The ultimate guide to

creating beautiful
compositions of the
world around us

CREATIVE
COMPOSITION

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents
 Table of contents

Introduction 2 Exercise/Assignment 56

What is composition 5 Geometry and lines 58

Rules, rules and no more rules! 6 Lines and vanishing points 65

So, what are the rules 8 Symmetry 68

The four rules, ahem 12 Layers 71

techniques
People in the landscape 75
Placement 13
Scale 79
Separation 16
Frame within a frame 85
Balance 19
Compostional styles 93
Rule of thirds 24
Open landscape 94
Summing up with examples 27
Closed landscape 96
Exercise/assignment 31
Detail 98
Fishermen and jetty’s 34
Movement 99
Arundel Castle 40
Exercise/Assignment 106
Charles Bridge at dusk 44
Bonus
Methods of visualizing a 47
photograph

Dungeness at dusk, Kent, UK

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents
 Composition is the foundation stone of all good
photography, on which every HDR or black and
white photograph is built.

This book will help teach you how to turn your

unique, natural and creative vision into
interesting and original compositions.

If you want to take photos like these...

Then this eBook will tell you exactly how.

Kick start your adventures in photography right here

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 My promise to you:
Every photograph you see in this
ebook and anywhere else on my
website and in my e-courses has
been taken by me.

I don’t use stock photos, or other

people's photos to demonstrate my
techniques.

I would never teach anything that I

couldn’t do myself.

TONY EVELING
PHOTOGRAPHY

EBOOKS

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 Creative Composition
All words and photographs by Tony Eveling

Copyright 2017 Tony Eveling

This eBook is available for personal use only. This eBook may not be
re-sold, or given away to other people. If you would like to share this
eBook with another person, please direct them to
www.tonyeveling.com/ebooks
Where they will be able to download their own copy

BONUS section!
There is a bonus page at the end of this eBook, where you will
find links to my other eBooks and also links to my e-courses,
either free or discounted

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 Introduction
Everyone interprets photography in their own original way. And every photographer
should develop their own style and originality. Within that there are similarities that span
across photographers, genres and styles.

What I attempt to do in this book is to explain my own personal picture making process,
how I spot a composition, and then what I do to make sure that what I see in my minds
eye is what I end up seeing on my computer screen back home. This book is about
compositional techniques as well as the picture making process, but from a compositional
point of view. I don't tell you here what your camera buttons do, how to expose correctly
or how to use Photoshop.

There are no absolute rules for any one photograph. Every photograph is unique as is the
photographer. But a photographer needs an array of compositional techniques that are
common between photographers, genres and styles as well as the compositional
discipline to create a photograph that make the viewer want to look at it.

I explain the picture making process throughout this book as closely as possible to the
order that the processes take place when I take a photograph, which will, hopefully make
things clearer and easy to understand. How this information is used is entirely up to the
individual. The beginner may use the processes described as a template for their own
photography, or the more experienced may cherry pick bits and pieces.

The processes and techniques that I employ myself and described in this book apply to all
the photography that I take, regardless of the purpose for the photography. I might be in
my back garden, or in a local forest, or on a mountain half way around the world. Whether
it is a paid commission, a stock photograph, a personal project purely for fun or
something that I want to sell at an art show as a print, the compositional processes and
techniques in this book are always the same.

Dungeness at dusk, Kent, UK

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents
 I have travelled all over the world, and when I started travelling I did it for the
adventure not the photography. Now I do it for the photography, with a
sprinkling of adventure thrown in for good measure.

I spend a huge amount of my time outdoors and it is essential that I enjoy

being where I am wherever in the world that may be. As a photographer it is
essential to engage with the environment in a landscape, or to engage with
the people in a village whether in the developed or developing world.

You have to want to be there if you want to take the best photographs.

I don't do this as a photojournalist, but as a fine art photographer taking

photographs that I hope people will like enjoy online, or as a print in the real
world. Collectively they do tell stories of the places that I go to and the
portraits of people tell a real story of their everyday lives.

As I said in my introduction, in this book I want to explain the processes that I

use from having the idea for a photograph, to actually taking the photograph.
For me composition is everything in photography. Composition is the discipline
of placing all the elements into a frame in such a way that the viewer sees
what the photographer sees, and feels as much as possible what the
photographer wants you to feel. Conveying the atmosphere and mood of a
scene in a photograph is down to how the photographer uses composition.

Jetty, Swanage Bay, Dorset, UK

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY 20MM, 1/8 @ Table
F/20, ISO 100
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 The photographs in this book are accompanied with
their relevant EXIF data. I include this data because I
know that people are interested in it. However, I
believe EXIF data is of limited use without a written
explanation of how a photograph was first seen, and
then taken.

Some of the images in this book, such as the

background image on this page, have been cropped
in order to fit the page, however, on my website, none
of the images have been cropped, as I always try to
get composition right in camera

Don’t feel that you have to do that too though. You

have to find and nurture your own composition
workflow, which may include cropping,
And that’s fine, as long as you
are happy with the photography
that you produce.

View from the Pennine Way, Kinder Plateau, Derbyshire, UK

50MM, 25 sec @ F/10, ISO 100
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents
 What is composition?
You can have great photographic ideas
and originality, but without good
composition your photographs are not
going to look great. Good photography is
a combination of compositional skills,
creativity and imagination. And that is
good news because you don't need the
most expensive camera and the most
expensive gear. You can have a cheap
consumer DSLR with a kit lens or a
smartphone, and with good composition
you can create photographs that have real
impact.
So what exactly is composition? Very
broadly speaking, and I say this at risk of
stating the bleeding obvious! Composition
is the set of rules that determine how you
frame a photograph. These rules are in
effect the grammar of photography. They
are rules that dictate composition in the
same way that grammar forms the rules
that dictate how language should be
spoken or written.
If we look at language, grammar consists
of a set of rules written after studying a
language that has already evolved
naturally and organically over hundreds or
thousands of years Grammar is the
distillation of language into a series of
components, structures and ultimately a
whole load of rules.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Composition in photography is no
different. Compositional rules have been
written down by academic type people
after studying photographs and paintings
over the centuries. If you were to study a
whole body of work from different
photographers and different genres
since the beginning of photography there
will be similarities occurring over and
over again regarding composition. Those
similarities have been written down and
are now used as a set of compositional
rules.
Those rule do not override your intuitive
nature or feeling for a photograph. But
they can be used as techniques to help
guide you to making the most of your
vision.
As an outdoors photographer I tend to
compose intuitively, whether it be a
portrait, or an urban or rural landscape.
My philosophy is if it looks right, then it is
right. I see a scene, which often occurs
in one of those moments where I
casually say to myself; “that will make a
good photograph”, a moment that many
people have whether they are
photographers or not. Then I will stop
and look, I will see the final image in my
minds eye, then I will set about capturing
that image using – however intuitively –
the rules of composition.
So, what exactly are those rules?
Table of contents
 NO
Rules, Rules and more rules! V

Before we go any further I'd just like to clear something up

regarding some jargon. In photography we have a tendency
to attach the word 'rule' to anything to do with composition.
We talk about 'compositional rules', or 'the rules of
composition'.

A rule is an instruction to do something a certain way (often

interpreted as being told what to do whether you want to or
not).

A technique is a method employed through choice for the

purpose of achieving a result.

Both of these definitions apply to the rules that make up 'the

rules of composition'

Undoubtedly they are rules because used properly they help

create compelling, aesthetically pleasing images.

But...and this is a huge but....you use them as techniques.

You don't apply them arbitrarily as a rule that must be

obeyed (that will stifle you and restrict you creatively).

You apply them to assist in positioning elements in a frame

and you choose which ones to use and when and how

View from the Isle of Portland at dusk, Dorset, UK

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY 72mm, 13 sec @ F/20,
TableISO 100
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 NO
Rules, Rules and more rules! V

Everything I explain in this book should be used (or not...you

choose) in your wider armoury of techniques that can be
called upon to assist in the composition of a photograph.
Use them as techniques, reject them when not required.

For example, I will be looking at the most famous 'rule' of all

in this book...and that is the 'rule of thirds'. The rule of thirds
should be used only as a technique as you see fit.

Therefore you are free to reject it as you see fit. And that
means that we can all breath a sigh of relief, safe in the
knowledge that we can still put horizons in the middle of the
frame if we want to....phew!

And sometimes we'll get it wrong. Sometimes we will use a

technique that in the cold light of day sat at our computer we
may have wished we'd used a different rule or
technique....and that is fine,

We should be making mistakes, it's all part of the learning

curve

View from the Isle of Portland at dusk, Dorset, UK

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY 72mm, 13 sec @ F/20,
TableISO 100
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 So, what are the rules?
Well, okay, before we get to the real nitty
gritty, I just want to explain a little about
bad composition, or at least give a
couple of examples to try and highlight
why compositional rules matter.
Composition is the arrangement of
elements in your photograph that makes
the photo comfortable to look at. Bad
composition can make a potentially
fascinating and compelling scene just
plain boring.
The easiest example of bad
composition I can give and one that
many people will be able to relate to
would be a family snap. Let's say you
are having a great family get together
and everyone is really enjoying
themselves, and let's say there are
several generations present. The
children will be playing together and
doing their thing, using their parents as
climbing frames or playing with their toys
on the floor.
The adults may have had one too many
and the teenagers might be looking
slightly angst ridden!
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The grandparents look on with quiet
amusement. What a great scene! Then
someone takes photos of proceedings.
But when you look at the photos in the
cold light of day, heads have been
chopped off and where have the
grandparents gone!? Hang on, isn't that a
leg?
So, although that is an amusing situation
when someone takes photographs so
badly and we can all have a good laugh,
and the photographer is uncle John who
has no interest in photography so no harm
done.... it is a good and simple example of
bad composition.
A well composed photograph would bring
out the character of the individuals, show
the movement and energy of the children,
the love in the eyes of the
grandparents....just by employing the
discipline of good composition coupled
with engaging with your subject.
Table of contents
 The first rule of photographic composition

Establish the subject, and establish all the objects that you
want in the frame.

In my photography I always make one very simple decision

to aid the composition of a photograph and prior to pressing
the shutter, and that decision comes from the answer to the
question;

'what is the subject of the photograph'

Or, to put it another way, what is the photograph of?

The subject is the focal point of the image, and once

established by you, it can then be positioned in the frame
complimentary to all other objects in the photograph.

For compositional purposes, what the subject is, is not so

important, the subject can be anything, it can be a person or
a group of people, it can be a tree, or even just the horizon.

The important thing here is that after deciding what the

subject is, you are forced to home in on what initially inspired
you to take that particular shot, and then to think more
carefully about positioning all the objects in the frame, so that
in the final finished image, the viewer's eye is naturally drawn
towards the subject..

