The question of whether to shoot in landscape or portrait orientation has probably crossed your mind countless times. The fact is, landscape orientation wins most of the time. The human eye sees the world horizontally, or in landscape orientation. That’s how cameras and most desktop imaging devices are designed. The predominance of landscape orientation has only recently been broken up by smartphones which, as we know, shift our perspective to vertical or portrait orientation.

Composition is fundamental for a photo’s quality. So never underestimate it. Try to always keep it in mind and be aware of what aspects you can improve in your photos’ composition. You can get some great composition by concentrating on contrast, stepping in for a shot, or sometimes even going for a center composition. Read today’s article for several intriguing tips on getting better, more original composition.

Composition is the very foundation of photography. It helps us to judge whether a photo is good or not. And it also reveals whether you’re a good photographer or not. Some people are born with a talent for composition. The rest of us have to learn it. Start taking composition seriously—for example by reading the tips in today’s article. Better pictures will be your reward.

You don’t always have to shoot big, wide scenes. There is beauty in the details. Details can be found all around you and there are many options for using them in your photography. Read about what the photography of textures and patterns is and the best way to shoot them. 

The most important thing in portrait photography is your subject. But that doesn’t mean that their environment doesn’t have any role to play. Not at all! The things that a picture shows in its subject’s surroundings have a share in how that picture feels overall. Even an ordinary bush can ruin an entire portrait—or bring it to perfection.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking your pictures with an expensive camera or an old phone. In portraits, the same rule of composition will always apply. And your portraits will look a lot better if you stick to them. Rules are made to be broken, of course, but before you break them, you should know them. So let’s take a look at the basic ones. As you’ll see, knowing them can dramatically improve your pictures.

Did you know you can improve your composition while you’re relaxing watching movies on TV? Just think about filmmakers’ reasons for using particular shots. And then use the same approaches in your photography.

Nobody’s perfect, and nobody knows everything, so nobody’s born knowing which photo compositions look elegant and which to avoid. So there’s no harm in doing a simple composition exercise right out in the field. You just need to find an interesting subject.

We all often examine the work of other photographers, professionals, and the best in our field so as to capture and absorb at least a part of their skill, so we can apply it later in our own pictures. Let’s try extending our study of the great works one step farther outwards, to painting. What can painters’ great works offer photographers?

Some colors perfectly match, while others strongly clash. But color contrasts are often precisely the way to give photos striking composition.