In the final part of our series looking at common problems that plague new photographers we turn our attention to composition and framing.
Unlike the more technical aspects of photography such as exposure or focusing, choosing how to compose and frame your shots is as much about personal choice as being right or wrong. Despite this, there are ways to improve the composition of your images. The classic habits to break are putting the main subject in the centre of the frame, and not getting close enough to the subject.
Simple tips for composing a photographBelow we’ll show you a couple images that don’t quite work for a number of reasons, and then slightly different versions of each that do.
Including subjects at the edge of the image:
You need to watch out for areas of the subject, especially at the edge of the frame, which draw attention away from the main subject. Before you press the shutter, try looking all around the frame for anything that doesn’t help the composition.
Uninteresting foreground:
Shooting with a wide-angle lens means that you will often include a large area of the foreground. So you should look out for interesting subjects or textures to make the most of this area of the image.
A beginner just holds a camera and points and shoots. Because that's all we know for the time being. Until we decide to learn that framing and composition have a massive part in photography. Simple tips like having the horizon at an equal level. And if your camera has a grid display, it will help you out.