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 So, what are the rules?
Another - and I promise final - example
is when someone is walking their dog
early in the morning and sees some mist
on the horizon and the Sun rising behind
the trees....and the dog walker thinks
that the scene would make a great
photograph and so pulls out a compact
camera and takes a snap. Back home at
the computer there is only one comment
to make; “you really had to be there”.
And that‟s because the dog walker has
seen a good photograph, but hasn't paid
enough attention to composition, hasn't
stopped and worked out what exactly it
is that he/she has seen to prompt an
outing for the camera from the inside
coat pocket.
If the dog walker is not used to looking at
lots of different photos made by different
photographers, then he/she may think
the photo is really good. Sometimes it is
only when putting the good and the bad
together can you see the difference.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
But in this example, the dog walker has
done all the hard work...he/she almost
certainly has seen a really good photo,
but hasn't employed the compositional
discipline required to make a good photo.
Photography tip
Don't be intimidated by the work of other
photographers. When you are learning,
the work of others may seem
unattainable, but it's not. Eyeball as
much of their photography as you can.
Compare yours with theirs. What are
they doing that you are not?
With an open mind , discipline and
practice you can and will create
photography that turns heads too. You
already have a natural and unique
creativity (we all have that). What you
need is to acquire the discipline of good
composition so that you can express
your vision in a photograph.
Table of contents
 So, what are the rules?
In the next section of this book I will list four main compositional
techniques that every good photographer employs in one way or
another.

They are very simple and easy to employ and will greatly improve your
photography, especially if you are just starting out.

Then I will dig deeper and write about what I consider to be the most
important and effective compositional components, such as lines and
geometry, symmetry, layering and depth.

Later in this book I will move onto compositional styles, such as

photographing landscapes with sky or without. Detail shots of
landscapes as well as the effectiveness of capturing movement.

I love original and intuitive compositions in photography as well as

spontaneity and I would love to pass on some of my techniques so that
you may do the same.

The key takeaways so far are:

You must have a ‘moment of inspiration’, it sounds flaky I know,

but that’s intuition and human perception for you.

You then need to stop and employ the discipline of composition

by first establishing what the subject is.

Then establish all of the objects that you want in the frame.

The subject is the most important object, where everything in

the frame is an object, the light is an object, the sky is an object.
All objects have to be placed in the frame, and that’s what we’ll
be looking at next.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 Some rules...ahem...techniques to get started

The following are four simple techniques that will help you to position
objects/elements in a frame.

Over the next few pages I will define these 4 techniques and then I will
spend a few pages discussing their use using examples. Their names
won't mean anything yet (except the obvious one!), because they are
my own techniques. However, I just wanted to introduce them here.

1 Placement of objects on the edge of/or leaving the

frame

2 Separation

3 Balance

4 The rule of thirds

These are my own building blocks of composition. All the photographs

that I take and publish use one or more of these techniques, and many
use two or more.

That is with the exception of ‘the rule of thirds’. That may sound
shocking, and whilst the ‘rule of thirds’ plays a part in my photography, I
actually have my own ‘formula’ for creating my compositions, but more
on that later.

I use these techniques mechanically to guide my initial moment of

inspiration so that what I see in my mind's eye at the time of capture
translates as closely as possible in the final version.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 1 - PLACEMENT
of objects on the edge of/or leaving the frame

Don't chop people's heads off. Okay, If you allow an object to partially leave
chop people's heads off, but please, the frame, you have to position the
please be careful! For example, if you object so that it looks like you meant it
photograph a child holding hands with to be there, and ideally you should
its mother, in order to focus on the child actually want it to be there, so you have
you can chop off the head and body of to have enough of the object in the
the mother in order to focus the viewers frame for it to have meaning for the
eye onto the child. The mothers body overall composition.
will leave the frame, and your eyes will
be drawn to the child. This way you can
have a mother and child photograph,
but one that draws the viewers eye to
the child whilst retaining the mother and
child concept..

You should always be aware of objects

close to the edge of the frame. The
decision to leave something entirely out
of view, or wholly in view but near the
edge of the frame is very important for
the balance of the image and can
determine where the eye is led when
viewing an image.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 1 - PLACEMENT
of objects on the edge of/or leaving the frame
In landscape and general outdoors
photography, you don't have complete
control over what is presented to you
in the environment that you are
photographing. Once you have
identified a subject to photograph,
whether it be a sweeping vista or a
street vendor in a city the surrounding
objects and their positioning in the
composition can provide extra
meaning and context to your image.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Be careful not to pull the viewers eye
away from the main subject of the
photograph because of awkwardly
placed objects at the edge.
I quite like placing secondary elements
near the edge of the frame, like a bird
walking along the floor, you can have
that very close to the edge of the frame
about to walk out. I quite like quirky little
things like that, and because they are
incidental to the overall composition,
such objects tend not to jar with the
viewer.
This picture is of a man walking
across the frame, but the geometry
and symmetry was also important.
To retain the visual impact of
the windows and other shapes I
could not go wide, so I kept the
tight crop, and removed the bottom
half of the figure, which worked
visually and retained my original idea
for the photo.
Table of contents
 1 - PLACEMENT
of objects on the edge of/or leaving the frame

The example below shows two men on a jetty, and it was important
to show enough of the jetty to reinforce its status as a major
element in the composition.

This image, with the jetty in the middle does not need the other jetty
on the right with the two men standing on it. But, the jetty is such a
commonly photographed object, that I wanted to create something
little different. The two men standing and talking provided a twist to
an old favourite, and it was important to place the jetty carefully in
the composition. Too little of the right hand side jetty and the eye
would want to drift outside the frame which would jar with the
viewer. Too much and my overall composition would drift away from
the center main jetty. Also, the men on the jetty fill a space on the
right side of the image that balances the silhouetted headland on
the left side on the horizon.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 2 - SEPARATION

Put space between objects/elements Or two distant people with no gap

so that viewers can see exactly what
they are.
Objects that form part of a
composition need to be separated
from other objects in the frame so that
we can see exactly what they are.
Objects that are unrecognisable or
merge into other objects can really jar
with the viewer.
The viewer needs to be able to
recognise clearly all objects in a
frame.
For example, a gap between the
furthest end of a jetty and the horizon
often looks better than the end of the
jetty crossing over the horizon.
between them may look like an
unrecognisable blob. The same
people with space between them will
look more like two people and less
like a blob. Even pressing the shutter
when someone is taking a stride will
separate the legs and help tell the
viewer what is going on.
In the context of this technique, the
edge of the frame should also be
regarded as an object that forms part
of your composition. So separation
also refers to separation from the
edge of the frame. For example you
should leave space between the top
edge of the frame and the ridge of a
mountain range.

In the photo on the right, all of the objects have

been spaced so that there are gaps between all
of them. None of them overlap, and that allows
the viewer to clearly see what they are.

The red arrows depicts the spacing that I

created by moving left, right, back, forwards,
until they were all positioned correctly.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 2 - SEPARATION

You can very easily move objects in a
photograph, you just move a pace or
two to the left or right. Or you crouch
down. Sometimes you can move up
and down the side of a hill. So if a tree
needs to be ten meters to the left of
the mountain peak in the distance,
you just move to the right and the
relative positions of the two will
change.
The effect of moving objects in this
way and separating objects and
putting space between them will make
a photograph more aesthetically
pleasing and more comfortable on the
eye.
It is a simple process easy to learn
and will greatly improve your
photography

This process requires a level of

attention to detail which may seem
over the top at first, but the results will
speak for themselves. Once you tune
in to this it will become second nature.
Remember every composition consists of
objects, with the subject being the most
important object.
The subject is the object that the eye will
be immediately drawn to when viewing
the image for the first time

The photo of hay bales on the right has

a number of objects that all had to be
‘separated’ in order to make sure that
viewers can see what they are.

I cannot emphasise enough how

important it to first, identify all your
objects, choose a subject from those
objects, and then make sure that they
are ‘separated.’

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 2 - SEPARATION

With this image below right I loved
the curve that the seats make placed
on the edge of a curved pathway. But
the pathway is completely invisible
due to the covering of snow. The
snow simplifies the scene which helps
emphasise the graphic shapes made
by the bench seats and the trees in
this Zagreb park.
There are also bins next to a couple
of the bench seats that I wasn't
interested in, so I hid the bins as best
I could. Hiding the bins behind the
bench seats may sound trivial, but if
they were too prominent they would
have broken the symmetry and
pattern made by that curved line of
the bench seats.

I had to place the bench seats

in-between and either side of the
trees in the foreground making sure
that there was enough of a gap
between each of those objects.
Spacing the seats across the entire
width of the frame was very important
for my own vision of the final
photograph.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 3 - BALANCE

Balance is composing the image in such a Sometimes there may be a shadow

way that the viewer's eye is naturally and
directed to the subject of the photograph,
from where the viewer can then explore
the rest of the image. That process should
feel very comfortable and natural to the
viewer of the photograph. The more
comfortable that feels for the viewer, the
more successful the composition of the
photograph.
To flesh that out a bit, don't let highlight or
shadow areas overpower any other part of
the image. If there is a dark object in the
frame, then it should complement the
composition, if it is too dark with little detail
it may overpower a photograph in a
negative way that wasn't intended. when I
say 'overpower', I mean draw attention
away from the subject in a distracting way.
somewhere in the composition that
didn't even register when taking the
photo, but becomes apparent back
home on the computer. If that shadow
drags the eye away from the main
subject, then the photograph becomes
unbalanced.
Often this can be corrected in
Photoshop, and so does not always
pose a big problem, but you need to be
aware of this so that you can do
something about it, either before
pressing the shutter, or later back home
on the computer.

The colour version of the image to

the right is unbalanced. The reason
is because the sensor couldn’t
handle the too bright sky and the
too dark shadows (ringed). I
wanted the eye to follow the arrow,
so I re-balanced the image in
Photoshop

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 3 - BALANCE

It is not just shadow areas, but areas

of intense colour, or very bright
highlights. Understanding this is
important, because you have the
opportunity to build these elements
into the composition.

Extreme contrast becomes an object

in itself as far as composition is
concerned, that is why it can un
balance a composition.

But extreme blown highlights or

shadow can be used and positioned
within the frame to create striking and
original compositions that draws a
viewer in.

