Image composition
how to take a well‑composed digital photo,
to describe the process in English.
Answer the introductory questions.
What is the composition of the picture?
What is the difference between the creation of digital image, compositions and art compositions?
What is the principle of creating a well‑composed digital image?
Prior to the lesson prepare several photos that you took on your own. Then, looking at the pictures, answer the following questions:
Do you know exactly what the picture presents?
Is the picture in a good order or maybe chaotic?
Are all the elements in the picture visible?
What photographs do you take most often?
In what arrangement do you take photographs most often?
Are there any additional elements in your photo? So‑called pictures in the pictures? Any photo bomber?
Are all your pictures clear and sharp?
Are there any areas in your photo which are significantly over- or under‑exposed?
Try to determine the lines along which the photographed objects are arranged.
Watch the slide show and then read the following text carefully. Then make a poster resembling a photo, putting on it, in the right places descriptions of the rules of good composition. Be creative!
![](https://static.zpe.gov.pl/portal/f/res-minimized/R1KasbwbH0xpm/1/AbdN060lOxfBZDv4pLSvUYflONkc98Ks.png)
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To take a good photo it is not enough to have a good camera. Professional photographers sometimes devote many hours to take one good photo. It is not enough to press the shutter button to achieve a good effect visible later in the picture. Remember that everything we see in the lens will be recorded exactly as we crop it. Before we press the shutter button, let's look carefully at what we can see in the viewfinder or on the camera's display. Look not only at the foreground but also at the background of the picture. Make sure the picture is sharp and clear.
Most often when we reach for the camera, we look at the camera display and quickly press the button when the subject is in the center of the frame. It turns out, however, that the centre of the frame is neither the only, nor the most appropriate place to place the object in. We take pictures to capture moments and look at them in the future. We want the person watching the photo to pay attention to the elements in the picture. The first glance usually is caught by the so‑called strong pointsstrong points.
A strong point is the point of intersection of lines characteristic for a given composition. An object placed at such a point will be noticed the fastest by the viewer. The use of two or more strong points allows you to get a clear photo with a harmonious composition. In addition to strong points, it is also important to use strong linesstrong lines of the frame. In professional photographs they are the most important lines on which there is located, e.g. a building, a tree, a horizon line by the sea, or a line connecting people in the picture. Strong frame lines are lines passing through strong points of the image.
To determine the strong pointsstrong points of the composition, it is the easiest to divide the image both vertically and horizontally into 3 equal parts. In this way, a system is created that divides the frame into nine parts. At the intersection of the lines, strong points were created, and the lines themselves are strong linesstrong lines of the image. This rule works almost always with every type of photography. In many cameras, you can display the auxiliary geometric grid on the display when you take a picture. It is a rule of thirdsrule of thirds grid with strong pointsstrong points and lines marked. Applying the rule of thirds sometimes creates a photo that looks a bit artificial because even division of the photo does not always look good. However, this form of organization of the photo should be treated as a starting point for more advanced photography.
There are also other geometric forms that organize the image captured in the photograph. Among them there are:
rule of thirdsrule of thirds,
golden ratio,
central division,
diagonal division,
golden triangle,
golden spiral.
![](https://static.zpe.gov.pl/portal/f/res-minimized/R6ZaoXzuMbvjR/1/2fBjxuftGH3CUw4kfB1m0WeeXjnYz5Jt.png)
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Let us note another division of the composition: open and closed.
In the open compositionopen composition, the photograph shows only a fragment of a larger picture. When viewing a photo, we only see a fragment, and the rest must be imagined. In the closed compositionclosed composition, the entire photographed object is in the picture.
When taking a photo, we have to make one more decision. Do we want to take a picture vertically, or maybe we want to have a square composition. Most often, the photographed objects themselves tell us which format to choose. The advantage of vertical lines in our frame, e.g. a photo of a tower, will make us take a picture vertically. The advantage of horizontal lines, e.g. a photo from a holiday stay on the beach and a visible sea line will fit perfectly into a horizontal framehorizontal frame. It is believed that the horizontal frame „calms” the image while the vertical framevertical frame adds dynamics. A square framesquare frame is often called a neutral or balanced frame.
When taking pictures, remember about image compositionimage composition.
Strive for the picture to have one main point, on which the viewer's attention will focus.
Avoid lines that cut off a part of the image.
Try to create asymmetrical compositions, but at the same time, balanced ones.
Use the three thirds rule. Avoid chaos in the pictures.
Strive for the simplicity of the shot. Every unnecessary element distracts the viewer's attention.
Exercises
Determine which sentences are true.
- In order to take a good photo, you must adhere to the rule of thirds
- There is a horizontal, vertical and square frame (central)
- To take a good photo, prepare a tripod and think about the composition of the picture beforehand
- A photo, in which photographed people occupy the bottom half of the photograph and the top part of the photograph is the sky, is taken in accordance with the art of image composition
- The picture in which the person in the middle is visible and occupies very little space, and the forest can be seen around is a photo made in accordance with the art of arts composition
- A good photo has only got a horizontal frame
Describe in English what a well‑composed image is.
Indicate which pairs of expressions or words are translated correctly.
- kompozycja obrazu - image composition
- złoty podział - golden ratio
- trójpodział - rule of thirds
- mocne punkty - strong lines
- mocne linie - strong points
- image composition
- kompozycja obrazu
- mocne punkty
- strong points
- mocne linie
- rule of thirds
- złoty podział
- trójpodział
- strong lines
- golden ratio
Glossary
kompozycja zamknięta
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wymowa w języku angielskim: closed composition
złoty podział
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wymowa w języku angielskim: golden ratio
kadr poziomy
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wymowa w języku angielskim: horizontal frame
kompozycja obrazu
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wymowa w języku angielskim: image composition
kompozycja otwarta
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wymowa w języku angielskim: open composition
trójpodział
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wymowa w języku angielskim: rule of thirds
kadr kwadratowy
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wymowa w języku angielskim: square frame
mocne linie
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wymowa w języku angielskim: strong lines
mocne punkty
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wymowa w języku angielskim: strong points
kadr pionowy
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wymowa w języku angielskim: vertical frame
Keywords
golden ratiogolden ratio
image compositionimage composition
rule of thirdsrule of thirds
strong linesstrong lines
strong pointsstrong points