This episode is for Barbara in San Francisco. Barbara, you've been nudging me to do a podcast on composition for a couple of years now. I'll admit, I've always hesitated. Podcasting is an audio medium and photography is visual one. I'm used to showing composition, not describing it. But after a lot of thought, I've decided to take the challenge. This is the first of a four-part series on composition. Today, we're talking about...
the rules. And more importantly, why you shouldn't rely on them. And where do all photographers seem to start? The rule of thirds. To be clear, it's a starting line, not a finish line. When I'm leading a photo safari here in New York City, I always start with the rule of thirds. Most of you know it. It's the first thing every TikToker or blogger mentions. And if you're unfamiliar, please Google it.
But when I think back on my time at Art Center College of Design, something really stands out. We talked about composition constantly, yet I don't recall a single professor ever teaching the rule of thirds. Why? Because although it's a useful tool, it's not the end all be all of art. Its real value is simply getting beginners out of the habit of bullseyeing everything, placing every subject
dead center without a second thought. It's a training wheel. It helps you think about balance, but it's just a starting point. It shouldn't be the only goal. The problem starts when photographers follow rules mechanically instead of looking at the whole image. And if you do that, it just becomes painting by numbers. Okay, let's look at three other classic rules that often go wrong. The first is leading lines.
We're told to use lines to lead the eye toward the subject. That can be powerful, but it's not a requirement. Think about a great portrait. Most portraits don't have leading lines at all. They work because of light, expression, and gesture. Simply having a line enter the frame doesn't magically make the photo better. Another one is the foreground, middle ground, and background rule. This is a staple of landscape photography.
The idea is that the foreground pulls you in, the middle ground holds you, and the background provides depth. I recently judged a camera club competition, and I could tell everyone had been told to follow this rule. The result? A lot of cluttered images. There were random rocks and bushes in the foreground that clearly didn't belong. You could almost see the photographer thinking, I need a foreground element, so I'll just throw this rock in there.
But if the rock doesn't have a reason to be there, the viewer's eye just trips over it. It becomes a visual speed bump that stops them from ever reaching the main subject. The last one is framing. Framing uses elements like an archway or tree branches to surround the subject. When it works, it's fantastic. But I often see subjects sitting at the edge of the frame that don't actually frame anything. They're just distractions partially blocking the view.
A frame should be intentional. If it doesn't direct the eye inward, it's just clutter. One way you can make a frame work is to make sure that the framing element, like a tunnel of trees, an arch, or a doorway, is visually very close to the main subject. One way that you can do that is to back up and use a long lens to compress that arch and the subject together, or if possible, move the subject until they fill that frame.
So if these four rules aren't the answer, what is? It comes down to one question you must ask yourself every time you look through the viewfinder. Does it work? Does every element in this frame support the image I'm trying to create? Composition isn't about checking off a list of rules. It's about how every element relates to the others. And if you're thinking to yourself, that's a lot to think about, well, yeah.
It is, and that's what makes great art great. You have to remember that the most interesting art comes from breaking the rules. Instead of placing a rock in the foreground just to have one, what if you get low and wide and make that rock the main subject? Instead of using a line to lead to a subject, what if the line itself is the subject? When you're out shooting, it's fine to have these rules in the back of your head.
But don't stop there. Ask yourself how you can simplify the scene. How can you make it feel intentional? That is the heart of composition. And over time and with a lot of practice and experience, you'll find seeing these things will be second nature. Next week, we're going to tackle a big one. We're going to talk about something photographers are often told to avoid, putting your subject right in the center of the frame.
and we'll talk about why the center can actually be one of the most powerful places in photography. Thanks for listening. I hope that was helpful. Until next time, keep on shooting.
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