With these 15 composition tips, you can learn to tell your brand's story in a stronger way using photography. With all that's technically possible now, these tips are going to help you focus fully on your crativity as a photographer.

There are no rules

Are there any rules for taking good photos? Not really. If you have a little eye for composition and a sense of momentum (timing), you will soon come a long way. A good look around and an eye for detail can also help. In the end, a "good" photo is always determined by many more factors than composition alone. But if you often think that your photos are missing something extra and you wonder where you should start to change this, you might want to read these 15 composition tips.

Timing and frame are key compositional elements in a photograph. I took this street photograph in Los Angeles in 2010. The lady in the scene did not stay in this spot much longer than 1/250th second.

I must confess that it took me quite some effort to find a suitable photo for each tip. Not only because I've already made so many, but mainly because for me most of the composition rules are far down in my subconscious and I don't really think about which rule I want to apply anymore, just like, say, while riding a bike or driving a car.

You don't need a complicated camera to learn more about photography. In the blog post "Photographer Without a Camera," I wrote about the benefits of a smartphone, editing your photos yourself and the apps you can use to do so.

Composition

Photography is almost all about composition. What about technique? Counts too, but composition is more important. Composition, in a nutshell, refers to how the various elements in a scene are arranged.

Many of these composition tips, by the way, have been used in art for hundreds of years, and they can really help create better and more impressive compositions. You can also use several composition techniques interchangeably in the process. Let's start with "Rule of Thirds," one of the most effective composition tips that will take your photos to the next level.

"Rule of Thirds" 1.

Rule of Thirds is one of the best methods to make your photos more dynamic and attractive and immediately 1 of my 3 favorites. This rule is very simple and immediately applicable. You divide your shooting screen into 9 equal rectangles, 3 across and 3 down, as illustrated below. By the way, many camera manufacturers have long offered the ability to display this grid on your screen. Dive into the settings of your camera or app and you can usually choose from several types of grid views.

Interface of the iPhone App Halide. Grid view with 9 equal rectangles.

The idea is to place the main element or elements of the scene (shot) along one or more of the lines or where the lines intersect. We have a natural tendency to want to place the main subject in the center. Placing the main subject off center using the Rule of Thirds will more often than not result in a more attractive composition.

These 2 Rule of Thirds examples both illustrate that working with a grid can lead to a more dynamic composition .

2. Centered and symmetry

There are also times when placing a subject in the center of your frame works very well. Symmetrical scenes are perfect for a centered composition. They also look very good in square frames.

Scenes with reflection are also a good opportunity to use symmetry in your composition. In this photo, I actually used a mix of the rule of thirds and symmetry to compose the photo. Often you can combine several composition guidelines in one photo.

3. Use a foreground for more depth

The presence of objects in the foreground in a scene adds a sense of depth to the scene in a great way. Photographs are 2D by nature. Including a clear foreground in the frame is one technique for giving a scene a 3D feel.

In this case, in this photo taken along the coast in northern Denmark, the spent dandelions act as a foreground and give the photo more depth. I also choose a low vantage point here to give a different perspective to the image.

4. Frame in frame

Another effective way to capture the depth of a scene is to include a "frame within frame. Look for elements such as windows, arches or overhanging branches to frame the scene. The frame does not necessarily have to surround the entire scene to be effective.

In this shot on Java Island in Amsterdam, I make use of the dark corridor under the houses and a little symmetry in the background. Converting the photo to black and white enhances the depth effect more.

Using a 'frame in frame ' gives you a good opportunity to use your surroundings effectively and to be creative with your composition.

5. Line play

A line pattern helps guide the viewer through the image and draw attention to important elements. Anything from paths, walls, roads or patterns can serve as a guide. Check out the example from this evening shot from Berlin below.

Main lines do not necessarily all have to be straight, as this illustration shows. In fact, curved lines can also be very attractive compositional features. In this case, the path leads the viewer from left to right. I also used the rule of thirds when taking this picture.

In this photograph in downtown Los Angeles, I use the ascending sloping lines of the buildings as a kind of hold for the viewer.

6. Patterns and textures

People are naturally attracted to patterns. They are visually appealing and suggest harmony. Patterns can be man-made like a series of arcs or natural like the petals on a flower. Incorporating patterns into your photographs is always a good way to create a pleasing composition. Less regular textures can also be very pleasing to the eye. As in this photo of an ascending cobblestone street in southern France.

7. "Rule of Odds."

Rule of Odds, or the "principle of oddness," suggests that an image is more visually appealing when there are an odd number of subjects. The theory states that an even number of elements in a scene is distracting because the viewer is not sure which elements to focus his or her attention on. An odd number of elements is seen as more natural and easier on the eye. I think there are plenty of cases where this is not the case, but this principle certainly applies in certain situations. For example, in this photograph taken along the Thames in London.

