My two most favorite composition techniques

When you start learning about photography, it's almost impossible not to hear or read about composition rules as a "must know" right from the start. Although I don't like the term rule in this context, I agree that when applied, it adds something extra and gives more power to the photo. I don't like this word rule because it makes me think of it as something imposed, a method that must be applied, something that forces me. In reality, however, it’s not so. No one forces us that a photo should follow certain rules. That's why I like more the concept of composition techniques.

But what are these composition techniques? These are some principles that can be applied in a photographic composition, so that the photo we take attracts more, the viewer has the feeling of three-dimensionality (for example), or depth of the scene, or feels as if been there, next to you, the photographer. Some of these compositional techniques are: the rule of thirds, leading lines, the golden ratio, symmetry, textures and patterns, the use of diagonals, framing, etc. I will present next two of these techniques, the ones I like the most and which I use most often.

• The leading lines

The leading lines are those elements, natural or artificial, in the scene we are photographing that lead the viewer eyes to the element of interest in the composition. Most of the time, guidelines lead the viewer eye to the subject of our photo, but they can also grab the viewer's eyes through the entire scene, moving from one area of ​​interest to another. I was saying that guidelines can be natural or artificial elements - here are some examples: a tree trunk, a flowing river, clouds, sea waves, or artificial: stairs, a row of houses, a row of electric poles, the columns of a building, flower rounds etc. This technique is one of my favorites because it’s easy to apply (we can find such elements almost everywhere) and due to the fact that it creates depth in the photo, the feeling of three-dimensionality is very well accentuated. And nothing is more pleasant for the viewer than to perceive 3D in a pure 2D frame (as a photograph is). Some examples below.

In the photo below, I used as leading lines the elements from the building's architecture, but also the edge of the water basin. The architecture is so massive that it creates very strong leading lines.

In another composition I used the flower pots and the fact that they formed a curve towards the building in front of me.

We can take advantage of any element we can find. Even a concrete railing or the edge of an Italian fountain can be used as leading lines. In the examples below, the intention to highlight the subject of the photo is very clear:

In the photo below I found a nice and funny composition - the direction created by the columns, but also the arrows drawn on the columns, properly pointing, all towards the subject of the photo:

• Framing

This technique supposes that certain elements in the composition are put in a frame created from natural or artificial elements. Most of the time the main subject of the photo is placed in this frame, but it is not mandatory. Through this technique, the person looking at the photo has the feeling of looking through a window or looking at a painting. This frame can be created, as I said, with elements from the environment such as: the branches of a tree, the space between two trees (between which I frame the element of interest), or: a physical window in a wall of a building, the door or the window of a cottage, an arched vault, part of the architecture of a building, or, in general, any naturally or artificially created gap through which it can "look beyond". I really like this technique because it can create three-dimensionality and depth in the photo. Sometimes we can transpose the viewer into the scene he is looking at, imagining where the photographer was positioned, or the distance from the subject, making him, practically, live a little of the magic of the moment. Like the first technique presented – leading lines - framing is also relatively easy to apply, especially using architectural elements from the urban environment.

Let’s see some examples of this technique.

In the photos below, Moorish architectural elements from Spain offer limitless framing combinations. Framing so that you can capture multiple planes (or layers) - close, middle, further - creates a strong 3D image, giving depth and perspective.

In the following example I have two images where I used the same framing technique, yet different. The first one, on the left, has a very strong foreground element (that frame created by the concrete wall), the eye of the viewer seems drawn to the element of interest in the composition, the Athenaeum building. The second one, however, on the right side, has a much softer, narrower frame. It's more like a painting.

A few other examples where I used this framing technique, either with a circular element from the iron gate, or I photographed the phone screen which in turn was photographing an old Italian church:

Few final photos

In this image I mixed framing with leading lines.

As you've seen, applying these techniques can create much more impactful images. Whether they are applied or not is up to each individual. Moreover, these techniques have proven their effectiveness for a very long time, being applied in painting, for example, for hundreds of years. Of course, most of the time they are combined with other techniques - they can have frame-in-frame, framing and symmetry at the same time, framing and guidelines and everything else.

The only limit is your imagination.