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Photo taken by Ctd2005

Are you a beginner to photography and need some help to improve your pictures, or are you just in need of some inspiration? Then read on. In this tutorial I am going to show you how you can take better photos by changing your composition.
When I look at friends and families photos they are usually all taken the same way, and that is horizontally. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, but after a while they all start to look the same.

The reason most people take photos in horizontal format is that our eyes are set horizontally, for instance televisions and movie screens are mostly horizontal and we naturally view the world approximately in this shape, rather than square or vertical.

Vertical Format.

Most cameras are designed to be used comfortably in horizontal mode and turning them on to there side can seem a bit unnatural, but in doing so you can dramatically improve your photos or at least make them more interesting.
Horizontal format in general is fine for portrait pairs, groups of people or landscape shots, however by changing the composition to a vertical format, you can often make a pleasing change to your photos, as shown below.

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is that they always hold the camera horizontally. Next photo you take, try turning the camera on to its side and taking some pictures, what a refreshing change.

Square Format.

One of the most popular photo subjects taken by photographers and beginners alike are portraits. Again beginners tend to take them using the horizontal composition, which can become dull and boring.
One way to enhance your portraits is by using the square format.
Take a look at the photo below.

Photo taken by Porcelaingirl

So how do you make the picture square, take the photo horizontally, and then crop it in your favorite image editor. Its very easy to do and it gives the photo more impact, and a less cluttered background.

Take a look around you to see what images would look better in a square format.

Below are a few ideas

Photo taken by aussiegall

Photo taken by Ctd2005

Photo taken by yomi955

As I have wrote before, don’t be afraid to experiment, portraits can look outstanding using the vertical format, and some landscape pictures can look more startling using the square format.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Photo Tips and Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.