In the previous article we talked about 6 photo tips to improve your photos.
In fact it’s very important to have clear what you want to capture, how many and which elements to frame in the photo.

Sometimes, our photos don’t satisfy us and we can’t figure out why.

No fear! There are some simple composition rules that can help us figure out what’s wrong and get better results!
They are very practical and intuitive techniques, based on order, lines and geometries, which make the photo more interesting and pleasant to look at.

So let’s try to explore some of them.

Of course, speaking of art, all these rules are not real imperatives. Indeed, sometimes not following them helps us to better express our message.
But to do this we need to be conscious of the rules, otherwise our result will be just a mistake, or a stroke of luck!

1. Horizon line

First thing: the horizon line must be perfectly horizontal!
In every phone or camera, a grid of horizontal and vertical lines can be displayed on the screen to help us.
In many cameras there is also a “digital horizon”, which helps us to keep the device exactly horizontal.

For images that have already been taken, it will be enough to rotate them slightly with any photo editing program or app. Also in this case, the grid will be displayed as a support.

2. Vertical lines

It’s not just the oblique horizon that creates strange sensations when looking at a photo!
Vertical lines are also important.
For example, if you want to frame an entire building, you will often fold your smartphone or camera upwards to make it fit entirely into the picture. The result will be a perspective, in which the vertical lines will be inclined and the buildings will literally appear to fall.
This effect is not very pleasant when we look at an image!

Therefore, you should always avoid tilting the device, and use the grid to check that the lines are actually vertical.

Furthermore, it is not always important that the whole building fits into the image. Drastic cuts are often more effective.
But how to do it if it is really necessary?

• Try moving away from the frame or zoom out: this way you will be able to widen the scene and keep the camera straight.
• Look for a raised spot nearby, a rooftop or a hill, so you don’t have to tilt the device. Try changing your point of view and get original photos.
• If you want to really emphasize the height of a building, then sloping lines could help. However, try to go right in front of it, exactly in the center of the facade and tilt the device upwards. This way, the verticals will converge towards the center and the image will appear more symmetrical. We talk about this in the next paragraphs!

3. The rule of thirds

The most famous of these techniques is the rule of thirds. How many of your photos have the subject exactly in the center of the scene?
Perhaps this is not the best solution, because the photo can be boring or banal!

The grid we are talking about in the previous points, helps you to use the rule of thirds.
In practice, once the grid is activated in the settings of your device, the frame is divided by two vertical and two horizontal lines equidistant from each other, so as to create 9 equal squares.

When framing, what you have to do, is to position the subject on one of the vertices between the lines, because those are the points that attract the eye the most. This means that the main elements of the photo will be located not in the center, but slightly to the right or left. You will see that your photos will be more interesting and amazing!

The rule of thirds also helps create a good balance between heaven and earth. In fact, you can consciously choose where to place the horizon line, whether in the middle or on one of the grid lines, dedicating 1/3 of the space to the sky or the earth. More tips on these aspects can be found in this article.

The use of the grid and the rule of thirds is an extremely useful and intuitive aid, simple to put into practice immediately! Just activate it and start paying attention!

4. Lines and geometries 

The lines and geometries allow the image to be more clear and certainly make it more interesting, they give order and guide the eye between the different elements.

Whether the lines are vertical, horizontal, concentric or oblique, or whether you want to emphasize particular geometries, your images will involve the viewer!

Let’s see some examples.

• Oblique lines

If the lines are oblique, make sure, using the grid, that they cross the vertices between the lines, or end up on the vertices of the outer edges. It is not necessary that all oblique lines go in the same direction, indeed, sometimes lines in different directions make the image even more incisive.

• Convergent or concentric lines

The lines converging towards a single point allow you to guide the eye towards the main subject. And If the fulcrum of the converging lines falls on the center of the photo or on one of the thirds, it will have even more success. Concentric or circular lines are also a good way to lead the eye to the focus of the image.

• Frames

Often, a geometry that frames the subject can help you focus attention on it, because it it makes it stand out and delimits it. Whether it’s a window, a door, or any other element, you will surely be able to create original and effective pics. So, look around and find something good to frame your shot. You will be surprised how many there may be: even a simple railing can be perfect!

5. Symmetries and series

Playing with the geometries and symmetries between the elements of the photo creates dynamic and beautiful images.
The series are given by identical elements that repeat themselves, such as the columns of a portico or of a church nave, a series of barrels in a cellar, the trunks of trees in a wood. In this case the contrasts of light and shadow can help you strengthen the series.

Symmetries, on the other hand, are given by shapes, geometries or elements that are mirrored symmetrically in the photo. They can easily be created with reflections: whether it’s thanks to a lake, a puddle, a shiny floor or a shop window, just place the line of symmetry in the center of the photo.
With this technique you can also create beautiful abstract photos, like the one below in black and white.

6. Depth of field

Another choice we can make is to emphasize our subject by making sure that it is in focus, while everything else will appear out of focus.
A technique widely used, lately, in the portrait mode of smartphones. In this case, in fact, just click on the main subject before the shot to immediately see how it will stand out compared to the rest of the scene.

This effect is given by the so-called depth of field, which strongly influences final shot.

If with the smartphone it is enough to select a specific shooting mode, let’s see briefly and without going into too much technical detail, how to change the depth of field with a camera.

The value we are interested in is f, which indicates the aperture. At low values (open aperture, f/2.8 for example), you will have a smaller depth of field: the subject will be in focus, while the other elements will be more blurred the further away from it.

On the other hand, to have a greater depth of field and the whole scene in focus, you will have to increase the f-value (closed aperture, for example f/11).

