Four principles of photographic composition

Give you ten seconds to tell me what composition methods are available?

I believe any photographer can count oneFront, middle and rear scenes, point, line, surface, corner, squareA lot of composition style theories, but with these composition methods, do you take good photos?

The composition methods vary greatly, but the following four principles fail to meet the standards, which are untenable. Is there such a pillar of composition method? What are the principles

『 1. Horizontal and vertical 』

When we see some scenes that are “supposed” to be horizontal in our impression, such as the horizon (sea), people will instinctively feel uncomfortable if the picture is not horizontal. Although many times we will not find problems at the first time, it often shows that “I don’t like this picture very much”.

Not only the horizontal direction, but also the vertical direction, such as the buildings in the picture.

It does not require much technology to make the horizontal plane smooth and stable. Just pay more attention to the balance of the background behind when shooting. Opening the grid reference line for shooting is more efficient.

When shooting, consciously make the rear horizontal line (ground/sea) parallel to the reference line, or directly make the horizontal line and reference line coincide to complete the visual horizontal composition.

Did not pay attention to the sea level behind

Cause visual maladjustment

Pay more attention to the correction of sea level

Get a more comfortable look

The adjustment of vertical lines is relatively more challenging in terms of shooting. There are two main reasons.

First, the scenery and the ground are not perpendicular to each other, and there is a certain angle.

If the location of the view is uneven, when the view is taken vertically, the original vertical scenery will tilt in the picture, just like the power tower in the picture.

In this case, it is necessary to rotate the fuselage properly in view taking the view grid line as reference, so that the vertical line is parallel to the grid vertical line, and the tower is parallel and upright.

The post tone is black and white

then,The second problem is that the correction of vertical deflection is more difficult than the correction of horizontal line simply by view adjustment, which often requires post correction or use of axis shifting lens.

From the picture below, we can see that the originally upright buildings in front have a backward leaning look.

This kind of distortion is called trapezoidal distortion. The contour lines in the vertical direction of the building tend to shrink and converge. This is because the fuselage is not parallel to the building when taking pictures, and the perspective effect is caused by the change of perspective.

Therefore, if the range of view allows, keep the fuselage parallel to the building facade, effectively reduce trapezoidal distortion, and keep the vertical line of the scene straight.

For example, the following work:

In order to obtain the vertical window and brick wall texture, it is necessary to climb the stairs at another time in the street to reach the appropriate height, and the straight picture will not be distorted.

Actual viewfinder position

The work is obtained through post cutting and color mixing

However, in order to shoot large buildings, such as skyscrapers, it is almost impossible to keep the fuselage parallel to the building, and it needs to use wide-angle overhead photography to complete the shooting.

The perspective of elevation shooting inevitably causes trapezoidal distortion. At this time, it needs to be corrected by post software, and part of the picture content will be lost during the correction and scaling process. Therefore, it is decided to use post correction verticality, and reserve the space position for post clipping during shooting.

However, on the other hand, it is also interesting to use non horizontal, vertical and perspective in composition. If you think you can convey the creativity of composition to the audience, just try.

Extreme elevation shows strong perspective

Non horizontal composition is more dynamic

Building facade style reproduction arrangement

Tilt is more vivid

『 2. Check the edge 』

Another most annoying composition negligence is that people always ignore the trivial and messy edges of the picture, which often distracts the audience and destroys the cleanliness of the picture. Of course, it can be eliminated in the later stage, but why not avoid it from the beginning?

Some trees, branches, lighting and other sundries will be in the mirror when you are not careful, so you need to be more careful when taking pictures. A slight translation, or simply viewing from another angle, can well avoid the problem.

Make it a habit to focus and measure the light, and then move your eyes around the edge of the picture to make sure that nothing “enters”, and then press the shutter.

From the practical example, such as the following:

There are branches in the right edge, which could have been removed by later cutting, but the background mangrove behind would also be damaged by cutting.

Therefore, pan the position and move to the other side of the foreground tree to view. The foreground is clean and the front and back levels are balanced.

In addition, there are other handling ideas. The following pictures were taken facing the church:

In the adjustment of the change of the viewing angle position, it is difficult to avoid the scattered branches and leaves on the edge and the ground shadows, which can be erased later, but it will be very cumbersome if faced with a large number of materials.

Finally, choose the method of “retreat as progress”. Since it can not be completely avoided, it is better to back off a certain distance, use branches and leaves to surround, form a foreground box, avoid fragmented interference, and increase depth and highlight the main body.

「 3. Cross stacking 」

When two things that are not directly related intersect or overlap in the screen, a new visual connection will be formed.

For example, in the following picture, try to capture the heron resting on the wooden pile. You can see that the bird’s head is mixed with the dark part of the river grass on the opposite bank, and the outline is not clear enough.

Move to a small slope on the side to take a new view, shoot from a slightly down angle, improve the proportion of the river background, so that the bird’s profile does not coincide with the river grass, and get a better picture.

It is impossible to always find the best shooting position for outdoor shooting, but patience can make up for the lack of position. Shoot the flying crane flying, but two of its wings are stacked together, showing the shape of the influence.

Wait a few seconds, and when the flying crane changes its position and movement, you can capture a clear and powerful picture.

4. Background simplification

In the case of messy background, it is difficult to highlight the subject, which naturally goes without saying. Therefore, try to avoid the elements that dominate the background, and there are different ways to achieve the effect.

Convert angle. A slight angle difference is probably the difference between good movies and mediocre movies.

Here are two lotus works. Although the background of the first picture has been fully blurred, the lotus leaf outline in the back and the highlighted color in the upper right are still confused, which distracts the attention of the subject.

In the second picture, the camera moves to the right, replacing lotus leaves with water as the background, so that the audience can fully focus on the appreciation of the main body.

Another example. In the first picture, the background at the top left is separated from the autumn leaves of trees, branches and stems, and there is also a recognizable outline of a telegraph pole, while there are imaginary light spots at the top right corner, resulting in a cluttered background.

Then change your perspective and approach the subject. The background will be more unified and pleasing to the eye, and the composition will be fuller.

Then another way to purify the composition is to clean it up. If there are any sundries in the mess, just remove them temporarily. After the shooting, except for throwing the waste paper into the trash can, everything else is returned to the original place.

In the following shot, a small piece of tape is in the corner of the wall, and the shadow is also in the mirror below. It is not impossible to leave it for later treatment. It may take you hundreds of times more time to go to the later stage than to pick it up.

Pick up the tape and back a little, the picture will be much cleaner.

In the digital era, most shooting enthusiasts are shooting more and more frequently. It is undeniable that shooting is more convenient and free, but many people ignore the problem of time cost.

If you slow down and think more when shooting the composition, you don’t need to spend a lot of time to remedy the insufficiency in the later stage. This is not to make you think about it and try to shoot one picture, but you should review the material more and shoot new scenes.

Ask yourself: Horizontal and vertical, should it be flat and straight? Have the sundries on the edge of the screen been removed? Do the main groups overlap? Finally, what else can be cleared out of the picture?

Before you burn the shutter, think about these four principles first, which can not only save the later time, but also effectively improve your film quality. Before learning and applying various composition skills, let yourself pass these four tests.