Teaching Wednesday - Composition Tips and Things that Change What We See - Simple Photography Tips by Michael Blyth

Five simple composition tips on how composition changes what the viewer is allowed to see.

1. Notice what is blocking the view

2. Use the gate as an anchor

3. Let the trees make a natural frame

4. Move slightly and watch the picture change

5. Decide what the photograph is really about

Ok, so out walking one of my favourite walks, with some puppy training thrown in.

The light and the angles and the clarity to the hills of Martin Down in Wiltshire, UK, called for some time spent looking and sharing some thoughts about the composition tips and the effects of foreground on the background.

Here are four images that serve usefully, in no particular order of right or wrong.

Image One - view blocked by the branch

Image One - a simple and gentle image, with the gate hanging around on the lower and left third, with the meadow leading the eye to the hills and woods in the distance. The problem is that the hazel branch partially blocks the view - which is a shame, as the balance otherwise is pretty good.

Image Two - view blocked by the gate

Image Two, I've gone to a bit of an extreme in dropping low, the gate now takes up the ecnter of the frame, albeit slightly skewed left in the frame.

The problem is now that the gate almost completely blocks the view beyond. Notice how the meadow does no leading of the eye and the hills are peering through the gate, rather than being clear.

The gate is now the object, rather than a balance in the image, and frankly who wants a metal gate in the scene.

Image Three - dark foreground and trees

Image Three - has the gate much less dominant, the branches are just about clear of the hills, but the foreground is maybe too dark and dominant.

But note how the path is visible through the vegetation, leading the eye to the gate and beyond.

It would have been a good call to partly open the gate and let the eye go through.

Image Four - the distance and the sky are visible

Image Four - has once again got the gate pretty much central, but low enough to allow the hills to show, and the branches are high enough to show the sky.

Again the foreground is visible, and the path leads to the gate.

Which is right, best or whatever you want to call it, depends on what you're after.

Perhaps the best 'learn' here is to spend some time looking at each image, giving it 'visual cortex time' and see which appeals the most to you, notice new things, little details that favour the image.

Maybe ther's no resolution as to which is best, but the benefits of looking, and absorbing details, and blockages, and light, will be valuable in your own image production.

Is it about the gate? The view beyond? The feeling of being hidden in the shade looking out into the light? Once you decide that, the composition becomes clearer. You are no longer simply taking a picture of what is there. You are choosing what matters.

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The Wednesday posts are practical, simple and intended to help you make better photographs with whatever camera you already have, including the phone in your pocket.

And if you are ready for a little more involvement, I am beginning a small, more active space for people who want to move beyond simply reading tips and start putting them into practice.

It will be encouraging and practical: regular prompts, simple suggestions, the chance to share what you are making, and a way of learning to see more clearly alongside a small group of like-minded others.

You do not need to be advanced. You do not need impressive equipment. You only need the desire to get better, and the willingness to look a little more carefully.

If that sounds like something you would enjoy being part of, please get in touch.