurry. However, if the image is focused on the foreground and a large aperture is used that makes everything but the subject blurry with no detail and basically unrecognizable, the illusion of depth and distance will be lost. The subject just hangs there in space, which is sometimes good and appropriate, and sometimes it is not. It is obviously up to the photographer then to decide to what degree distance details should be visible to maintain that illusion of distance and depth. In other words, use your f/stops wisely!
Contrast between foreground and background example with some vignetting
One thing Bob Ross almost always did is vignetting. When he painted a sky, he made the corners a little darker. Not so much that it became obvious, but enough to influence how the painting was/is viewed. It draws the eye in. It’s like your brain tells you to get away from those darker corners and follow the light because our brains are more geared towards the light than the dark.
Spacial Increments
In addition to what happens with scale shift, where objects appear to become smaller the further away they are, the distance between these objects also appears smaller. I reckon this is common knowledge, but I thought I should mention it anyway because it is part of the depth perception we have been discussing.
Photographers can manipulate this illusion with their choice of the focal length of their lens. As we know, a telephoto lens gives the illusion of compression, and a wide-angle lens gives the illusion of expansion. With the choice of the focal length, you can determine how the spacial increments are perceived.
Although the aperture doesn’t really affect the spacial increments, a shallow Depth of Field can give the impression that it does. The combination of focal length and aperture allows for several creative possibilities for photographers pertaining to spatial increments.
Linear Perspective
Linear perspective is something everybody is familiar with. It is one of the oldest perspective techniques used in art and goes back to the Greeks and Romans, who understood perspective 2500 years ago, give and take. Their knowledge was lost over time but rediscovered in the 15th century in Italy.
If people talk about perspective, they usually talk about linear perspective, which is basically converging lines of buildings, roads etc. I don’t think we need to spend a lot of time on this. For the most part. it can’t be manipulated in photography, not when you take the image, and not in post-processing. The only thing the artist can do is elevate their vantage point. The perception of a linear perspective will change with a higher vantage point. It was Thomas Moran, the famous 19th century western painter, who had gigantic scaffolds built to change the (linear) perspective with a higher vantage point. Ansel Adams had a special platform on top of his station wagon for the same purpose, and I stand occasionally on the bed of my pick-up truck to get some extra height.
Linear Perspective
That was that for some of the guidelines.
There is no claim that this article is complete, on the contrary, we did not discuss some of the guidelines such as virtual shapes like triangles and circles, negative space, or the size and “weight” of objects relative to the tone (light or dark) of that object. Purposely, I also did not discuss the popular “Golden Ratio”. Simply because I feel it is overrated and somewhat too complicated. Moat people seem to have problems applying the golden ratio in their art, I noticed on social media and some photography discussion forms. With painting, you can get the ruler and the templates out to create an outline on the canvas. That is not possible in photography. One can do it in photoshop, but this article is about doing it right the first time and about photographic art, not about digital manipulations.
I didn’t want to overcomplicate this whole composition thing. There is a big overlap with the guidelines we mentioned and the guidelines we did not mention. Particularly pertaining to shapes, there is an overlap. Take the image above for example, all kinds of shapes can be found in there.
Not following any of these guidelines does not mean one’s work will suck. Of course, that is not the case, and this article is not meant to be that way. We discussed guidelines and guidelines are just that, guidelines. Don’t let these guidelines stand in the way of your artistic freedom and exploration.
I did not include the images in this article because I think they are great, but because that’s what I have.
Rudy Umans
February 17, 2025
Before I go, some disclaimers.
Images and text that are created by the author of this article enjoy copyright protection as defined by the laws of the United States and the rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of which the United States is a member.
I did not include the images in this article because I think they are great, but because that’s what I have.
Furthermore, the above are strictly my personal opinions and the results of my research. Your research might vary.
This essay was 100% written by me. No Artificial Intelligence was used. That includes all the typos and grammar mistakes that only humans are allowed to make.