Now that we've got some grip on the technical stuff, what about the artistic side? Here are a few basics to consider before you press that button.

 

Composition:

Probably the area where most budding photographers come to grief.

We could wax lyrical for hours about photo composition and lay a million rules on you for what you can or can't do.

But there are a few basics to remember.

 

Arranging the subject to one side of the picture makes for a much stronger image than keeping it central. click on the image to enlarge

The Rule of Thirds:

Most photos look artistically superior if they are not symetrical.

Place the emphasis of the photo to one side or towards either the top or bottom of the photo.

With landscapes, either the land or the sky is usually the interesting feature, so the feature should dominate the photo. Don't devide the photo equally between the two.

With people, the biggest mistake is to focus on the face and leave the face in the centre of the frame.

If the face of a person is in the middle of a picture and the feet at the bottom, then the half of the picture above the face is filled with nothing.

Try to compose the picture with the face to one side and in the top 1/3.

Or if you are photographing a group of people, it stands to reason that the middle of the people (i.e. the bellies) should be in the middle of the picture.

 

Distractions:

Watch out for the pole behind the subject. In a flat photo it could appear to be growing from your best friend's head.

If the subject is on the right hand side of the photo and is looking to his left (our right) he is looking out of the photo. This is distracting because the viewer will wonder what he's looking at.

Similarly roads, railway tracks, telegraph lines, footpaths, in fact lines of any kind should lead into the photo.

The photo is too busy - backgrounds irrelevant to the subject can distract from the story you are trying to tell.