Helpful Tips to Improve Compositions

Are you just starting out and in need of ideas on how to improve your compositions? Or maybe you're an amateur photographer who already knows most of these tips, but could use a refresher. Either way, this helpful video by COOPH is for you. 

What I like about this video immediately after pressing play is that they use a master photographer's images to illustrate their tips. Steve McCurry is a lifelong photojournalist and creative whose images have grabbed viewers' attention and sparked conversation around the world. 

Two of my favorite tips in this video, and ones that I frequently drift toward myself when out in the field, are the use of leading lines and diagonals. Plus, these two tips can essentially be paired together. I think that the use of lines as direction points for the eye is one of the most powerful ways to improve any composition, whether it be in photography genres of landscapes, sports, or even food. Of course, compositions can be strong without the use of one or even both of these tips, but having a reference point for your eye to land on as well as a direction through the image for your eye to follow is a technique that in my opinion should never be underestimated. 

As Steve McCurry says, though, rules are meant to be broken. But, it's hard to know what rules to break if you're unaware of them to begin with, which is why this video is a great launching point for new photographers or a fantastic refresher for those who have been in the game for many years. 

Lead photo by Oliver Cole on Unsplash

Tim Behuniak's picture

Timothy Behuniak is a Salt Lake City-based landscape and outdoor adventure photographer who's passionate about getting lost in the woods with his camera. Tim's hope is that his viewers, like him, will one day love and fight to protect the beautiful locations he is fortunate to photograph.

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3 Comments

Well known tips can take on new life with great examples demonstrating their efficacy. Thanks!

worth watching

Excellent examples, worth the view.