composition | columbus, ohio newborn photographer

When I’m sitting at my computer editing, I often wonder if clients truly get why I took a photo.   Specifically how I composed it.  Like, are they sitting there going this chick can’t keep us in the center of the photo to save her life….or why can’t she hold the camera straight….well, if I’m going to be honest….I can’t hold a camera straight.  Nine out of 10 images I take I have to straighten because I can’t keep a horizon line straight to save my life.  

I digress.  

How you place a subject within the frame of your camera is essentially how you compose it.  Composition is a component of style.  Style is…hopefully…why you hire one photographer over another.  There are “rules” to composition.  One of the most well known is the rule of thirds.  

According to the Digital Photography School…

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

Every rule is made to be broken, though.  Sometimes things just look really cool centered…sometimes I’m just concerned with capturing the raw emotion of the moment…sometimes other elements of a photograph have more influence.  Style should evolve over time, too.  Since composition is a part of style, a photographer’s favorite way to place a subject should evolve over time, too.  

So that was incredibly boring.  My point is that I’m not just putting you off center because I think I’m being all cool…because I know I’m cool naturally ;)….its more because your eye isn’t usually drawn to the center of the photograph.

A little side note about this little guy’s daddy.  He asked me some of the funniest questions during this shoot.  It left me chuckling on my way home.