8. Fill the frame

Filling a frame with your subject, leaving little or no space around the frame, can be very effective in certain situations. It helps the viewer focus completely on the main subject without distractions. It also allows the viewer to explore details of the subject that would not be possible if photographed from further away. When filling the frame, you often get so close to the subject that you can crop out elements of the subject. In many cases, this can lead to a very original and interesting composition.

Close up of 2 photo models during a professional fitness photo shoot at a Reformer Pilates club in Amsterdam.

9. Negative space

In the previous guideline, I told you that frame filling works well as a compositional tool. Now I'm going to tell you that the exact opposite works well. In fact, leaving a lot of empty or "negative" space around your subject can be very attractive. It's my 2nd favorite. It creates a sense of simplicity and minimalism. As with filling the frame, it helps the viewer focus, without being distracted, on the main subject.

This photo from Italy is a good example of using negative space. The girl is clearly the main subject, but I have left a lot of space, filled only with the wall around her. This focuses attention on the image itself and gives the frame "room to breathe.

10. Minimalism

In the 9th guideline, we saw how giving negative space around the main subject can create a sense of simplicity and minimalism. Simplicity itself can be a powerful compositional tool. It is often said that less is also more. Simplicity often means taking pictures with uncomplicated backgrounds that do not distract from the main subject. You can also create a simple composition by zooming in on part of the subject and focusing on a particular detail. In this photo taken in Germany, I tried to photograph the horse in a minimalist way.

I took this simple photo while hiking in Germany. The photo actually becomes more exciting because I cropped the pair during post-processing.

In this photo taken in the desert, the minimalist nature of the image is further enhanced by converting the photo to black and white during post-processing and taking advantage of the high contrast between the trees and the desert.

11. Isolate your subject

Using a shallow depth of field to isolate your subject is a very effective way to simplify your composition and make it stronger. And also my 3rd favorite in this list. By using a large aperture, you can blur the background that might otherwise distract you from your main subject. This is a particularly useful technique for taking portraits.

If you work with a smartphone, there are plenty of devices available these days that already have the depth-of-field function built in as well, allowing you to simulate using a wide aperture, so to speak. This function does not work nearly as well as with a "real" digital camera with interchangeable lenses, but with good light and lots of experimentation with the optimal distance you can get a long way.

This photograph taken of a cat in the field in front of my house typifies the power of using depth of field. Working with little depth of field makes the main subject stand out from its surroundings much better.

12. Change your point of view sometime

Most photographs are taken from eye level. A high or low viewpoint (bird or frog perspective) can actually be a great way to get a more interesting and original composition with a normal subject.

I took this photo taken in central London lying down on the street. With this so-called frog perspective, the photo got more dynamics because I could also use the background better and the athletes also got more dynamics because of this point of view.

View from the Burj Kalifa in Dubai as an example of a bird's eye view photo. What a turn-in when you are 500 meters above the ground.

13. Look for unusual color combinations

The use of color itself is an often overlooked compositional tool. Color theory is something that graphic designers, architects and interior designers are familiar with. But even for photography, certain color combinations can complement each other well and make photographs very visually appealing.

This color circle is composed of the primary colors and supplemented by secondary colors.

Look at the color circle above. You can see that the colors are logically arranged in the segments of this circle. Colors that are opposite each other on the color circle are called "complimentary colors. As a photographer, you can look for scenes with complementary colors as a way to create attractive and striking compositions.

Complementary color contrast in this photo of the ABN Amro office in Groningen, caused by the reflection of the ceiling photo in the window pane combined with the color cast of the interior lighting.

14. The left-to-right rule

There is a theory that says we "read" an image from left to right in the same way we would read text. For this reason, it is proposed that any movement depicted in a picture must flow from left to right. This is all well and good, but it assumes that the viewer comes from a country where text is read from left to right. Indeed, in Arabic, text is read from right to left.

I took this photo in 2013 with an iPhone 4 in the "Banking City" of London. It was actually a lucky shot with a clear left-to-right movement.

15. The Juxtaposition

I use Juxtaposition very often myself because it is a very powerful compositional tool in photography. Juxtaposition refers to the inclusion of two or more elements in a scene that contrast with each other. The two contrasting elements can work well in telling the story of the photograph. Consider contrasts such as nature vs. city, hard vs. soft or modern vs. classic, for example.

Street scene in Los Angeles in 2010. The green plastic fence contrasts sharply with the palm trees in the background despite the color similarity.

Verona, Italy 2017. In this botanical garden, the contrast between the huge building and the tree is striking. Not only because of the difference in matter, but also because of the large difference in color, the contrast is intensified.

How to move forward?

Hopefully these 15 composition tips will help you. My advice is: just go do it, because any kind of learning just starts with trying. Set up a mood board via Pinterest, for example, find a nice location (or several) and bring someone along to assist you so you can leave the selfie stick at home for a change.

Note: The cameras I used for the photos on this page are the Apple iPhone 6 Plus, Apple iPhone 8 Plus, Canon PowerShot S90, Canon EOS 6D MkII and the Canon EOS 5D MKIV