While I’m shooting weddings, I’m constantly thinking about Composition Photo Tips. Today, I’m going to share 3 of my favorite composition tools to improve photographic images regardless of the camera you have immediately. I’ve chosen Emily and Ford’s wedding in Italy for examples.

Composition Photo Tip #1: Framing

While framing is one of the rarest and hardest to find, it is one of my favorites. Framing is when you use an object to frame your subject. That object can be natural or manmade, so long as it frames the subject. A common frame could be a door or a window; however, below I used the branches of a tree to frame the bride and groom. I also used a shallow depth of field to blur the branches, causing the focus on the couple to pop.

Composition Photo Tip #2: Angle

This second photo was taken relatively close to the same time as the above photo. However, instead of using framing for this shot, I used angle. Angle is when the photographer changes the perspective of an image to something other than the “5’7″” angle. This offers a fresh look and an overview of the wedding reception.

Composition Photo Tip #3: Rule of 3rds

Finally, we are going to go back in time to Emily and Ford’s engagement photos. This image uses my very favorite composition tool: the rule of 3rds. Notice how the couple is off-center? The un-balance creates visual interest. The rule of thirds is when you divide a photo both horizontally and vertically by 3. Then you place the main action or subject along one of those division lines. TL:DR shoot off-center portraits. In this image, it also helps the viewer see and appreciate the background scenery.

I hope you can take some of these simple composition tools and use them to improve your photography!

Talk to you soon,
Dale