Last week we looked at some great cameras for beginners. If you missed it, you can catch up here.
While having good gear is helpful, the most important ingredient for creating amazing photos is honing your eye for composition.
Composition is the art of designing an image. It’s how you choose to line everything up as you frame your scene.
Here are my top tips for composing a winning stock photo:
1. Know your subject. This might seem obvious, but it’s really important to know why you are taking a photo. What is your main subject? What do you want to stand out in your scene? The answers to these questions should guide the rest of your composition decisions.
2. Get closer. If you feel like your photo is boring, the best fix is usually to get closer to your subject. Check out the image below. What sets this kayaking photo apart from others is how close the photographer got to the subjects, making us feel like we are a part of the action.
3. Work your angles. Don’t just settle for photos taken at eye level. Change it up sometimes. Get down low or find a way to shoot from a higher vantage point. Photos taken from unique angles are eye catching.
4. Play with lines, shapes, texture, and color. Take notice of these important elements and use them to help draw your viewer’s attention. For example, in the image below, the photographer used the strong line of the dock to lead to the main subject in a yellow jacket.
5. Watch your edges. Always check the edges of your frame to see if any little distractions are sneaking in. This will help you create clutter-free images.
6. Leave a little space. For stock photography, it’s a good idea to leave room in some of your images for a designer to overlay a bit of text. It’s called copy space and it makes your photos really useful for buyers. For example, the blank sky in the shot below would make the perfect backdrop for text.
Use these tips to create stock photos that will really stand out from the crowd!
