This is part two of a four-part series on composition. In the last episode, I talked about the so-called rules of composition, things like the rule of thirds, leading lines, and the foreground, middle ground, background rules. I also talked about why those rules are really just starting points, not something you should follow blindly. Today, I want to talk about something photographers are often told to avoid completely, the center. If you spend any time watching photography videos or scrolling through photography blogs,
you'll hear this over and over again. Don't put your subject in the center. The center is often treated like something that's evil. But here's the thing. We've all seen great photos where the subject is right in the center of the frame. So why do people keep warning against it? Because the difference between a great centered image and a bad one can be incredibly small. If you're even slightly off, the photograph can feel awkward or unbalanced.
And another thing to note is that it's often difficult to make the center really sing. So the fact of the matter is the center is really difficult to make amazing, but it can happen. The thing to note about using the center is you really have to nail the center, and that means being precise. When you're photographing something symmetrical, especially architecture, you really have to get it right. So how do you get it right? Here's an example.
When you're standing inside a church or photographing a symmetrical building, there are clues everywhere that tell the viewer where the center should be. Columns, arches, windows, doorways, these elements make it easy to see when something is off. That's why finding true center becomes so important. When I'm out photographing with groups in New York City, I often ask people how they find the center of a building. Most people say they just eyeball it.
They look left, they look right, and then they try to stand somewhere in the middle. This is okay, but there's actually a better way. The fact is, most places will tell you where the center is if you just look. Sometimes there's a marker on the ground, like a plaque, but often you can look for alignment points. For example, if you're standing in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, there's a large circular stained glass window on the front of the building. Several feet in front of that, there's a cross, and it's also in the center of the building. As you move left and right, you'll notice that the cross shifts relative to the center point of the window behind it. And as you move left and right, eventually you'll reach a point where the cross lines up perfectly with the center of the stained glass circle. When those two elements line up, you know you're standing in the center. That's your reference point.
Very often, you'll find most buildings will provide you with this type of reference point if you just take a few minutes to look for it. But if there isn't something that obvious, you can still look for symmetry. Look for similar features on both sides of the building, spires, columns, windows, and compare the spacing on the left and right sides until the visual distances between the objects match on both sides of the building. Once those distances are equal,
you're probably very close to the center. But even after you find the center, there's another mistake photographers make. They might stand in the right spot, but then they point their camera slightly to one side or the other. Your feet might be centered, but if the camera turns a little to the left or right, the photograph is no longer centered. So you have to align both your position and your camera to the center point. Now, if you do all that perfectly, it still doesn't guarantee a good photograph. It guarantees a centered photograph. To make a great shot, you still have to think about everything else happening in the frame. How much of the scene are you including? What lens are you using? Should you move closer or further away? All these choices affect how the composition feels. Let's take a building like St. Patrick's Cathedral. If you include the street in front of the building and it's empty, that street really won't add anything interesting to the picture. On the other hand, if a yellow taxi drives through the frame, that space will suddenly become meaningful. Now it tells you something about the location and adds life to the photo, plus a little splash of color. I'm not saying you need that cab. I'm saying that space needs to make sense if you're going to have it as part of your shot. So even with the centered composition, you still have to think about what belongs in the frame. Another rule you'll often hear is that you should never put the horizon line in the center of a landscape. But again, that's not always true. One of the most beautiful series of landscape photos I've ever seen is by the American photographer named Joel Meyerowitz. He published a book called Bay and Sky. The photographs are simple and yet totally amazing.
Throughout the book, he only presents images of sky and water. No boats, no birds, no buoys, just the horizon separating those two elements. And in many of the images, the horizon line sits almost exactly in the center of the frame. When I first saw these images, I thought to myself, this is ridiculous. That's easy. I can do that. But when I went out and tried to do it for myself, my photographs were horrible.
After studying his images and trying to do this myself for nearly 10 years, I eventually noticed all the small but extremely important decisions he was making. The lens choice based on the ripples in the water, how far in the distance he was shooting, how close he was shooting, the direction he was shooting relative to the way the light was hitting the ripples in the water. Everything mattered. Those details are what made the centered horizon work. And that's really the lesson here. The center isn't wrong, it's just demanding. It's really, really hard. It asks you to be more thoughtful about every element in the frame. And sometimes it demands that you be more precise and more aware of the alignment as well. So don't be afraid to experiment with the center. Try it out, practice with it, pay attention to the details. Because when it works, a centered composition can be incredibly powerful. Having said that, let me share something interesting we learned in art school. When you mount or matte a photograph or display, we were taught not to place it exactly in the middle of the matte. Instead, we were told to position it a little bit higher and a little bit to the left of center. Visually, that actually made the print feel more centered in the matte. So when you're composing something that does not have hard lines like a building, you might want to give that a try.
Oh, one last thing. It took me over 10 years to figure out how to shoot sky and water with the horizon line in the center of the frame. I won't say I'm a Joel Meyerowitz, but today I am a little bit better at it. That's it for today. In the next episode, I'm going to talk to illustrator James Freed about the use of color.
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