The image on this page is obviously Unfortunately there is a lack of

unbalanced. Can you see why
exactly?
For me, I was inspired to take the
image because of those trees. So
I’ve got low down to capture their
shape against the grey sky.
separation in that bottom left corner.
The tree trunks are merging with
each other, and the background is a
similar tone to the foreground
objects, which makes the bottom left
corner looking very muddy.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 3 - BALANCE
The photograph below works much
better in black and white than in
colour, and achieves a better balance
as a black and white image. When I
looked at this on my computer I saw it
in colour, and I was quite
disappointed with it. I wasn't expecting
a big wow factor photo, but I thought
I'd created an interesting composition
of beach huts against a cliff with the
harsh midday sun creating well
defined, dramatic shapes with intense
contrast.
But the effect in my minds eye did not
translate on the computer screen.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Then I converted to black and white
and turned the sky from a bright blue
to a dramatic pitch black. Only then
did I see on the screen what I saw in
my minds eye. It is the drama of the
pure black strip across the top third
and the geometry of the huts along
the bottom that creates a balanced
composition and makes this an
interesting composition to view and
look at.
Table of contents
 3 - BALANCE

This composition bottom right was a
nice idea. The idea being having
Arundel castle in the middle of the
frame with blue sky above and green
grass below.
But there was nothing I could do
about that nasty shadow cast from the
trees above my head. So I took the
photo anyway to see what I could do
in Photoshop, if anything. But the
shadows were a messy shape and
too overpowering and distracting, and
so, eventually I gave up.
So, maybe a long exposure night shot
with moonlight on the castle, or a
more traditional dawn or dusk shot
with a warmer, more diffused light.
But one of the challenges for me in
photography is too find compositions
at any time of the day, and on this
occasion I was unable to convert my
vision, my little moment of inspiration,
into a photograph.

The shadow draws attention away

from the castle and casts an
undefined shape that unbalances my
composition. Had the shadow cast a
more even dappled shadow, then this
may have worked. Had I been
determined to get a shot from this
angle, then the environmental
conditions would have to change, and
that would create a different
photograph altogether.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 4 - RULE OF THIRDS

Divide the frame into a Tic-Tac-Toe There is no conscious application of

grid and use the lines (Number 2 on
the example to the right) and
intersections (Number 1 on the
example) to place your subject as well
as your most important elements.
Okay, so there is my really really brief
explanation of the 'rule of thirds'.
There are millions of websites that
recite this rule over and over
(including wikipedia), so you've
probably already come across it many
times in tutorials.
the 'rule of thirds' in any of the
photographs that I take.
If you look at an image that you
personally like, and then 'reverse
engineer' it in terms of its composition,
many of those photos will nearly
follow the rule of thirds. Very few
photos will actually fit the rule, but
many 'teachers' of the rule of thirds
seem to be very willing to gloss over
the fact that the 'rule of thirds' rarely
applies precisely to any image.

However, there is more to it than that. When it obviously doesn't apply, it's
In the previous pages I've been called 'breaking the rules'.
explaining the three compositional
techniques that all my photos are
constructed from, and now here is the
'rule of thirds' that provides the fourth
technique in my list. So how and
where does the 'rule of thirds' fit in
with those three other techniques.
1 2
Well, I have left the 'rule of thirds' last
for a reason, and that is because the
rule of thirds just happens.
1
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
2 Table of contents
 4 - RULE OF THIRDS
If you employ any of my previous
three techniques (Separation,
placement or balance - SPB), and you
practice applying these techniques a
lot in your photography, you will notice
that as a result, objects will naturally
settle in a slightly off center, or a very
off center position. There will also
often be more sky than land, or more
land than sky. Those visual facts can
then be misrepresented as following
the rule of thirds, when in reality that's
not the case.
So my conclusion is that the apparent
application of the 'rule of thirds' is
sometimes (in my case always) a
consequence of using other
compositional techniques.
For an intuitive or experienced
photographer these techniques (what
I call SPB) may be subconscious.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
So, for an inexperienced
photographer, you may notice the
'rule of thirds' employed in my
photography, or other people's
photographs, but in reality the
positioning of objects in the frame was
as a result of those other
compositional techniques.
Don't be so sure that the
photographer specifically employed
the rule of thirds. If you are new to
photography, then the rule of thirds
will have been hard coded into your
photography psychology. Magazines,
books, websites preach this
relentlessly because it's easy to
teach, everyone teaches it, everyone
has always taught it, and and people
believe it, especially beginners.
These images can all be legitimately
described as using the rule of thirds. But
none of them were composed using the
rule.
Table of contents
 4 - RULE OF THIRDS
It's true that if you blindly use the 'rule
of thirds' to every single photo you
ever take, it is inevitable that applying
it will occasionally create a
compelling, visually pleasing
photograph. However, this
prescriptive application of a set of
rules will hold your photography back,
and slow down the learning process.
It will take you longer to get to a stage
where good composition is being
applied to all your photographs. It
doesn't mean you won't get there
eventually, but it will take longer.
Most beginners reading this are not
going to believe my views on the 'rule
of thirds', which is another reason why
photography teachers teach it,
because beginners want to learn it,
and that's a very hard thing for a
teacher to fight against.
And so, I too build it into my teaching,
If you absolutely insist that applying
the ‘rule of thirds’ is the way to
become a better photographer then
the following is what I consider to be
an acceptable way to apply it.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
You can use the 'rule of thirds' as a
starting point for your composition.
You see the scene that inspires you,
you work out in your mind's eye the
preliminary stuff, what is the main
subject etc. Then choose your focal
length to include and exclude all the
elements that interest you. Position
the subject and other environmental
elements according to the
Tic-Tac-Toe grid.
Then you can fine-tune your
composition from that initial starting
point, to try and create as close as
possible what you first saw when you
were inspired to take the photograph.
Practice applying Separation and
Placement, and be very aware of
balance.
The rule of thirds serves best as a
way to reverse engineer a
photograph. But be honest with
yourself, and you’ll notice that
established, experienced
photographers are not actually
employing it to take their photographs.
Table of contents
 4 - RULE OF THIRDS
The image below has been composed by me moving to the left and right as
well as forward/back and up and down to change the relative positions of the
foreground objects and background elements.

The road is positioned two thirds across and disappears at one third up. The
horizon s roughly one third down.

These positions are deliberate for aesthetic purposes and follow the 'rule of
thirds'.

I didn't however employ the rule of thirds.

It's just that this photograph does roughly speaking follow the rule.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 SUMMING UP WITH EXAMPLES

The four techniques that I have just described are techniques that I use all
the time, and although I shoot intuitively, I do spend quite a while (from a
few seconds to a few minutes) standing in front of a scene working out why
I think my intuition, or gut instinct is correct.

I work out what my subject is, what am I taking a photo of?.

I get the framing of the shot sorted out inside my head and from that I work
out what lens do I want to use, what elements to leave outside of the
frame, and what elements to keep in and then where to put them in the
composition.

What you leave out of your composition is very important.

What I call the subject of my photos are/is object that in the final finished
image the eye will be immediately drawn too.

Everything else in the composition radiates out from the subject.

The casual observer could look at

my images and say with apparent
conviction that I employ the rule of
thirds. However, they’d be wrong.

If you study every single one of my

images, you will now be able to see
the application of Separation,
Placement and Balance, in every
single one of them

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 SUMMING UP WITH EXAMPLES

Let's look at the photo of Prague, at the bottom of this page, with a 'rule of
thirds' Tic-Tac-Toe grid in place.

Placing an object at an intersection at point 1 gives space for the city to fan
out to the right beyond that foreground building. That intersection is far
enough inside the frame to allow any object depicted there to have some
breathing space around it, so it is not too near the edge which would
bother the viewer.

The eye then sweeps across the mesh of tightly knit buildings (point 2)
before stopping at point 3. At point 3 are newly built buildings that contrast
with the old town.

These compositional choices were assisted by employing Separation,

Placement and Balance, but I have provided an explanation in terms of the
'rule of thirds' because both seem to work.

3
Applying Separation, Placement
and Balance will allow your
photography to grow, and you’ll
be able to create original
compositions that suit the lighting

2 and scenery that you are in at any

one time.

1 No longer will you have to wait for

the Golden Hour to create a photo
that draws people in

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 SUMMING UP WITH EXAMPLES
This abandoned petrol pump in the mountains on the
Macedonia/Kosovo border is a very similar composition to the
Prague city picture previously, but the subject matter is completely
different. I also use a wide angle lens rather than a telephoto as
used in the Prague photo.

Again, it looks like I used the rule of thirds, but that’s because you
are now reverse engineering the photograph. When you are
actually taking a photograph, you create it, rather than reverse
engineer it, and you’ll need a different approach to achieve
consistently good photography when creating a photograph.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 SUMMING UP WITH EXAMPLES
I use these techniques all the time in
my photography, and for completely
different subject matter. The rules of
photographic composition are the
same regardless of photographic
genre, so you can hone your skills in
one area and they will be transferable
across photographic genres as you
develop your photography.
In the Prague photo I used a
telephoto lens to fill the bottom left,
and top right corners of the frame with
each of my main elements. Had I
used a wider angle lens, those
elements would have been swallowed
up by the surrounding environment
and sky, which would have created a
completely different photograph.
Epping Forest, Essex, England, UK
Multiple image stitched panoramic photograph.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The disused petrol station uses the
same composition, but I used a
completely different lens (wide
angle).
I chose these two images because
they are the same as each other
composition wise, but very different
visually. One suits black and white,
the other doesn't (so much...in my
opinion of course!). Neither are
spectacular wow factor images, but
this shouldn't matter. What matters
is that you create photographs that
have an interest that make people
want to take a longer look, and that
is achieved by original ideas, getting
out there and good composition.
Of course all of these techniques
can be used for dawn/dusk pure
landscape shots too. Or panoramic
images of forests in winter, for that
matter!
Table of contents
 EXERCISE

Something that helped and will always help the development of my

own photography is to check out others whose photography I like.
For me that is photography that relies on strong composition.

I love original compositions that create fascinating imagery whatever

the subject matter. In this regard, four photographers spring instantly
to mind. Annie Leibovitz, Michael Kenna, Ansel Adams and Vivian
Maier.

