Start with the story. Composition is the practice of arranging elements so the viewer immediately understands what matters. In travel, the story might be scale—a lone hiker beneath vast cliffs. In makeup, it might be detail—how eyeliner wings echo the angle of a cheekbone. Before raising the camera, decide what your photo is about and remove anything that competes with that idea.
1) Establish a clean frame
Scan the edges of your viewfinder. Stray poles, elbows, or bright blobs near the border pull attention. Reposition or zoom slightly until the frame feels intentional. A one-inch shift can save an hour of retouching.
2) Use visual weight
Bright, high-contrast, or saturated areas feel heavier. Skin highlights, neon signs, or sparkling water will dominate unless you balance them with equally strong subjects or reduce their intensity with angle and light.
3) Direct the eye
Lines and shapes become arrows. Roads, shorelines, hair strands, or eyeliner flicks can guide the gaze toward the focal point. Break a line on purpose and it becomes punctuation—useful for surprise.
Work the scene. Don’t settle for the first angle. Move your feet: try low and close for foreground drama in landscapes, or slightly above eye level for flattering portraits. Watch how expressions and micro-gestures change rhythm; the best composition often appears two seconds after the “safe” shot. If a location is chaotic, simplify: choose a single wall color, turn the subject away from cluttered shelves, or shoot into open sky.
- Travel: anchor the frame with a nearby object (rock, sign, window) to add depth.
- Makeup: leave negative space on the side your subject is looking to create calm.
- Both: step back and crop later if you’re missing fingers or cutting off the chin.
Edit with composition in mind. Cropping is your second chance—straighten horizons, push subjects to a third, and remove slivers at the edges that cause tension. A tiny rotation or a 5% crop can transform balance without changing the essence of the shot.