A stupid Question!

[Caroline]

Hi there!
Right as everyone knows im a complete novice to photography and so I have a stupid question. Composition. What do people mean exactly when talking about composition (in simple terms if possible :)

Thanks
x

[Stevepud]

Hi Caroline,

As far as I understand, Composition means how you place your objects in your photo.
Landscapes for instance usualy benefit from a nice FAR AWAY object, with something small and interesting in the forground, and something that leads your eyes from the small forground interest to the background.

People photos, when composing the shot, be away of lamposts etc - you dont want to have a lamppost coming out of a head, thats poor composition.

Google "The Rule of Thirds" that'll give you an idea too

S
PS, there are no stupid questions, just scenarios you havent found the solution to yet.

[tenchy]

Steve has answered the question pretty comprehensively.

Here's a link which explains the rule of thirds quite well:
http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

[Stevepud]

Cheers Steve,


Caroline,
Something else to consider is 'directionality'

If you are taking a photo of a dog/person/car/etc in motion, it is nearly always preferable to have them looking/moving INTO the frame.
So position them on the right, looking or moving towards the centre, or vice versa.
Its not usually good to place them at the edge, looking away from the centre.


This, as far as I understand keeps the viewers interest IN the photo, rather than their gaze drifting out of the photo (and onto something more interesting)

[mickledore]

You used to be able to get screen protectors with "thirds" lines marked on them, to help your composition. Not seen any for a while. Anyone know if they still exist?

[tenchy]

Also, not sure about the D3000, but the Canons have a rule of thirds grids on the LCD when in liveview mode.

[mickledore]

Doesn't show on mine, but Liveview has been altered from the 450. Now there's a simple button to use, rather than going through the menu.

[tenchy]

Yeah deffo easy to use on 450D, press that middle button, once all activated. The 1000D has the 3rds grid too.

[carlb40]

Yeah deffo easy to use on 450D, press that middle button, once all activated. The 1000D has the 3rds grid too.

guess canon users need all the help they can get :stir:

[tenchy]

guess canon users need all the help they can get :stir:

:bum1:

:)

[Napalm]

Also, not sure about the D3000, but the Canons have a rule of thirds grids on the LCD when in liveview mode.

The D3000 has an option to enable the 'thirds' grid in the viewfinder, also the focus points are placed roughly on the 'thirds' also.

[adrianm]

also look up "lead lines" where you have certain things in the photo in a sort of line toward the main focus point, they lead the eye right where you want it and makes the pic very easy on the eye and "well composed" lol

[Marmeduke]

Although you've had a good answer - just an interesting appendage: the rule of thirds is a useful guide but it's a simplification of something really cool called the 'golden mean'. The golden mean is a proportion which for some reason appears in structures and patterns throughout the natural world. It's been absorbed into human activity and often exists in paintings, musical rhythm, poetic beat etc. Basically when two things have a proportional relationship of 1:1.618 or 3/8 to 5/8 they are in the golden mean, sometimes called golden ratio. It could be circles, squares, triangles etc, so is a slightly more flexible guide than the rule of thirds. When the rectangular viewfinder of the camera is broken up a in simple grid akin to the rule of thirds, on the proportions of the golden mean, the focal points fall 3/8 in from the top and 3/8 in from the side - a little nearer the centre than with the rule of thirds.

Anyway, it's just quite interesting but not worth dwelling on as some kind of 'rule'. Arrange things in the scene as you intuitively feel looks right.

[Caroline]

Steve has answered the question pretty comprehensively.

Here's a link which explains the rule of thirds quite well:
digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds]

This was really useful, thanks steve im getting there :)


The D3000 has an option to enable the 'thirds' grid in the viewfinder, also the focus points are placed roughly on the 'thirds' also.

Where is it?? I have found a grid but its seems to divide the screen into 16 sections rather than 9?




Thank you everyone for your help! I understand that this is probably a little tedious for you pros! Im getting there and once ive worked out how to actually post pictures ill certainly do that!! :)

[Napalm]

Where is it?? I have found a grid but its seems to divide the screen into 16 sections rather than 9?

Ok, hit the Menu Button, go to the 3rd tab on the left which is the 'Setup' menu (has an image of a spanner). 3/4's of the way down is an option called 'Viewfinder Options', select this and then select 'Viewfinder Grid' and change it to 'On'.

This will then show a grid in the viewfinder that separates the view into 'thirds'.

Hope this helps.