IF YOUR camera doesn’t have a grid display, you can use the AF point array in the viewfinder as a rudimentary guide to positioning the main subject and making sure that lines in the images that should be straight, are. By lining up the horizon with the top or bottom of a row of AF points, you can be confident that you won’t have to do that much in the way of corrections later on. The placement of the off-centre AF points can be used as an equally rough and ready guide to subject placement.
It’s worth framing a little wider to give yourself more options when it comes to tidying up the framing during the edit. If you fancy doing a 1:1 crop later, for example, you’ll lose a fair amount from the width of an original 3:2 image. Giving yourself a little more room to play with when you shoot means that you can be more confident that you won’t end up trimming the subject awkwardly. Lens corrections, particularly with ultra-wide lenses, can also force details at the edge of the picture to be lost, which is something to consider when you’re framing up.