Photo CompositionWhat makes a good photograph?

A photograph is a message. It conveys a statement or an emotion. How do you do

this in a clear, concise, and effective way?

Good photography… First you need a subject… a person, an

object, or an abstract form in the foreground.

Second, a context orbackground

Good Photography… The context gives the subject relevance,

presence, location, or other interest. It is the combination of the two elements -

subject and context, foreground and background - that tells the message.

The Rule of Thirds…Or Not? Using the Rule of Thirds helps produce nicely

balanced easy on the eye pictures.

Imaginary lines are drawn dividing the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You place important elements of your composition where these lines intersect.

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Ansel Adams

Themba Hadebe

Annie Leibovitz

Some Famous Pictures

“Grace” by Eric Enstrom, 1918

“Lunch atop a skyscraper” by Charles C. Ebetts, 1932

Raising the flag at Ground Zero, by Thomas E. Franklin, 2001

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal, 1945

Life Magazine 100 Photographs that changed the world