Good vs. Bad Composition

BAD COMPOSITION VS. GOOD COMPOSITION Here is a good example of bad photo composition. This coffee mug was placed on a workbench. The first photo that was taken, the one on the left, is not composed as well as the photo on the right.imply by habit and without thinking, many photographers typically shoot pictures while holding their camera in a horizontal position. For this subject, this is Photo Mistake #1. This subject looks better composed as a vertical (portrait orientation), rather than a horizontal (landscape orientation).Another common mistake is not to fill your frame with your subject. The photograph on the right is a much better picture. The mug is vertical and the vertical format looks much better.Zooming in closer also eliminated the distracting sunlight on the table and eliminated the excessive space around the mug.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:

Good Composition Image: What type of composition is applied in this image? Balance, Lines, R.O.T. etc..Why does it have good composition? What does the image portray? What type of genre is it? Nature, Architecture, Portrait etc...

Is there anything else others may not see, that you see?

Bad Composition Image: Tell me why the image has BAD COMPOSITION? Why? What type of composition could have this image been part of? Better balance? Cropped to apply the rule of thirds? Zoomed out in order to show more of its surroundings? Think about how could it been better?

More Examples: This may be the most frequent photography mistake of all. Usually this is best handled by moving the camera or moving your subject to a different spot. In the first photo of "Mocha", you can barely see her head.Learn how to look through your camera's viewfinder and observe the background in addition to just framing in your subject properly. Then, it's simply making an adjustment of in position of you or your subject.Look how much better this photo of Mocha looks than the one up above. Same dog. Same back yard, just a different background and better lighting.