Most beginning photographers, and almost all Iphone photographers do the same exact thing. They place their subject right in the middle of the picture frame. For many situations this is where you want you subject to be.
But you can often make a boring photo different by moving that subject off center. I am not going to get into much about the rule of thirds in this post. I am just going to show some pictures and give you a few tips.
You have to remember, photography is art. I personally think the Mona Lisa is a lousy painting, but millions love it. So what I like in a photo, someone else may or may not like. You have to find what works for you.
One of the biggest mistakes photographers make is not getting eye level with their subject. When often stand up looking down at children. Its best to get low. At least eye level with your subject. Sometimes I even get lower and shoot up at my subject. This give your photo a more dramatic appearance. Especially when shooting sports. By shooting up at your subject it makes them appear larger.
The other thing is to put you subject off center. It helps to make things a little different.
I was trying to get the beautiful blue sky in the background, but because the sun was behind her I could not properly expose her and the sky since she was back light. So I converted the picture to black and white. Personally it is one of my favorite photos of her.
This picture is of my son Joshua on his first day of high school. Yes, I am the Dad that embarrasses his kids by always taking pictures. But everyone is used to it now so I don't think anyone even noticed I had my camera that day.
But the message I was trying to send was that he is big and walking into a new phase of his life where he doesn't need his Dad like he once did. Notice once again he is slightly off center. With moving subjects it gives a nice effect when they have room to move in the frame.
You want your subject to have the most room in the frame in the direction they are traveling. The picture below you will see that most of my subjects body is on the right side of the frame. He is running to the left. It gives you image almost a sense of motion. If I had him all the way to the left side of the frame it kills the picture because he has nowhere to run.
Obviously in the picture below my primary subject is the pitcher. I already had a ton of action shots of him dead center in the frame and I was looking for something different. I like this one because your eyes are drawn to the pitcher since he is the only thing in focus. But you still are able to tell their is a batter and umpire in the frame.
Contrary to what anyone says their are no hard fast composition rules in photography. Its all about capturing an image that you love. But if you mix things up, you just might find that by doing things a little bit different, you will love the end result.
When I started, every single picture I took was dead center in the frame. It was actually by accident that I noticed at times my subjects were not centered and I loved the pictures. That is not to say I do not shoot with my subject in the middle of the frame. Probably 80-90 percent of my photographs are perfectly (well as close as I can get it to perfect) center. But the ones I like the most are usually the ones that are a little bit different.
The best way for you to learn to do this is simply by shooting. Next time you are out, shoot your subject the way you normally do. And then shoot a few pictures putting you subject in different positions in the frame and see what you like. Also try the same shots from a lower position or even a higher position. You just might find a whole new world of photography.
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