Tutorials: Photographic Composition (Canon)

[Chris Dodkin]

http://www.canon.co.uk/youconnect_newsletter/tutorials/photographic_composition_tutorial/dsc/index.aspx

There are many suggestions, guidelines and techniques about composition. Understanding these will help you create good photos but will also help you to understand when breaking the rules will give the strongest impact.

Nice write-up on different comp strategies to improve your photography

 

[Hamish Gill]

Composition is a strange beast i think, and involves a very personal understanding of aesthetic ...
Tips are tips, but nothing beats experience...
composition is one thing I think I have absolutely spot on, I rarely have issue, when looking back at my images, with compo ... but it is the one thing that i have been practicing for the whole 19 years i have been taking images ...
That all said, i don't believe for one minute that what is right for me is right for everyone, but it is the one area I dont lack any confidence in. As i said, i am completely comfortable with my understanding of it, when to use rules, how the rules work, and when breaking them works for me!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

You'd have been more positive it it was Nikon doing the write-up - go on, admit it!

Comp is where much of the art comes in - IMHO - or magic, depending on your viewpoint!

 

[Pete Askew]

Nice little article though and if it helps people think before they press the button (or preferably before they lift the camera to their eye), more the better.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Ha! Maybe ... ...
Im actualy not sure, I have a canon book somewhere that I use for ref quite often ... I can't remember what it's called, something about lenes, it's a hard back thing they sent us at the shop. It's very good indeed!

Your right about compo though it's the core of good photography!
It's another reason why I recommend people buy a 1950's zone focus camera to learn ... A fixed focal length lens does wonders for the learning process where compo comes in!

The whole reason I stuck with photography is because when I was about 13 I took some photos into school for some sort of photography competition, the teacher who was organising it said one thing that probably changed my life - "You have a natural eye for composition Hamish!"
That one comment is probably directly attributable to me getting a job in a camera shop, starting up as a photographer and eventually starting this place... And like I said after a further 15 years of practising why I think (for me at least) I have that part of what I do sorted!
I'm not sure I mean I'm not learning more about it, but my learning about it is certainly not through reading stuff, just experience ... Bit as I said, it's the one area of my photography I dont look back on negatively!
Maybe that in it's self is down to that teachers kind words of encouragement!