All four rely on original compositions, and all four have their own
unique compositional look, unique to them. Each photo they take is
unique.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 EXERCISE
Leibovitz is a celebrity and fashion
photographer and therefore her area
of photography is completely different
to landscapes, but her compositional
style is worth looking at. Look at her
older stuff on the Rolling Stones.
There is a real visual quality about her
photography that draws the viewer in,
and her compositions really stand out.
Maier was an unknown amateur who
recently died poor and her belongings
were auctioned off. The buyer
discovered a body of photographic
work going back fifty years, he
published her work and she became
an internet sensation. In my opinion
her compositions are as good as any
of the greats of street photography.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Michael Kenna has a style that is
much copied, but what cannot be
copied are the compositions. His
compositions rely on the conditions
at the time and he photographs
accordingly. The results are
fascinating artistic imagery that have
a now common square format black
and white look often using long
exposure. The photos however
remain very him because of the
instinctive way he composes
images.
Ansel Adams is one of the most
famous photographers to have lived,
and many of his compositions have
been identically photographed by
copycat photographers. But his
compositional style was and is
unique and original, and his images
look original and contemporary to
this day.
Table of contents
 EXERCISE
Anyway, check out the photography of
these photographers and enjoy their
compositions, check them out for
balance, separation and placement.
Ask yourself questions about the way
they were composed. What do you
think was the actual subjects of the
photographs that you look at? Go
back to your own collection, your own
archive and study your own in the
same way. Where is your
photography going wrong and where
is it going right?
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Check balance,separation and
placement. What is the subject?
Could images be improved? How?
Don't be intimidated by the quality of
the four above mentioned
photographers, because you are
only seeing their best work, and you
may not have the advantage of
decades of experience under your
belt.
All of us can improve our
photography if we open our minds
and put in the practice.
Table of contents
 FISHERMAN AND JETTY’S
I want to look at this evening shot of
two fishermen on a jetty in relation to
those four rules and have a look at
how they worked with this shot.
Jetty shots are quite standard, in fact
they are a staple of the landscape
photographer. I always wanted to take
something a little different and when I
was walking along Swanage Bay
photographing the coastline I saw
these two men walking and talking
around the bay. I was fifty or so
metres away to the right as you look
at the photo and started to think that if
they hung around for long enough I
could take a photo of them as part of
a larger composition incorporating the
jetty's somehow. So I walked along
the bay towards them.
Once I was close enough I put my
bag and tripod down and took the
camera to see if I could get a good
composition.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Checking through the viewfinder
with a 24-84mm lens I stopped
roughly where I am now in this final
shot and zoomed in on the jetty in
front of me, the empty one that you
can see in my photo. That looked
okay, but not great. Going wider and
zooming out, the right hand jetty
came into view, which for me
produced a more pleasant
composition overall but the two
fishermen looked odd when
positioned too close to the edge of
the frame with little of the jetty in
view. A 24mm was not quite wide
enough, I wanted more jetty so I put
a 20mm prime on and that looked
best when viewed through the
viewfinder.
Table of contents
 FISHERMAN AND JETTY’S

And so I settled with this composition, and put the

camera on the tripod with a 20mm lens.

So that's the initial creative part of taking this

photograph. I have seen the photograph in my
minds eye, based very loosely on an idea I'd had for
a while, I had seen the jettys earlier in the day and
knew I'd be wandering around at dusk, so I kept it in
the back of my mind. As soon as I saw the jetty at
dusk, and then I saw the men conveniently taking
position on the jettys, I really wanted to take a photo
of them as small figures in a larger environment.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 FISHERMAN AND JETTY’S
Now I have my basic idea for a photo
and I am standing at the scene with
camera on tripod.
At this point I ask myself what the subject
is, what is the focal point of the photo
and where do I want the viewers eye to
be drawn to.
And so, for me the subjects are both of
the jettys. The main one in front plus the
one on the right with the fishermen on it.
Everything else becomes environmental
elements that put my subject in context
and help create a balanced composition
overall.
If the right hand jetty had no people on it,
then the empty jetty would jar with the
viewer because there would be no
reason for it to be there.
But because of the fisherman it takes on
its own importance in the photograph.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The sky, the sea, the horizon and the
black headland situated on the horizon
are environmental features that
collectively place my subjects in
context.
And finally, after all that I am ready to
take the photo. Of course, in reality all
of those decisions are made in a a very
short space of time, mere minutes, if
that. In fact those decisions take no
longer than it takes to set up the tripod
and put the camera on it.
Now I know what the subject is and I
have a version of the finished
photograph in my minds eye, I can
compose for the final shot using the
techniques that I have described
earlier.
Table of contents
 Photography tip

Don't worry about photographing so called cliche's.

One person's cliché is another person's original. And
we all have to learn. Landscape photography has
many compositions that are used over and over in
different locations.

Find a photographer that you love and you will find

they also use the same compositions over and over.
Don't worry about using them, because it will help
you to hone your technical skills, and in between you
can experiment with your own creativity.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 FISHERMAN AND JETTY’S
Numbers1,2, and 3 (the numbers marked
in the photo to the right) indicate the
nearest thing in this image that follows
the rule of thirds.
The reason for this is quite simple, I need
enough of the concrete foreground to tell
and show the viewer what the jetty is
connected to. Too little of the concrete
foreground (at this height and angle) and
the viewer will want to look outside the
frame to see what is there. If you
determine that the jetty (7) is the subject,
then it's positioning becomes more
important. You can use the rule of thirds
as a starting point to position the
concrete foreground initially, then move it
around using your intuition to get
something aesthetically pleasing
Too much concrete foreground creates a
very dark foreground and upsets the
balance (to my eye).
Number 4 (separation) is the gap
between the end of the jetty and
the horizon.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
1
5
4
2 6
7
3
If I lowered my height slightly the jetty
would touch the
horizon and for me, that would look wrong.
I don't want to join up
those elements, and for aesthetic
purposes I want a significant gap
between them.
Number 5. Having the two men crossing
the horizon is unavoidable
but much more importantly they are well
defined as people. They are
standing apart and therefore nicely
separated. Too close together
and they might have looked like a blob.
This is something to be
aware of when photographing. I was lucky
because this is a thirty
second exposure and they only moved
enough to create a pleasant
motion blur to indicate movement.
Table of contents
 FISHERMAN AND JETTY’S

5
4

2 6

Number 6. Placement of objects on the edge of/or leaving the frame.

As I said earlier, There is enough of the jetty in view to tell the viewer that I
wanted it to be there and it helps tell the viewer why the men are there.

It also provides some balance between the left and right side of the frame.

These are the basic processes that I used to make this photograph. With
landscape photography you have time on your hands, at least compared with
other types of outdoors photography, so you can afford to slow down a bit. Take
your time!
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents
 ARUNDEL CASTLE

I didn't have much time in the West

Sussex town of Arundel and I had
already been down to the beach early
morning, so the Sun was now quite
high in the sky.

The shot to the left was one of my first

attempts, and like I said previously I
wanted half green (grass) and half
blue(sky) with the castle in the middle,
and preferably no trees, although the
overhanging tree was unavoidable so I
went with it. However, the shadow was
really horrible and this was the best
spot I could find without obscuring the
castle too much. I took the shot anyway
and went back into town. The town is
very picturesque, but the roads are
lined with vans and cars which shone
like primary colour children’s toys in the
harsh sunlight, and rule one for me at
the time was to exclude any distracting
cars if possible because they looked
unsightly.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 ARUNDEL CASTLE

The castle is elevated above the level of the town, but disappeared
behind buildings when walking through the streets.

Early morning mist and soft morning light has the ability to cure many
ills and imperfections, but I had to compose with a much harsher light
and atmosphere.

In the end I settled for the composition below. It shows the castle
contrasting with the houses below, and was a nice effective composition
that whilst having no dawn or dusk wow factor does draw the eye in .

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 ARUNDEL CASTLE

The photograph on this page was the best composition I could find given time
constraints and light conditions. I was situated on a bridge that crossed the River
Arun which gave this great, uninterrupted view of the castle, which really shouted
to be photographed.

The trees softened the 'join' between the castle and the houses and provided
some interest as well as separation between the two built structures. I wanted to
feature more of the house and have slightly less sky which would have helped
better balance the image, but the top of a large, ugly van just below the photo
ended that idea.
The chimneys on the roofs of
the houses juxtaposed well
with the architecture of the
castle.

I would have preferred to have

1
positioned the chimneys at point
1 and have the houses fill the
gap at point 2. But I was on a
bridge and couldn't move left to
get the angle required. And I 2
didn't want to go for a swim!
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents
 ARUNDEL CASTLE
I chose to write about this photograph
because it wasn't a wow factor dawn
picture with mist and atmospheric
skies. So I had to create a composition
based on the quite harsh light
conditions presented to me. In other
words I had to be a bit more original
and spontaneous in composing this
picture. The point is that there's always
a composition that will suit a particular
set of lighting conditions. We can't all
get up at two in the morning, or hike for
days in the wilderness, or wait a year
for conditions to be just perfect on a
hillside at dawn in the middle of winter,
and so on.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Sometimes we are just walking the
dog, or going for a stroll. And
sometimes it is midday, and
sometimes it is cloudy.
These 'uncomplimentary' photography
situations and conditions should stir
the creative juices just as much as
that dawn or dusk photo. Originality
and spontaneity are key to finding a
composition that compliments
supposedly unfavourable lighting
conditions, and there is never a
situation where an original and
pleasing composition is impossible.
Table of contents
 CHARLES BRIDGE AT DUSK
There are two main components to the
photograph on the bottom right on this
page; one is the bridge and the
background. The other are collectively
the people who use the bridge, both
locals and tourists.
The skyline is important for the picture.
Those spiky bits from the spires,
domes and towers need space
between them in order to define them.
So that was my priority for the
composition initially
1
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
At the time I felt that the large
silhouetted statues that line each side
of the bridge should not obscure the
spires (1 and 2, marked in the image)
, so I 'placed' the left one(1) 'inside'
The large dome. The one on the right
has been allowed to cast its own
outline against the sky. I 'moved' them
by walking backwards, forwards, left
and right until I was satisfied with their
position.
3
Table of contents
 CHARLES BRIDGE AT DUSK
Once I was happy with the positioning
of the 'spiky bits', I waited for
opportunistic moments to take photos
of the people.
In this photo the subject is the people,
with the skyline providing a striking
background.
What I don't want though are large ill
defined groups of people that look too
much like splodgy blobs.
I want people in pairs, walking hand in
hand. I want people looking over the
edge of the bridge, standing still. I want
people in the foreground and the
background, all spaced nicely.
1
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
So, once the tripod is set up you can
wait for things to happen
And in this photograph that 'thing'
happened when the couple on the left
(3) took a selfie. There was a good
balance of people on the bridge, and
the couple took a number of photos,
which gave me a chance to take a
number of images and pick the best
one. And so for me, that unexpected
moment has become the subject.
They are what the eye is drawn too
from where you then explore the rest
of the photograph.
3
Table of contents
 PLACEMENT of objects on the edge of/or leaving the frame
I want to use this photograph to better
describe how I used this compositional
technique in my photographs.
The photograph above was taken
along the side of a road in winter in
Hungary. The road was lined with these
trees and caught my eye because of
the striking patterns of the dark
branches against the minimal misty
backdrop.
Tree after tree passed by and I thought
I'd better take a photo before the
opportunity is gone.
Having the whole tree in the frame
didn't focus the attention onto the
patterns of the branches, which is what
originally caught my attention.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
For me therefore, the subject is the
silhouetted branches and the patterns
made against the winter backdrop. That
meant that a lot of the tree had to go in
order to focus attention on the patterns of
the branches.
This meant either a close-up abstract of
branches only, or the tree in context, in its
winter environment. I liked the simple
graphic background against the tree and
didn't want a full on abstract image.
So I had to remove enough of the tree to
look aesthetically pleasing. And this is
where you have to think quite mechanically
about the composition.
You have to remove enough of the tree to
make it look deliberate.
I decided on symmetry with the tree
radiating from the centre as this helped to
emphasise the patterns in the branches.
That in turn meant removing equal
amounts of the tree on either side of the
main trunk. I used a variety of focal lengths
as well as moving forward and backward to
get the edges of the frame looking just
right, before settling on this.
Table of contents
 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
When I am out taking photographs I
usually have the final image in my
minds eye before I press the shutter,
and I use that to help me compose the
image.
They will scout the location during the day,
and they will find in their minds eye a
composition for a very specific set of
pre-determined lighting conditions, which
will often be dawn or dusk.

