COMPOSITION

Any photograph must speak for itself. This means that on seeing a photograph the person watching it must immediately understand what it is trying to convey. There is a saying that “a single picture is worth a thousand words”. This means that a picture can convey a message more convincingly than a thousand words . You may have seen many photographs that leave a lasting impression on you. Have you wondered why it is so? This is because the subject which is photographed is placed in the picture frame in such an intelligent manner that it leaves an impact onthe viewer. This placement of the subject or subjects within the picture frame is

called composition.

Composition has a special meaning when it has to convey news to the public as is the case in photojournalism. It is the placement of the subject being photographed that leaves an impact on the viewer. Let us consider a situation where you have to show a photograph of a poor man. You can take a simple photo of a beggar on the street and convey your message. But if the same photograph is taken in such a manner that the beggar is close to the camera but at a distance is also a rich man sitting in a big car. This picture will have a greater impact because its composition shows the contrast in the two people in the same picture and highlights the condition of the beggar as against the rich man. One can think of many such instances.

Composition also deals with making the picture look more appealing to the eye.

Action photographs of war or sports show a kind of energy that should make the viewer feel that he is in the midst of those actions.

Composition also demands balance, that is to say a photograph must be taken in such a manner that it should not seem to make our eye wander to a corner. The various subjects should be so organised that the picture has a pleasing effect.

There are some basic rules of framing, of which the rule of thirds is the most common. It states that elements in a frame must be so placed that they roughly fall on the intersection of the lines that divide the frame in three rows and three columns.

This is no hard and fast rule, yet it helps in leaving a positive impact on the viewer.

Camera angle is another factor that has an impact on composition. If the person in a picture is an important person like a leader or a film personality, one composes the picture by keeping the camera below the person’s eye level. When this is done the person shall appear much larger . Similarly taking a picture from above a person’s height also called top angle makes the person appear small. All such methods of composition are employed to make the picture more effective in terms of what it is trying to say, so that the viewer can immediately understand its meaning.