Canon® PowerShot G11 Digital Field Guide

Appendix A. Rules of Composition

By this time, I sincerely hope you have learned a little about photography in general and your Canon PowerShot G11 in particular. Ideally, you have now learned how to begin photographing your subjects and scenes in new and more visually interesting ways. You can now turn your attention to the rules of composition. Granted, rules is a pretty strong word for creative types to mess with, so I prefer to think of them simply as visual guidelines for more well-constructed images.

At first, these concepts might seem strange and uncomfortable, like holding your camera a different way or composing scenes through a new lens, and you may struggle a bit with applying these rules to your kind of photography. Just know that these are the foundations your best shots are built upon, and a working knowledge of them is essential to creating more dynamic, compelling images.

I consider these concepts as tools and techniques I turn to when a situation or location is not working or has been exhausted photographically. Mentally going through the list of ideas presented here can often yield new ways of looking at things such as camera angles, lens choices, and the like.

Keep It Simple

Keeping your compositions simple is probably the easiest yet most important rule in creating powerful, memorable images. In today's image-rich world, you have a very limited time to gain your viewer's attention.

We are bombarded by images more and more every day for myriad reasons: to sell us products, ...