That is what is generally called The position of the rising sun will be known
visualisation. beforehand.

Visualisation is a commonly used term All that is required is to go out to the

in photography (sometime also called
pre-visualisation) and here on the next
couple of pages I will describe my own
interpretation of this term, and how I
include it in my photography.
Of course, every photographer is
different, but for me visualisation can
be used in two simple ways.
Firstly there is the method employed by
someone who is into a specific location
such as mountains or beaches.
location and hope that the lighting
conditions and cloud cover etc are right for
the pre determined composition.
This is how a lot of those dawn and dusk
wow factor images are created. If you buy
photography magazines you will be familiar
with these stunning photographs. If you
look at them from a technical,
compositional point of view (including my
own) the compositions are similar or have
some strong similarities.

Every time I take a photo, and before I press the

shutter, I will see in my minds eye the final finished
version of the image.
The image you see here has been processed in
Photoshop to assist me in that process. The process
though, is a fluid one, and so my Photoshop work will
also
TONY be a re-assessment
EVELING PHOTOGRAPHYof my original idea.
Table of contents
 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
To achieve these results the
photographer often has to keep going
back to the same spot if they can't get
the right conditions first or second time.
For this photography you have to be
in-situ pre-dawn or pre-dusk sometimes
in difficult to get to places. But the
rewards can be very satisfying
This method means that the
composition is fixed before the
photograph is taken and the
photographer has to wait for the
appropriate light that suits the fixed
visualised composition.
Secondly, there is a more opportunistic,
spontaneous method where the
photographer will be on location,
camera in hand sometimes with tripod,
sometimes without.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The skill here is to see a composition in the
minds eye - on the fly - and instantly
compose a shot, which for an experienced
or intuitive photographer will be a unique
composition that works for the specific
environmental conditions (lighting/subject
etc).
Street photographers are like this. They
have to search the streets for situations
and very quickly create compositions that
suit the lighting conditions whether the
skies are dull, bright, or dawn,dusk or
midday.
Although, some people will call this
something like anticipation of the moment
rather than visualisation. I think it's all part
of the same process.
Of course, landscape photographs can be
spontaneous too, and I would
wholeheartedly encourage creating
instantly visualised compositions to add
originality and personalisation to the
standard, classic compositions.
Table of contents
 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
With the first method you have to plan
ahead, and often you need time to
dedicate totally to photography.
The latter method can be more informal
and relaxed. You don't have to commit
to being somewhere pre-dawn with
fingers crossed that the light will be
right. You can be walking the dog, or
out on a cloudy Sunday afternoon with
the family. You could also be out in the
middle of the day with camera and
tripod. With this method there is never
a bad/wrong time to take photographs
because the photographer will create
compositions to suit whatever
environmental conditions nature throws
at him/her.
The father of American landscape
photography, Ansel Adams, called it
visualisation, and it is the ability to see the
final image in your minds eye before
pressing the shutter and before getting
back to the darkroom/computer.
I like his description of visualisation
because in my view it can be applied to
pre-conceived, pre-planned compositions
as well as more spontaneous photography.
It just says that you should see the final
version of the image in your minds eye
before you put eye to viewfinder.
As for my photography, I like to be
spontaneous and create original
compositions in a kind of visualise-as-I-go
kind of way.

Both methods require honed

technical/craft skills to get good results,
and it's always a good thing to try and
visualise the final image in your minds
eye.

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 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
That attitude allows me to take original
compositions throughout the day of
urban and rural landscapes, rather than
concentrating solely on dawn/dusk
landscape photos. But at the same
time I have a mental collection of
visualised compositions of places that I
want to take at dawn or dusk. And
occasionally I'll have a go at creating
them.
For me, visualisation makes me stop
and think about the photo opportunity
in front of me, what is it that I can see?
Wide angle? Telephoto? What is the
photo of? Is it the sky, the land, or
those stick figures in the distance? That
is how visualisation helps me. It makes
me stop and apply the discipline of
composition when taking photos.
Visualisation is not about visualising before
you even go out to take photography
(although it can be). Visualisation is simply
visualising the final print or screen version
before you take the photo. And that can be
two weeks before you press the shutter, or
two seconds.
We are all unique and see the world
differently. You need to find your own way
and methods that suit your photographic
style and your lifestyle. Not everyone can
get up at three in the morning to get
somewhere very high and cold, before
waiting for the sky to turn red for thirty
seconds.
But right now outside your front door is a
captivating photographic composition that,
with your personal creative vision, only you
have the ability to see.

‘Seeing’ the final

finished image in your
minds eye before
pressing the shutter is
an important part of the
composition process, so
get out there and
practice!
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 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
Both of these locations were scouted at
least a day before the photos were
taken. Both compositions require a
certain light quality only available at
certain times of day. In this case they
were both taken at dawn. And both
these compositions are the same. The
only difference is the location and
colour of the light.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
I use the same pre-determined
compositions when I find myself in similar
light conditions. I have my own 'off the
shelf' compositions that I will employ in
specific conditions, and it's just practise
that has allowed me to build up that
'collection'. But these two photos in terms
of composition are probably the most
commonly occurring compositions in the
whole of landscape photography.
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 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
They are common because
photographers like taking them and
people like looking at them! It's a
composition that is perfect for dawn or
dusk light. If you are a beginner you
can use a composition like this to
practice your technical skills, you will
still have to find the right location and
you still need the correct light, but it is a
good way to practice.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
There are thousands if not millions of wow
factor landscape photographs on the web
that employ the same composition. They
are used in photography magazines to
teach photography and they are employed
by professional photographers for
publication in thousands of publications
around the world. I suppose you could say
it's a design classic.
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 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH

To construct this composition there has to be a foreground

object, in my coastal scene it's the beach and the 'groyne'
(UK sea defence system), but it could be a rock pool
reflecting light, or exposed bedrock. In my landscape
photograph its the track. Then there must be a horizon in the
far distance. And an interesting sky that lights up in
dawn/dusk light. Ideally You need a minimum 30mm lens on
a full frame sensor

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 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH
Hay bales. The previous two images
used a classic predetermined
composition that suited specific
landscape and lighting conditions. This
photo and the next employ a more
spontaneous and unique compositional
style where photographs are seen and
created on the spot with no pre
planning.
I was just passing this field late
afternoon, and the contrast between
yellow and blue instantly caught my
attention.
Then I saw the spacing between the
hay bales, so I 'moved' them by moving
myself left and right, backwards and
forwards, and 'placing' them in the
order that you see them to create this
composition.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
You should also be able to see how I used
those four techniques to help position the
elements in this photo.
This was a spontaneous shot that I just
chanced upon by exploring the area in
search of photo opportunities. It only took a
minute or so to see and then create this
photo. So if you are out with the family or
walking the dog, this is a photographic
style that you can adopt whilst doing other
things. You don't have to forget the
existence of your family in order to be
serious about photography. Just be
spontaneous and flexible!
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 METHODS FOR VISUALIZING A
PHOTOGRAPH

Tram, Zagreb, Croatia. I was walking

along the old streets on a drab grey
winters day.

I wanted to take photos of the old town of

Zagreb but I had no specific idea of what I
wanted photographically.

The mannequins over the road originally

caught my attention I set the camera on
the tripod, composed the shot and waited
for a tram, which duly arrived and I got my
shot.
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 EXERCISE/ASSIGNMENT
Photography is a discipline as well as
a creative art. Both have to be
combined to get the most out of your
creative vision.
Photographing the ordinary (or
mundane) is a great way to practice
composition. Dawn light and some
mist in the valleys is a great way to
paper over the cracks of poor or lazy
composition. Instant wow factor may
give way in the long term to a feeling
of an opportunity missed if you haven't
employed good compositional
technique.
So, armed with the compositional
techniques outlined in this book, as
well as your own, photograph within a
mile or so of your house. Don't take
too long looking and try to work
instinctively. Relax, wander around
and look for scenes that inspire you.
Then set about photographing it.
Hopefully you will spot ordinary things
which when composed carefully, have
a pleasant aesthetic look.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Photograph ordinary things like a rows
of houses, playing fields, discarded
shopping trolleys, underpasses, high
rise apartment blocks, lines of dustbins
waiting to be emptied etc etc.
Look at skylines, rooftop aerials,
satellite dishes, or the the remains of
human activity in town centres, like the
day after the night before....road
sweepers, early morning workers.
Capture the beauty in the ordinary.
Some people are lucky enough to live
by the coast, so, what about a beach
that was crowded during the day and
now everyone has gone? All those
now forgotten sandcastles echoing the
fun activities that took place during the
day.
There is beauty in the mundane,
develop and hone your compositional
skills and use your natural creative
vision to capture that beauty.
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 EXERCISE/ASSIGNMENT

There are always interesting compositions in any

location. The more you wander, the more you will
see. This will help you hone your composition skills,
and those skills are transferable across all
photographic genres.

You may surprise yourself with the variety of

photography that you create.

And lets have a look at the key takeaways so far in this book to help you
make the most of this exercise:

Moment of inspiration: You absolutely must have this.

Ask the question: What is the photograph of?

Define all of your objects

Use your minds eye to visualise what the image will look like in the final
finished photograph. Strive for this in your composition.

What is the most important object, the thing that the eye is drawn to?
That most important object becomes the subject.

Place your objects in the frame complimentary to the main object (subject)

Use Separation, Placement and balance to help you create the most visually
pleasing composition.

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GEOMETRY AND LINES

It might not look like much on a piece of

paper, but the line is really quite important.

It divides two areas of interest in a

photograph, and where you place that line
in a composition will fundamentally affect
the way someone will view your image..
Lines help provide perspective and depth,
they can be horizontal, vertical and
diagonal, and there can be many, or just
one. They can be used to make patterns
and they can be used to create symmetry.

There are many instances in landscape

photography where nature provides
perfectly straight, naturally occurring lines.
Geometry plays a big role too. Sometimes
composing a line diagonally across the
frame or dead straight will fundamentally
change the composition, even though the
scene itself will be the same.

These four examples on the right are nice,

simple examples.

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GEOMETRY AND LINES

The empty beach on the right is a very

graphic, almost abstract composition. The
beach was very wide and I wanted to
express this in the photograph, so that
dictated more sand than sea.

In your minds eye you can look at this

image (the leftmost image) and move the
line to different positions using your
imagination. What do you prefer? That is
also what you have to do when you are out
there taking photos.

Imagine the composition in your minds eye

first, and then put camera to eye where you
can adjust to create your vision.

The bottom two images on the right are

similar in style to the empty beach above
them, but with these it was the depiction of
the people on the beach that drove the final
composition.

