Richard I’Anson talks about composition

Rooftops of Old Town, Lijiang, China 35mm SLR, 24-70mm lens, 1/125 f11, Ektachrome E100VS (Richard I'Anson)

Composition is a creative act that allows you to encapsulate in a single frame the subject matter that you think is worth photographing in a way that is pleasing to the eye. Experience and practice will teach you how to create striking compositions quickly; along the way you’ll develop your own preferences and style.

All compositions are the direct result of a series of decisions that only you can make regarding point of interest, choice of lens (or the focal length set on a zoom lens), camera viewpoint, content and orientation.

Elephant Festival, Jaipur. The handler’s focus of attention becomes the point of interest in the image, as our eye is drawn to his activity. 35mm SLR, 24-70mm lens, 1/125 f5.6, Ektachrome E100VS (Richard I'Anson)

Point of interest

The very first thing to consider is the subject – what is it and why are you taking a photo of it? Successful images have a point of interest: the key element around which the composition is based and which draws and holds the viewer’s attention. It’s probably the thing that caught your eye in the first place.

• Always focus on the point of interest. If something else is the sharpest part of the composition, the viewer’s eye will rest in the wrong place.
• Aim to place the point of interest away from the centre of the frame because centering the subject often makes for a static composition.
• Avoid including other elements that conflict with the main subject. Look at the space around and behind your subject and make sure nothing overpowers it in colour, shape or size.

Rule of Thirds

As you think about where to place the point of interest, keep in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ that has traditionally been the starting point for successful composition. As you look through your viewfinder or study the LCD screen, imagine two vertical and two horizontal lines spaced evenly, creating a grid of nine rectangular boxes. Try placing the point of interest on or near the points where the lines intersect.

If you’re taking a portrait, the subject is the person’s face and the point of interest would be their eyes. In a landscape the point of interest may be a boat floating on a lake; place the boat on one of the intersections and also position the horizon near one of the horizontal lines.

By following the rule of thirds and positioning the pink church tower away from the centre, the eye is forced to scan the image and is then lead naturally to the tower by the sweeping black curve of the street, which is completely in shadow. 35mm SLR, 70-200mm lens, 1/60 f11, Ektachrome E100VS, tripod (Richard I'Anson)

Depth of Field

Depth of field refers to the area of a photograph, in front of and behind the point of focus, that is considered acceptably sharp. It is controlled by the aperture and is one of the most important creative controls available to the photographer. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field, and vice versa. An aperture of f16 will give maximum depth of field, while f2 will give minimum depth of field. For general photography use f8 or f11 as your standard aperture setting. These apertures will generally allow you to use a shutter speed of around 1/125, give enough depth of field for most shots and even give you some latitude against inaccurate focusing.

When you look through the viewfinder of a DSLR you’re seeing the scene through the lens at its widest aperture, or ‘wide open’. This allows you to focus and compose through a bright viewfinder. The lens doesn’t ‘stop down’ to the selected aperture until the shutter is released. As a result, you’ll see your composition with very little depth of field. If your camera has a depth-of-field or preview button, you can get an idea of what will be in focus at any chosen aperture by manually stopping down the lens before taking the shot.

Select an element of the image that appears out of focus and watch it come into focus as you stop down from f4 to f5.6 to f8. With each stop the viewfinder will get darker, but as you practise this technique the usefulness of controlling depth of fi eld will soon become apparent.

In practice you’ll find that at the same f-stop, shorter focal length lenses, such as 24mm or 35mm, will have greater apparent depth of field than telephoto lenses of 135mm or 200mm. The further away your subject is, the greater the apparent depth of field. Move in close and the depth of field will appear minimal. So, maximum apparent depth of field can be achieved by focusing on a subject over 50m away and using a wide-angle lens at an aperture of f16. Apparent depth of field will be minimised by focusing on a subject under 5m away and using a telephoto lens at an aperture of f2.

Achieving shallow depth of field with compact digitals is not really possible. The small 7mm to 30mm focal length lenses typically used deliver a much greater depth of field compared with the much longer focal length lenses used on full-frame sensor cameras. A compact camera with a 1/1.8 inch sensor shooting at an aperture of f2.8 will produce an image with a depth of fi eld equivalent of f13 if the same image was shot on a fullframe sensor.

Prayer wheels, Tawang, India This sequence clearly shows the dramatic effect the aperture has on the depth of field. (Left) DSLR, 24-70mm lens at 70mm, 1/3200 f2.8, raw, ISO 100 (Middle) DSLR, 24-70mm lens at 70mm, 1/400 f8, raw, ISO 100 (Right) DSLR, 24-70mm lens at 70mm, 1/100 f16, raw, ISO 100 (Richard I'Anson)

Find out what gear is in Lonely Planet photographer Tony Burns‘ bag.

Think you’ve got what it takes to be a Lonely Planet photographer? Find out here.

Get the right equipment for the job – the best cameras are discussed here.