There are a few lucky people who have a ‘natural eye’ for a picture –but for the rest of us, composition is a skill that has to be learned. The good news is that your compositional ability will improve quickly as you gain experience, and the process will soon become instinctive. In the meantime, however, there are a number of ‘rules’ we can follow to help us get to grips with effective composition. Of course, as with all rules, they are best applied judiciously.
1
The rule of thirds
The basic goal of a composition is to achieve a balance between the elements in the frame. One tried-and-tested method of doing this is to arrange those elements according to the rule of thirds. Imagine a grid overlaying your viewfinder, dividing it into thirds horizontally and vertically.