The middle image on the right is more

intimate, the bottom image has the horizon
which immediately splits the photo into
geometric shapes and the horizon helps
give a sense of the enormity of our
surroundings.

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GEOMETRY AND LINES
The final image in this series of four is a detail shot of the
shape of a landscape.

I have 'flattened' the hilly landscape by zooming in and

removing the outline of the hills, and so removing the context.

What is left is a composition of textures and lines that are

carved into the landscape.

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GEOMETRY AND LINES
Leading lines and vanishing points
There are lots of lines in this
photograph of a pier. These are called
leading lines, because they lead the
eye into the photograph.
Leading lines provide depth and
perspective. They don't have to be as
simple and obvious as this, but they
always have the same three
dimensional effect.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The composition that I have used for the
pier top right is a very common
composition, used for roads and rivers
both straight and winding. This is an easy
composition to repeat, just face head on
to your subject and create a symmetry
with the pathway, road or river equal
distance either side of you, decide where
you want the horizon and snap away!
Practice of course, makes perfect, so the
more you practice these simple
compositions, the more you will hone your
compositional skills and find new, more
original compositions of your own.
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GEOMETRY AND LINES
Leading lines and vanishing points

The view of chesil beach in Dorset, UK
below Is another example of leading lines.
Again there is a feeling of depth as the
eye is led into the photograph via the
curve of the beach on the left hand side.
The sun is setting over the landscape in
this shot and the last of the light is
reflecting off of the sea, but not the land.
Chesil beach is a strip of shingle beach
that is separated from the mainland by a
lagoon. This can be seen in this
photograph where the sea, the beach,
the lagoon and the mainland all drift into
the distance somewhere to the left of the
horizon. This is the vanishing point. The
vanishing point is where all the lines
meet, and in theory disappear into a dot.

Lines, leading lines and vanishing points are

components of composition rather than techniques. So I
view them as objects that need to be placed within the
composition itself.

So the compositional question is; where do I put the

vanishing point and where do I place my lines and
leading lines in the frame?

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GEOMETRY AND LINES
Leading lines and vanishing points
In the photograph below I have placed the
'vanishing point' dead centre in this
image, although, to be honest that
decision was made for me by my previous
decision to create a symmetry in the
composition with equal amounts of
boardwalk to my left and right.
The horizon is in the middle, which is a
consequence of my desire to have the
boardwalk taking up the entire width of
the frame along the bottom edge.
That meant pointing the camera down,
and the horizon placed itself in the middle.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
So for me the all important subject is the
boardwalk which becomes the most
important thing to present in the
composition, all other objects and elements
radiate out from there.
Leading lines and vanishing points provide
a way of presenting depth in a photograph.
These techniques do not create depth.
Nothing can do that.
The depth is already there and you are just
placing objects using compositional
techniques that ‘promote’ the visual effect
of depth in two dimensions.
If you wanted to not present the depth that
is so obvious in this scene, then you can do
that too, you just have to create a different
composition.
Leading lines and vanishing points
are not compositional techniques.
They should be treated as objects
that exist like physical objects
exist, and then you can place
them in your frame using the
techniques explained in this book.
And don’t forget, that practice
makes perfect! So get out there
now! Table of contents
GEOMETRY AND LINES
Leading lines and vanishing points
Where you put you leading lines and
your vanishing point should follow the
four basic rules of balance, separation,
placement and the rule of thirds.
I have put the horizon in the middle
because the sky had some nice cloudy
detail in it and was a great colour, and
therefore I wanted it in the
composition!
Had I lowered the camera therefore
removing some of the sky, the horizon
would be much closer to the top line of
the 'tic-tactoe' grid and would therefore
more closely follow the 'rule of thirds'
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
That's good composition, isn't it? No it's
not! Applying a rule in such an arbitrary
way before applying creativity isn't a
creative process, and your photography will
suffer.
Had I blindly applied the 'rule of thirds' in
this way I would have introduced into the
frame a lot more of the near black land
mass at the bottom of the frame which
would have greatly upset the balance of the
photograph.
Think creatively, then apply technique.
What is the subject of the photo?
For me it is the beach to the left. So the sea
segment, then beach, then lagoon, then
mainland collectively form the leading lines
and funnel into the frame disappearing at
the vanishing point on the horizon.
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LINES AND VANISHING POINTS
Here is a photograph of a bustling street
in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
It really shows the life that flows through
the streets in this city. To capture this
scene I used the same simple
composition to that of the pier in the
previous pages. One glance down this
road from my viewpoint and it screamed
out to me to take a photograph, as it
would scream out to anybody.
As far as composition is concerned there
are two leading lines in this photograph,
and they are the two lines either side of
the road. They span the width of the
frame at the bottom (2 and 3) and they
converge to a dot at the top middle (1),
which of course is the vanishing point.
1 rickshaws and people doing business.
2
3 follow your intuition and gut instinct.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The point of view is fixed because of
restrictions on my own movement, but I
wouldn't change anything if I could. The
main decision I had to make was where to
put the vanishing point (1). That was easy
to make as I wanted to show that the
hustle and bustle extended all the way
down the street as far as the eye could
see. That meant placing the vanishing
point as close to the top of the frame in
order to get as much of the road in the
frame as possible.
I also wanted a little piece of sky visible in
the far distance because I felt it
emphasises the feeling that the street
never ends.
The lens that I used is important too. I
used a 14mm lens which allowed me to
capture so much detail in the foreground
whilst allowing the road to drift off towards
the vanishing point creating a great
perspective and feeling of depth.
It really feels as if this road goes on
forever, full of pedestrians, cars,
Don’t be afraid to use commonly used
compositions, you don’t have to be
original with every shot.
Engage with your surroundings and
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LINES AND VANISHING POINTS
As for finding this viewpoint, this was a
spontaneous photograph and I came
upon the scene by chance. I was cycle
touring in India and was crossing a
bridge. Right behind me as I took this
photograph there was dust, noise,
exhaust fumes and violent rushes of hot
air on my back as speeding vehicles
raced past.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
There was a fortuitous two feet wide hard
shoulder and a convenient five foot high
wall that I was able to press myself
against and look over to see this
marvellous scene. It pays to explore a city
in different ways. There was no path on
the bridge and no pedestrians. No car
could stop with the traffic being so busy,
and I stopped only by chance to have a
sneaky peek over the side. And I am glad
that I did!
3
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GEOMETRY AND LINES
When you want to depict depth in a photo,
you have to direct your camera at an
angle towards your subject.
In the case of the pier and Kolkata street
scene my camera is at an angle relative
to the boardwalk or the road. If I shot from
directly overhead from a hot air balloon
there would be no angle and there would
be no perspective.
In this image on this page I have
photographed this apartment block head
on with no angle, and all depth has gone,
giving me a flat image.
I could have used a wide angle lens,
walked to within a meter of the building
pointing the camera up at an acute angle,
which would give the building the feeling
of height (as well as a feeling of depth...or
deepness)
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
with the bottom of the building wider than
the top, which is the same visual effect as
the photograph of the pier and Kolkata, or
to put it another way, the same
composition
So use a wide angle lens, get quite
close-up then point the camera at an
acute angle in relation to your road or
building and you will create a standard
composition that has been repeated for
just about all iconic buildings and remote
roads.
But there is no limit to how you use this
composition, and you should use it to
hone your skills and then find original
alternatives both in compositions and
subject matter.
I have used this photo here to discuss this
point about perspective because it is the
compositional opposite of the Kolkata
street scene and pier image in terms of its
composition.
From acute angle to no angle to get a
completely different photographic effect. It
is usually impossible to get the height
needed to remove the angle from the
Kolkata scene or the pier image, but such
compositions would have a big impact
because of the originality.
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SYMMETRY

I find that symmetry works most effectively when a scene inspires me but
is not wow factor spectacular. These scenes are interesting but without
the big wow factor reaction.

When I choose a symmetrical composition it often means keeping lines

straight, so although adding depth with perspective as shown in the
geometry and lines section, where symmetry was used in their
compositions, that is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about
picking out a detail or section in a landscape (not macro), whether urban
or rural, in order to capture something specific.

Both photographs below demonstrate this. The meander on the left from
Bosnia & Herzegovina is a detail of a landscape where I have shot head
on and used symmetry to show off its shape. The forest in Austria on the
right is a detail specifically to show the symmetry of the trees.

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SYMMETRY

The softness of the colours, that

gentle dark green of the river and
the brown leafless trees in winter
add to an engaging subject.

The subject being the stillness and

flatness of the river surface and its
pronounced meander through the
mountains.

It all creates a very simple, graphic

natural shape. So I positioned the
river as centrally as I could in order
to show off the rivers symmetry.

Symmetry in nature is very

common, although you do have to
look quite hard sometimes, but it's
always there.

Here I zoomed into this small

forest detail. Either side of the
trees on the edges of the frame are
gaps that would have spoilt the
symmetry, so I had to zoom in to
get this.

What I like about this kind of

symmetry is that within the frame is
the randomness and chaos of
nature, all contained and
presented in this very simple and
graphic composition.

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SYMMETRY

Creating symmetry in a photograph can present the

subject in a more graphic way.

The two photographs on this page place the subject

in the middle of the frame If you find a single object
on its own then you can draw attention to it by placing
it in the middle against a background that shows it off
and places it in context, but doesn't interfere with it.

If there were a row of trees in the photograph below, I

could have placed them equal distant apart along the
length of the horizon that would have provided a very
graphic and striking symmetry.

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LAYERS
Layers can be used to create a visual
contrast between foreground and
background subjects and can be
used to create a sense of depth.
In instances where you feel that you
want to create a sense of depth, but
the scene doesn't lend itself to
manipulating lines in the way I
previously described, then using
layers in your composition may work.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
The photo on the top right was taken
in the Carpathian mountain range in
Romania and like all mountain ranges
the mountain roads are often below
the tree line so the views are
restricted. The place where I took this
photo was no different, but I have
stopped at a lay-by that fortuitously
has a cleared area immediately in
front of me so that the trees start
about 30 metres away, giving some
breathing space for the view beyond
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LAYERS
This photograph took a bit of
composing before I got something
that I liked. But I decided to have a
dead straight line of trees in the
foreground that consisted of very
detailed trees. That was the first main
decision because the alternative was
to leave that layer out in order to
zoom into the layers beyond. This
provides a nice, contrasty and sharply
detailed first layer.
Then in the distance each layer has
that distant forest carpet like look full
of texture but little actual detail. I like
that because all the detail you need is
in the foreground layer. Each layer
has its own distinct outline and each
one is satisfyingly lighter that the
previous one, and the final layer has
the tree line visible which provides an
interesting detail of bald mountain
ridge. Beyond that is the final layer of
the sky.

I really like the feeling of depth that I get from this image, and so different
than the sharp geometry and lines used previously to get an effect of
depth.

