Tips for Taking Digital Pictures: Composing the Perfect Picture
Learning how to properly compose pictures can mean the difference between great looking pictures and bad ones. This article will help give you some tips to improve your photo composition and take great digital pictures.
Filling the Frame & Clearing Clutter
Although there are exceptions to this rule, usually filling the frame is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your composition.
Often times, people try to squeeze too much in the picture and end up with a picture that has a cluttered background and turns out uninteresting.
For example, if you’re taking a picture of your child on a swing in the backyard, fill the frame with your child and swing, and leave out the rest of the swing set, Uncle Ed at the barbecue, and the other kids doing cartwheels on the lawn.
If you don’t fill the frame with just your child, you will lose them in the background and won’t be able to capture their excited expression from swinging high in the air. You can always go back and take a close up of Uncle Ed flipping the burgers.
The great thing about digital cameras is that you can see the picture in playback mode to make sure it looks okay. By checking the picture right away, you often can retake the picture and make it better by getting everyone smiling or removing clutter from the background like a lamp post or tree branch.
Sometimes leaving lots of empty space in the photo also works well. You may want to fill two thirds of the picture of something like a sandy beach to get a special effect. Just be sure to get a close enough shot that your subject fills at least about a third of the frame. So now it’s time to talk about one of the most important tips for taking digital photographs.
Rule of Thirds Technique
Most snapshots have empty (or cluttered) space on either side of the subject, with the subject dead center. That happens because most digital compact cameras with autofocus have center weighted focus.
Rarely do professional photographer have the subject in the center because they use manual focus. However, if you have an auto focus camera there is a trick you can use to avoid center weighted focus. If you have a DSLR you can also use this trick too.
One of the most popular composition techniques is the “Rule of Thirds”. With this method, the photographer imagines six evenly spaced lines breaking the image into nine even parts. Some cameras have a feature that lets you opt to have this tic tac toe grid, superimposed over your image in preview mode.
Using this grid in preview mode or your imagination you can frame the composition so that the subject (whether an individual, group or object) is on one of the lines of the grid. And don’t worry about lining up your subject exactly to the grid lines as it is only intended as a guide. Soon enough using the rule of thirds will become second nature with a little practice.
Focus on Focusing
So, it’s time to talk about how to get your subject in focus without placing them directly in the center of your picture. This method works like a charm for subjects that are still, such as people who are posing, trees, and other still objects. Here is how you do it:
- Move your subject in the middle of the frame where your viewfinder’s focus point is in the center and press the shutter release button half way down.
- Wait for the green light to glow so you know the focus is locked.
- Keeping your finger pressed on the shutter release button so it stays pressed half way down, move the camera until you have the composition you want.
- Now, hold the camera steady and press the shutter the rest of the way down.
- As always, wait for the green light to signal the camera has captured the shot.
Extra Composition Tips for Taking Great Pictures
Focus on the the main point of interest of your subject. With people and animals, the eyes are often the most expressive area so they tend to be the center of attention.
To make photos pop, develop a photographer’s eye for contrast. The brighter the brights and the darker the darks, the better the contrast. Another way to make your picture pop is by framing your photo properly. Make sure to choose a picture frame that highlights your picture instead of competing with it. You can do this by using matted picture frames or simple metal or wood gallery picture frames.
Too add interest to a set of photos of a given subject, take photos from different angles. Stand on a chair or lie on the floor. It is best to vary the angle in which you take your pictures so you can show different perspectives and views.
Start using these tips and before long you’ll be getting all kinds of compliments on your well composed pictures displayed on the wall.
How To Make a Picture Frame