The secrets of a good composition - Tutorial

Often we do stop in front of a photography of a professional asking ourselves "how do they do it". However it is relatively simple, respecting a few fundamental rules, to realize a few nice pictures.

The first rule of course is to practice as much as possible. But there are a few simple tools to make interesting pictures and which help with the composition of the picture.


1. The rule of the thirds.

The rule of the thirds consists to divide the picture into three horizontal thirds and thre vertical thirds.
The idea is to place the main subjet of the image onto the intersection of one of the imaginary lines.
See the example below:

2. Lines of flight

When somebody reads a picture his eye has to be guided naturally towards the main subject. For this we use lines of flight like here below:

Note how the lines on the wall and on the ground guide the eye towards the main subject.


3. Depth of field

At last it is important to manage well the depth of field. The depth of field is the zone of sharpness in a picture. The more the diaphragm is open ( small f number ) the smaller the depth of field.
For instance an opening of f/2.8 will have a smaller depth of field then an opening of f/22.
The blur around the sharpness is called "Bokeh".

I hope this tutorial was useful. Have fun.