The second image is also from Romania. The viewpoint is looking down
onto fields separated by trees, with the fields filled by early morning mist.
The mist creates a fading of each line of trees and bushes separated by
mist that creates a feeling of depth.

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LAYERS
This is Dover castle in the UK and a
slightly different take on the layers
idea. This time there are two distinct
layers, the residential houses in the
foreground, juxtaposed with the
castle in the background.
First let’s look at the image on this
page, and on the next page we’ll look
at a simiilar photograph with some
interesting differences.
This composition creates a nice
contrast with the small residential
houses in the foreground being
depicted much larger than the castle
in the background. The chimneys in
the foreground are replaced by turrets
in the background.
This is a very tight crop and had I
used a wide angle lens on this the
layering effect would have been
muted significantly. The reason being
that a wide angle photograph would
have depicted the castle much
smaller in the composition and would
have been swamped by a mass of
blue sky. Whereas in the foreground I
would have a mass of small terraced
houses within which this composition
would exist, but the effect would be
nullified.

Thanks to the effects of perspective

this creates a pleasant contrast that is
a little different to other compositions
and therefore has the ability to hold
the attention of the viewer a little
longer. Anything that equals different
will always draw viewers in for a
longer lingering look.

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LAYERS

On the left is a very

similar photograph
taken at the same
time but from a
different position. This
is a more square on
composition with the
front of the houses
contrasting with the
front of the castle,
creating a great
comparison between
the two. Again a
telephoto lens is used
in order to eliminate
the immediate
environment thus
creating this layering
effect.

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 PEOPLE IN THE LANDSCAPE
Placing people into a landscape has
a huge effect on the overall look of a
composition. I am not talking about
portraits of people where a person
fills the frame as that is a separate
subject altogether. I am talking about
shooting urban and rural landscapes,
creating strong compositions of the
environment and then waiting for
people to enter a suitable section of
your composition before pressing the
shutter.

The difference between a photograph

of a landscape with people and then
the same landscape without people is
very pronounced.

Adding a person into your

composition will have the effect that
the eye will be immediately drawn to
that person, and then the eye will drift
through the rest of the photograph
from that point.

Assuming the same composition, but

without the person or people, the eye
will be drawn to other elements in the
photograph, which will give the photo
a different feel.

These images would be very different if

they didn’t have people in them.

Although, even without people the

compositions work.
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PEOPLE IN THE LANDSCAPE
If we look at conventional portraits for
a moment, the big rule here is that
you focus on the eyes of your subject.
Thousands of magazines, millions of
websites and just about all portrait
photographers will tell you this.

A portrait photographer focuses on

the eyes because the eyes of the
viewer will be immediately drawn to
them, and then everything radiates
out from there.

In a wider landscape photograph if

you place a person in the frame, that
person or people will have a
gravitational pull towards the part of
the image where they are depicted
that wouldn't be there if the person
wasn't there.

In my view this effect is very similar to

the effect of someone’s eyes in a
portrait photograph. In a portrait, as
soon as we know where the eyes are,
that's where we look first.

And as far as landscape photography

is concerned I think it's because we
are fundamentally drawn to look at
objects that we recognise as living
things. It doesn't matter if those living
things are humans or animals, the
effect will be the same.

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PEOPLE IN THE LANDSCAPE
The man walking the dog in this photograph adds so much to the
composition, and he also gives a sense of scale in the snowy forest.

The point that I am demonstrating here is that once you see the little
human stick figure, your eye goes straight to that.

There are lots of little blobby dark bits in the shadows of the snow and
one of those little blobby dark bits just happens to be a person.

Because we recognise the shape as a person and not a shadow in the

snow, once we become aware of it our eyes sort of lock on to it, and in
effect it becomes the subject of the photograph.

The composition was originally created in my mind's eye without the man
in the picture, but as I was using a tripod I waited until a person appeared
at the location that I wanted and took a few images with and a few
images without people.

I personally was happy with both versions but I do prefer this one.

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PEOPLE IN THE LANDSCAPE
I composed this image - initially - without people, so I
placed the concrete sculpture where I wanted it, and then
the snow covered land, the trees and the path that isn't
visible were all placed deliberately to create a pleasant
aesthetic without any people in it.

Again I was using a tripod so I just waited there for the best
part of half an hour and took a picture whenever I saw
people in positions that I like.

With the dog in the middle of the frame and the two people
walking along the snow covered path, the viewers eye is
drawn to them, once the viewer is aware of their presence.

Now, with the addition of the dog and the two people, they
have become the objects in the frame that the eye is drawn
to.

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SCALE
Scale is a compositional component where a contrast is created
by placing something small in the frame against something large
in a frame. It is an exceptionally simple idea, and very easy to
execute.

It is up to the photographer to colour that in with ideas and

interpretation.

One thing that I do (as in the photograph below) is to compose

my image for the background, placing the camera on a tripod.

Then I wait for people to walk past, and once they are in position I
press the shutter.

Anticipating where people will be in the immediate future and

then plan a composition around that prediction is a really good
technique for creating scale in an image.

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SCALE
In this photo of Wells Cathedral in Somerset, England, I have
used a 200mm lens and walked 50-100 meters (sorry, I can't
remember precisely!) away from the front until as much of the
front of the cathedral filled the frame. I wanted to fill the entire
background with the cathedral and include as little grass as
possible and no sky.

I did this to create a feeling of enormity.

To emphasise this this feeling of enormity I needed a person to

walk past. So, with the camera on a tripod all I had to do was wait
for someone to pass, and then click the shutter at the appropriate
time. As already explained I saw it in my minds eye before I had
set the camera up.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

SCALE
The previous photo was a spontaneous shot in that I had no idea
I was going to shoot it until I stood in front of the cathedral. In my
mind I knew how to frame it and I knew that I would have to wait
for a pedestrian to walk past.

Using your imagination is so important in photography, and it is

the only way to create unique and original compositions.

Had I used a wider angle lens whilst shooting from the same
distance, what I would get is the entire frontage of the cathedral
against a pristine blue sky, with the blue sky taking up about 70
percent of the area of the composition and completely dominating
the cathedral.

Any people walking past become less significant in the

composition and the photograph just becomes a pleasant but
rather bland depiction of a building.

While that is neither good or bad, such a photograph does lack

creativity in compositional terms.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

SCALE
The photograph of a house against the Fagaras mountains in
Romania was an obvious combination for a photograph.

I was travelling along the road between the tourist towns of

Brasov and Sibiu and was aware of the photographic
opportunities presented by the Fagaras mountain range in the
distance. Then I saw the traditional wooden house and instantly
knew that the two together would make a good photograph.

There are two main compositional components here, one of them

I have already talked about, and that is the use of layering to
create a feeling of depth.

The other is scale where I simply present small against large. I

have created a composition to present the house in the
foreground with it's fine detail and sharp contrast, against the
backdrop of mountains far enough in the distance for most of the
detail to have been removed by both the effect of distance and
some natural early morning mist that is still wafting around in the
air.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

SCALE
The subject of the photo below is the
house, and I have used a medium
lens (100mm) to ensure it is big
enough in the frame to be the focus
of the shot. The longer lens also
helps to isolate and emphasise the
two main elements, namely the
house and the mountains (what you
leave out is as important as what you
leave in).
Unlike the cathedral shot previously I
want to include some sky in the
image so that the jagged edge of the
ridge is visible.
I wanted the mountain ridge high up
the frame to emphasise the height of
the mountains.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Note: The rule of thirds dictates that
the ridge line should be one third
down, but that just wouldn't be so
effective here, and if I were to blindly
follow the rule of thirds I would have
to use a wider angle lens in order to
position everything in the frame
along the lines and intersections in
the Tic-Tac-Toe grid.
My separation technique allows you
to leave a suitable gap that fulfills
your vision.
There should be no absolutes in
photographic composition.
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SCALE
The cliff and lighthouse photo from East Sussex, England is
another people in the landscape shot, nice and simple with
that dramatic cliff edge and tiny people.

This is a handheld shot where I Compositionally I split the photo

waited for the walkers on the top
left to get to the very top of the hill.
So I had plenty of time to see the
photo in my minds eye and then
frame the shot.
This is a very simple composition.
down the middle between the sea
and the land with a symmetry of
people and lighthouse in each
corner. Scale of course is very
important as far as this
composition is concerned,
although I think that aspect of the
composition speaks for itself.

There are always people strolling

along the clifftops here in the
summer months and a variety of
compositions scream out loudly all
along this stretch of coast.

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FRAME WITHIN A FRAME
If you have ever walked through an
archway with a camera, then I bet
as you have exited that archway
you have tried to frame a shot with
the curve of the arch forming a
frame around the main part of your
composition. It's a natural thing to
do, at least I think it is! But maybe it
is just me.
Anyway, framing a shot this way has a
number of uses. It can give the
appearance of looking out into the world
from the other side of a window, or the
appearance of peaking out onto the
world from somewhere else, or you can
use this technique to fill a part of the
frame that would otherwise be
distractingly empty.

Or you can use it just to help focus

the viewers eye away from the
edge onto something else.

The photograph on the right is

taken from just inside the Blue
Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

I had to use a tripod for the long

exposure needed to get the motion
blur of the family walking out. But
the framing provided by the open
doorway and those studded doors
helps add a certain feeling and
atmosphere to the photograph. At
the other end of the pathway is the
Haghia Sophia, once a church,
then a mosque and now a
museum.

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FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

This photograph was composed

purely for aesthetic purposes, it was a
spontaneous shot that I saw as I
walked out of the mosque, and so
there was no pre-planning, it just
shouted out to me.

Sometimes though, there is a need to

fill a few gaps around the edge. Trees
are always a good way of filling an
empty bit of sky which would have the
effect of pushing the eye down onto
your subject without which there
would otherwise have been
distracting sky.

If you are photographing on a cloudy

day where there are no details in the
cloud, just that plain steely grey sky,
then it might be wise to create
compositions that eliminate the sky
altogether or else use objects like
buildings, archways or overhanging
trees to fill the void.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

The photograph on the right is from

Dresden in Germany. This day was
horrible, cold and a sky that was
enough to put any photographer off, but
if you wander around for long enough
you will find something.

When I wander around a place like this

with such overcast skies, I do look for
the archways and bridges and details.
And I also wander around trees,
because an overhanging tree can help
push the viewers eye into the
photograph.

For this photo I was standing under a

tree, obviously in winter! Those
branches provided just enough
overhang to create an interesting
composition to compliment the
buildings in the bottom half of the
frame.

This is more a variation of the frame in

a frame idea, as the 'frame' consists of
just overhanging trees, but I wanted to
point out the usefulness of this idea and
how it can be used to fill an empty gap
which in turn helps to create a better
balance in the image.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

So let's see, previously I used an archway for aesthetic

purposes, then I used an overhanging tree to fill a gap
of empty sky, what else can there be?

