Compositional elements are the fundamental units of any photograph. And the deliberate arrangement of these elements is what separates a good image from a commonplace snapshot.
Though there are numerous other elements, every photographer should familiarise themselves with these seven basic elements of composition.
Understanding the effects of each element and how they relate to one another will help improve your photography for the long run. It will also give you a better comprehension of the different composition techniques and concepts and how to apply them to your photography.
1. Lines
Lines, or leading lines, draw your eyes to specific points of interest or help your eyes navigate a scene. They can be found everywhere—along a road, a mountain ridge, or the arm of a person, for instance.
Lines give structure to your image by connecting two different elements in your photograph.
Photographers like to use leading lines to guide the viewers’ eyes from the foreground to the background. They add visual interest and depth to an otherwise flat image.
At times, lines can be imaginary. For example, an imaginary line can be instilled when two people talk or look at each other. This connection guides your eyes across the image and directs your attention from one subject to the next.
2. Shape
Shape is an element that helps immerse your viewer into your photograph. They can be organic, like a person or an animal, or man-made, like a building or statue.
Each shape has its significance and emotional impact on an image, and we mustn't generalise them:
A circle may communicate unison or closure
A square may express balance, peace, and harmony
A triangle may evoke energy and vibrance
Some shapes in a scene may not be obvious—like the curvature of a cloud or the circumference of a lake.
You can also use shapes to draw attention to a subject.
A popular, slightly advanced composition technique among photographers is called “frame within a frame”. You can shoot through a natural or man-made frame, like a tree branch or a window frame, to emphasise a subject and add more depth to your images.
3. Form
Unlike shape, form has an additional three-dimensional element to it.
Form is determined by the quality and direction of the light source on a shape or subject and how you position your camera relative to that light source. The essential component to creating the three-dimensional look is by ensuring your image has tonal range.
I’ll talk more about tones later on in the article (point 6). But, very briefly, tonal range is the range of luminance values within an image from complete white to complete black.
And typically, to elicit tonal range, you have to angle the light source to the side of your subject to create the highlights and shadows needed to express form.
(For a photographic comparison between shape and form, check out this article here.)
4. Texture
You know when you see the smooth surface of a rock or the rough edges of a tree bark—that’s texture. It brings a perceptible touch to your image and a sense of realism.
Depending on the type of mood you’re going for, you may want to add or remove texture.
For instance, the smooth, silky texture of long-exposed waves may express serenity. In contrast, the jagged contours of a mountain range may convey power and grandeur.
You’ll want to pay attention to texture and what you want to communicate with it.
Because if there's too much unnecessary texture, it can be distracting, making the overall image appear overly complicated. By paying attention to the placement of texture within the frame, texture can add dimension and weight to your image.
5. Space
The number of elements and subjects within a frame and how they occupy the space can evoke different moods and emotions.
Imagine a crowded business district. Various activities are occurring in one location.
What do you want to convey? Is there a particular element that speaks to you?
Do you want to illustrate the overall busyness and urgency by filling the frame with people rushing to work? Or do you want to isolate a single subject's expression by leaving room for negative space around the subject?
The ratio, proportion, and arrangement of subjects in relation to their space will determine the emotion you want to convey to your viewers.
6. Tone
Tones are easily forgotten, but a crucial element of composition in photography.
Tones relate to the brightness and darkness of an image from complete white to complete black. Brighter regions of a photo tend to attract the eyes first, whereas darker regions obscure subjects in your image.
They're another element that guides the eyes through a photograph.
The tonal range between the different luminance values within an image will also determine its degree of contrast:
Highly contrasted images will have more values peaking at the ends of the luminance spectrum. Areas with high contrast are more eye-catching because of the juxtaposition between light and dark.
Images with low contrast will have more luminance values that are evenly spread out across the spectrum. These images are calmer and more balanced compared to highly contrasted images.
While in the field and in post-production, give special attention to the tones in your image as much as possible. They do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to contrast and the flow and emotions within an image.
7. Colour
Lastly, we have colour. A broad topic in itself, colour theory is incredibly complex and diverse. With editing software like Adobe Lightroom and Capture One, they give photographers the flexibility to influence colours in countless ways.
For each colour, there are three variables to take note of:
Hue: the type of colour
Saturation: the intensity of the colour
Luminance: the brightness of the colour
In post-production, you can manipulate the values of these three variables to determine the visual weight of each colour.
Moreover, you’ll want to consider the relationships between colours in your image. Although there are many nuances in colour, you can start with these three colour principles:
Complementary colours are opposites on the colour wheel, like orange and teal, red and green, and yellow and violet. They tend to be warm-cool colours that add a nice contrast to your image.
Analogous colours sit next to one another on the colour wheel and share a similar, dominant colour. Like the yellow and green colours you see in fields, these colours unify an image because of their shared properties.
Monochromatic colours refer to a single hue with differences in luminance values. The apparent presence of a single colour gives your image a particular mood—with warm colours inspiring joy and excitement, while cool colours may express calm or solitude.
Thinking about the significance of each colour and its relation to other colours will help elicit emotions in your image, without it becoming too overwhelming.
(You can use this colour wheel calculator by Canva to play around with the various colour combinations.)
Mastering the elements
Now that you’ve understood the basic compositional elements, you’re in a much better position to craft a decisive composition and arrange the elements to your liking.
Sure, it takes time to grasp all the elements, and there’s certainly a lot more to talk about for each element we had discussed.
But combining your new knowledge about elements with some composition techniques, you’re well on your way to becoming a better photographer and visual storyteller.
About the author: Darius Tay is a photographer/visual storyteller who loves capturing meaningful moments and uses photography to tell stories and find beauty in everyday life. If you would like to leave a comment or engage him, feel free to email him at dariustay5@gmail.com.
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