As a digital photographer, you need to build, or compose, your image using the light that reveals visual elements. Unlike a painter, you cannot simply pick and choose your objects, colors, or placement of each (except when you combine elements using image-editing software). But you do have certain options that impact the composition of an image, including the ability to move closer to or farther away from your subject, to choose how you angle your camera, and to decide whether to shoot from above or below your subject. The photographer then combines the visual elements — shape, line, pattern, and texture — to create a picture. He may decide to isolate one element or use a combination of any or all of them.

Learn and experiment with the guidelines for good composition discussed later in this chapter. See how the resulting images change as you change your approach to a scene. Although it is important to know the rules, don't be afraid to break them when it is advantageous to do so. There is no single “right way” to take a photograph.

Your goal is to create an image that quickly and clearly conveys your intended message. Composition is not a haphazard matter. You will need to analyze the elements in a scene, then adjust them for the effect you seek. Sometimes you will isolate a single element for a simple but striking image. Other times you will use a combination of elements to tell your story. You may decide to go for a symmetrical, harmonious picture or you may deliberately choose to convey a feeling of disharmony and uneasiness.

Perhaps you will choose one main element to dominate the picture, with lesser elements supporting the focal point. The main element may be larger in scale or brighter in color than other elements in the picture.

These three gulls form an interesting composition.

Although you may think that it is desirable to arrange the elements in a picture symmetrically by placing the main subject in the center with other elements spaced evenly around it, this is exactly the sort of composition you'll want to avoid. A perfectly symmetrical image can appear rigid and uninspiring. To pique a viewer's interest, an image typically contains two main attributes: tension and movement. Balance in a successful image comes from the less obvious: the visual weight given to various elements in a picture. You can obtain this type of balance by using contrast, such as bright colors balanced by muted ones, dark objects balanced by lighter backgrounds, or very detailed objects balanced by open areas.

One formula for achieving balance is known as the rule of thirds, and painters have successfully employed it for hundreds of years. As you peer through the viewfinder, imagine lines dividing the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. Subjects placed near one of the four intersections formed by the lines gain immediate off-center emphasis. On the other hand, elements situated at diagonally opposed intersections seem balanced. When subjects are located at three of the intersections, they can form a striking triangular composition. In other pictures, the imaginary lines divide a scene into pleasing two-thirds/one-third proportions.

The rule of thirds can be utilized when photographing all subjects, but it works particularly well when you are shooting a relatively small subject photographed against a large expanse or a plain background. Another way in which the rule of thirds can prove useful is helping the photographer decide where to place the horizon. You can easily arrange the composition by placing the horizon along one of the frame-dividing lines.