This is a presentation deck used to help educate new photographers on the rules of composition and key aspects of composition that will help create more dynamic and dramatic images.

1. Lines, pattern, angles and more
Ken Ross
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2.  Color & Contrast
 Rule of Thirds
 Leading Lines
 Balance & Rhythm
 Repeating Patterns
 Camera Angle
Digital Photography 101 2

3.  Our eye is drawn to visual elements in a
predictable way
 High contrast areas (black dot on white paper)
 Bright areas (blown out sky)
 Warm colors
 Cool colors
 Dark areas and shadows (not black)
 Our eyes skip over total black without detail
 We [in Western culture] experience media from
left to right
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Here your eye has a hard time
following the tracks – you keep getting
pulled to the dark bit on the left.
Our subject here is the rock
face but our eye keeps
getting pulled to the
uninteresting bright sky.

5.  Color caries a lot of weight in a composition
and a little bit goes a long way…
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Remember – warm colors
(red) are “stronger” than
cool colors (blue). Here the
small red barn balances the
larger blue sky.
Like red, yellow is a very
dominant color and here it
completely overwhelms the
rest of the scene.

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Red Jacket Inn Wedding Photography

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Red Jacket Inn Wedding Photography
The “Mariana Flip”

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10.  The Rule of Thirds comes to us from the 18th
century; John Thomas Smith
 1797 book Remarks on Rural Scenery
 “Use of thirds within the composition allows
you to break up an image into primary and
subservient elements, either physically or by
light, shadow or color…”
 Similar, but not related to, the Golden Ratio or
Phi Grid
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Phi Grid Rule of Thirds

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The land/horizon is placed in the
bottom 1/3 to emphasize the
interesting sky.
Here we want to
emphasize the rocks
so we only give a
3rd to the sky.
Never (ever) put
your horizon dead
center of your
frame!
Centering the flower really isn’t very
interesting.
Moving the center of the flower to one of the
“power points” creates a much stronger image!

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Leading lines pull you to the subject. Leading line + repetition = great rhythm
Leading lines should always flow from
left to right to naturally guide the eye

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23.  For moving objects, try to frame them so that
the “negative space” gives the subject
somewhere to go
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Good: the horses have
someplace to go.
Bad: unless they’re backing up
they have no place to go and
space on the left is wasted.

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25.  Identify your subject and isolate them from the
background
 When framing your shot, pay attention to the background and
shift yourself if necessary!
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The flower bed cuts through
the baby’s head 
By changing your angle we
get rid of the distraction 

26.  High angle shooting low – the ground becomes
the background and the viewer is “elevated”
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27.  Flat angle – background is immediately behind
the subject who is presented as a “peer”
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28.  Low angle – background is now behind and
above the subject who the view looks “up” to
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29.  Low angle – a slight shift to the side presents a
whole different story, our “hero” shot
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30.  Explore different angles to control the
background, and the story, you want to present
 Don’t settle for just one angle on your subject!
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 Lens choice can be used to enhance or detract
from an image; choose wisely
28mm

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 Lens choice can be used to enhance or detract
from an image; choose wisely
38mm

33.  Ken Ross
 www.KennethRossPhotography.com
 ken@KennethRossPhotography.com
 www.F2PhotoSchool.com
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