Well, one last variation on this topic are urban scenes

where I use the edges of buildings either side of the
composition to create a graphic effect, or to push the
viewers eye into the central section of the image whilst
providing points of interest throughout the photograph.

That is impossible to imagine without having a look at a

couple of examples, which I have provided on the next
couple of pages.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

The photographs on this page use a version of the

frame within a frame composition style that may seem
to be a little tenuous, because exactly where is the
frame!?

I use this compositional component quite a lot for both

people and architecture.

If someone unknown to me was to de-construct these

two images with regard to composition then they may
say that I am employing the rule of thirds, but that isn't
true, and that is another reason why I want to describe
these two images here.

These two photographs use the same composition but

the subject matter is different.

The photograph on the left is from the old town in

Dubrovnik, Croatia and looks out to the tourists looking
over the city wall.

The photo on th eright is a village scene in West

Bengal in India.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

For the photograph of tourists looking over Dubrovnik's

city wall I deliberately placed those buildings either side
of the frame in order to provide interesting detail and
context as well as to push the viewers eye into the
centre towards the people.

Walking around on top of the city wall is a popular

tourist attraction and when I saw the wall beyond these
buildings I knew it would make a unique composition if I
could just snap some tourists. So I set up the frame
with camera on tripod and waited for people to walk
past. Consciously I am using the buildings as a kind of
frame, although to an outsider it looks like I am using
the rule of thirds.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

The image of the cyclists in an an Indian village is no

different. I put a 200mm lens on a tripod in this village
and just stood there waiting for photos to appear.

The blurry men are just inquisitive and they politely

moved out of the way of what they perceived as my
lens's line of fire, hence the gap in the middle, so I used
this behaviour to my advantage.

I knew they would be blurred and everything beyond

would be in focus and when these cyclists trundled
past, I pressed the shutter. Consciously I used the
blurry men to frame the cyclists. I did not consciously
employ the rule of thirds.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

FRAME WITHIN A FRAME

Again, a very similar composition to the previous two

photographs. This time this is a multiple image stitched
panorama.

This image is about 40 individual images and in

resolution terms it is huge! Those thicker trees left and
right were essential to the overall composition and were
included in the frame not because of the rule of thirds,
but because they provided a kind of soft framing within
the straight edges of the actual frame, an initial point of
interest if you like .

They provide scale, help to give a feeling of depth and

push the viewer into the frame. And that is the point of
a frame in a frame. You can use it as a foreground
object to provide scale, or use it as an initial point of
interest with the main subject inside the frame.

Remember, when you depict people in an image as I

have done here, although they look like small stick
figures, your eye is drawn to them more than any other
object, so in my method for composing an image, they
become the subject and everything else provides the
environment that places them in context.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

COMPOSITIONAL STYLES

If you were given the task of fulfilling a photographic

brief for a client then you would have to make plans on
how you would tackle that brief.

You would sit down and think about the range of

photography you would want to produce. So if that brief
was to photograph a particular location you would want
to present to the client a wide ranging set of
photographs that captured the essence and character
of that location.

To fullfill such a brief a good starting point would be to

divide your photography into a number of compositional
styles.

Those styles may go something like this:

1. Open landscape
2. Closed landscape
3. Detail
4. Movement

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

COMPOSITIONAL STYLES

These four compositional styles are a good start to get

going on a project but the list is by no means
comprehensive, but it is a good start.

Of course, these styles can be applied to any

photography project.

You could use it as a starting point for a personal

project to photograph a forest, a project that could even
last over the course of a year, covering the seasons ,
you can have such a list ready in your mind even if you
are just out for a stroll and you have a camera with you.

The list is fairly self explanatory, so I won't dwell too

long on them, but they do need a little explaining...

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

COMPOSITIONAL STYLES
Okay then, an open landscape first,
and then we’ll move on to the closed
landscape.
The classic sweeping vista that
we've spoken about previously is an
open landscape.
The photograph here on the top right
is also an open landscape, taken
with a 200mm lens so not really a
classic sweeping vista composition,
which are normal wide angle shots.
An open landscape is one where
both the sky and the land forms the
composition.
My example here was an obvious
choice for an open landscape, the
environmental conditions in this
richly coloured sunrise dictated less
land and more sky. A nice, simple
composition with a silhouette.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
I lined up the Sun and the land in
this composition by moving myself
and my camera left and right. A
photographer can move the Sun! Or
the entire landscape depending on
how you look at it.
You should always consider other
types of compositions. Keep mental
lists and run through them in your
mind, after a time it will become
instinctive and you will also start to
see compositional opportunities
beyond those lists that will be
completely original.
Open landscapes apply to urban
landscapes too, as do all these
compositional styles.
Table of contents
COMPOSITIONAL STYLES
The image below is of green fields
in Exmoor Park, Somerset, England.
The subject of the photograph is the
tree and I chose to show it without
sky because this was the middle of
the day with hazy sunshine, lovely
and warm as it was, it didn't change
the fact that there was no detail or
anything interesting in the sky.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
It wasn't even blue, it was just a
yellowy bluey washed out colour.
One problem with the sky was that
the sun is shining slightly from my
right as I am taking the picture, so
my camera is pointing slightly
towards the sun.
When you have your back to the sun
the sky in front of you will change
colour to a darker blue and it will be
less washed out than it was at this
angle in my photo here.
However, compositionally I also love
the shades of green that washed
over the image. So the colour palette
is yellow/green all the way through,
and the tree (my subject) is set
perfectly against the tree clad hills
beyond, which creates a pleasant
visual effect.
Table of contents
COMPOSITIONAL STYLES
The image below is of green fields
in Exmoor Park, Somerset, England.
The subject of the photograph is the
tree and I chose to show it without
sky because this was the middle of
the day with hazy sunshine, lovely
and warm as it was, it didn't change
the fact that there was no detail or
anything interesting in the sky.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
It wasn't even blue, it was just a
yellowy bluey washed out colour.
One problem with the sky was that
the sun is shining slightly from my
right as I am taking the picture, so
my camera is pointing slightly
towards the sun.
When you have your back to the sun
the sky in front of you will change
colour to a darker blue and it will be
less washed out than it was at this
angle in my photo here.
However, compositionally I also love
the shades of green that washed
over the image. So the colour palette
is yellow/green all the way through,
and the tree (my subject) is set
perfectly against the tree clad hills
beyond, which creates a pleasant
visual effect.
Table of contents
COMPOSITIONAL STYLES
As I wander through a landscape with a camera in my hand I am constantly
asking myself how much original photography can I squeeze out of this
landscape?

I don't mean that literally of course, but in my minds eye I am always looking
for compositions. Sometimes the landscape looks great but when I put the
camera to my eye, I can't automatically get a suitable composition.

Sometimes something in the frame will jar with me, it might even be a van
or lorry in the distance that bothers me or too much or too little sun or cloud
or dark or light.

So I'll go mechanically through my list of compositional styles and test them

out in my mind and have another go.

Anyway, the other two styles on the list that I present here are detail and
movement.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

COMPOSITIONAL STYLES
And two examples are here on the
right. Detail on the top and movement
at the bottom.
Although I used a professional
commission as a scenario when I
started this topic, this list of
compositional styles is not a set of
compositions that you should create for
every landscape that you photograph,
and neither for every project that you
embark on.
If details scream out at you then take
them, if open landscapes say nothing,
then leave them out. Cherry pick what
you want and discard the rest. Or
challenge yourself as an exercise, by
photographing in a number of styles so
you can see what you get when back
at the computer.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
Often you have to take a variety of
styles and view them later before you
can work out exactly what works and
what doesn't. The detail example
inspired me because I loved the divots
and grooves carved into the land.
New tractor tracks and ancient plough
marks scar the landscape telling a story
of its history. That kind of detail
fascinated me and inspired me to take
this photograph.
The photograph of a pier is a more
conventional 'off the shelf' composition
that really shouted at me at the time,
and I think it's obvious why.
Table of contents
EXERCISE/ASSIGNMENT
Pick an area that you are familiar with.
Maybe a place that you have
photographed before, or have been
thinking about photographing.
You can choose any location
whatsoever , like a whole town, or just
a shopping centre in the town. Or you
can choose a forest or a landscape
like a national park.
This exercise isn't about the location
per se, but the set of photographs that
you will take from that location.
This exercise is about capturing the
character of a place in a series of
photographs that use the four different
compositional styles that I have
mentioned.
So, as a starting point for a
photographic project, choose your
location and take a series of photos
that include an open landscape shot, a
closed landscape shot, a detail shot,
and a movement shot.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
If you choose a forest, then the open
landscape may be a view of the forest
from afar, with the surrounding
countryside in view. The closed
landscape could be pretty much
anything inside the forest.
Detail could be a close up of a single
tree or close up shots of grasses or
moss. Movement could be the wind
blowing the trees and branches
around, maybe a long exposure to
capture that.
You don't have to take all four styles,
because there may not be an
opportunity to photograph movement
for example. But try to include as many
of the four compositional styles that
you can, as this will allow you to apply
placement separation and balance in
different ways, that will in turn help you
to see your environment in different
ways which will also help you to unlock
your creativity.
Table of contents
THE END
Well, that’s about it for what I have to
say on composition.
All you now have to do is practice,
practice and more practice.
Photography is relaxing and fun, so
just get out there and take those
photographs!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the read,
and I hope you gained loads of insight
into composition that you will be
building into your own processes.
I’ve loved writing this eBook, which
took me ages to write, as I wrote a
page here and a page there...over a
long time.
TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY
I learnt loads about my own
photography too and really had a good
hard look at how I take my own
photographs, and I hope that came
across in the eBook.
Okay then, it’s time to say
goodbye...but fear not, as I do have a
website and I also have another
eBook, available from my website, as
well as an ever growing albeit small
collection of e-courses
So hop on over to my website and
have a peruse of all my blog posts
about photography.
Tony Eveling.
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 BONUS PAGE
I have a number of e-courses available on composition and other
aspects of photography.

Those e-courses are hosted by Udemy who are industry leaders in

online e-courses.

My courses are priced anywhere between US$20 and US$200, so

they are not cheap.

However, this is a bonus page, and therefore I am offering all my

courses to you for just US$10 each! - You have lifetime access, and
30-day money back guarantee.

These discounts are for a limited time only, and for the next couple of
months you can go to my e-courses page on my website to get the
discount codes.

My courses are designed to make you a much better photographer

than you already are, in the minimum time. If you enjoyed this eBook,
then you’ll love my courses.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents

 THE BACKPAGE

Here on the final page, are some links to my photography website

that I hope you will find interesting and informative

www.tonyeveling.com

8 Articles to make you a better photographer

Other interesting articles!

My Photography e-courses

And once again, my promise to you: All the images on my website, in

my eBooks, and in my e-course video classes were taken by me. I
never use other people's photographs to explain my techniques.

I would never teach anything that I couldn’t do myself.

TONY EVELING PHOTOGRAPHY Table of contents