The aperture value to choose and the blur intensity will also depend on the distance between the different subjects and between the lens and the scene: to be clear, you will never be able to focus on a hill and blur the mountain behind it, if they are close to each other and far from you.

In fact, always in a simple but practical way, for the blur effect to work, the subject to be focused on must be close enough to you and far from the other elements to be blurred, as in the photo below, on the left. Or, conversely, far enough away from you, so that the blurred elements will be in the foreground, as in the photo on the right.

In fact, depth of field extends 1/3 in front of the point of focus and 2/3 behind it. Therefore, based on the choice of the subject in focus, you will obtain different blurs.

If you then combine it with the rule of thirds, you will have even better results!
For example, place the first subject in focus on one of the thirds and the second subject in the distance (out of focus) on the other third. You will have an image where the eye will be captured by the subject in the foreground and will immediately understand the depth of the space and the distance between the elements.

What are you waiting for?

You just have to practice to take wonderful pics with these settings!

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Knowing how to choose an interesting frame and compose an amazing photo it’s not so simple! Discover our photo tips to improve your shots in a professional way!

Often, photos taken with a low quality phone or with a beginner’s camera are much more exciting than those taken with advanced technologies. This is because the most important thing in a photograph is what it tells, the subject, the composition of the shot!

Photography is an expression of the author’s subjective creativity and it is therefore essential to train one’s eye to observe and know how to compose the image.

Not sure how to improve? Here are some simple tips to get great results from now!

1. What do you want to tell?

Random shoots will hardly allow you to get quality photos!

Observe the scene, ask yourself what really catches your eye and learn how to select the main subject and the rest of the elements you want to include. When we look at a photo, the eye starts from an element that stands out from the others and then moves on to the rest! Look for this subject and give it prominence!

To take more original and amazing photos, change your point of view, crouching down, or looking for a higher point.

Ask yourself questions like: what do I want to put in the foreground and what in the background? Do I have to get closer? Is it all interesting? Often what strikes us is a detail, which could get lost in a photo taken too far away: it will be better to get closer or use a zoom.

2. Pay attention to the edges!

The edges of our photos are very important, make sure there are no disturbing elements that you weren’t seeing, such as a trash can, the head of a passerby or some ugly bushes. In this case try to move around and look for a better frame, don’t focus only on the main subject.

So you will find that there are other interesting elements that perhaps you could include in the shot!

In the first image, below, there are disturbing elements (some trees and an electric pole), while in the second, changing the framing, these elements are eliminated and some trees on the left are more visible.

3. Less is more!

Don’t put too many elements in the shot that could cause confusion.

The eye focuses on a single subject first. Then look through the viewfinder or the screen: how many subjects did you include in the frame? Are there any useless, uninteresting things? Try to move, you will see that based on it, the chosen subject will stand out more or less in the photo.

For already taken shots, try cropping them with a simple photo editing app to understand if, with a different cut, they are more effective.

If you have a camera with lenses of different focal lengths, experiment with the same subject: the more you get used to observing and selecting, the easier it will be for you to recognize a good shot at a glance!

The following photos are taken at the same location. In the first, however, there are too many subjects and none is standing out, while in the second the attention shifts to a few elements and the point of view is lowered to the level of sand. The photo is much more exciting!

4. Leave space around the subject!

Unless it’s a portrait photo, where the subject’s cuts are often very narrow, try to leave enough space around the main element of the image.

So you won’t give the impression of sacrificing it. If, for example, we are talking about a mountain, as in the photo below, leave some space between the peak and the edge of the photo, to allow the eye to see it better.

If, on the other hand, you are only interested in one detail, make clean cuts!

5. How much land or sky?

Another important choice is where to place the horizon. This depends on which element is more interesting between sky and earth and what you want to tell.

If there are, for example, disturbing elements below, bushes or people that you want to eliminate, try to raise the frame, if there is a beautiful sky with interesting clouds, it is better to leave a wider space for them.

Instead, if the sky has a uniform color and the interesting thing are on the ground, leave it less space, but as mentioned in the previous point, do not reduce it too much!

As we will see with the rule of thirds, a balanced division of space is ⅓ dedicated to the sky and the rest to the earth, or vice versa.

6. Portrait or landscape? What aspect ratio is the best?

Shoot vertically or horizontally depending on the subject, the elements you want to include in the photo and the type of feeling you want to give.

For example, if you want to emphasize the height dimensions, you’ll use a portrait format. If you want to capture a natural landscape or in any case the context in which the subject is found, you may prefer a horizontal format.

The choice of the aspect ratio depends on the use we want to make of our photo: for an instagram story we use the 16:9, which can be selected in the settings of each smartphone or camera; for instagram posts the best ones are 4:5 for the portraits and 5:4 for the landscapes, or the square format 1:1.
This way, you won’t have white borders around the photo and you won’t have to crop it when publishing.
Also because, if the framing is studied and thought out, it will be difficult to cut it!

The most common formats for cameras and printing are 2:3 or 3:2.

Our last tip!

Be careful when using the smartphone zoom: unless in the very expensive models, the zoom will cause the image to lose a lot of quality and make it almost unusable, grainy or with altered colors.

Therefore, consider the possibility of getting closer to minimize the zoom or change framing, perhaps inserting other elements in the composition and making that detail part of a larger story!

And now what are you waiting for? Try to put these simple tips into practice and let yourself be amazed by how much your photos will improve!!

In the next article we will talk about other techniques and tricks to improve your photos even more and in particular we will focus on lines! To not miss the next article and all the other travel and photography tips, subscribe to our newsletter !

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