HOW TO COMPOSE (SUCCESSFULLY AND WITHOUT EXPERIENCE) YOUR NEXT MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY

While personally I am in love with my SLR camera (its weight, its robustness, its optics, the manual mode and its millions of possibilities), it is true that I do not disgust mobile photography as part of any process photographic. We have already talked sometimes about the incontestable advantages of mobile photography: it weighs little, it is very easy to use, but, above all, it always goes with us . And that is, for me, THE MAIN REASON for which I believe that we must give mobile photography the importance and the creative space it deserves. Because you're welcome having the best camera in the world if we don't carry it on. And let's not fool ourselves, we don't always carry the SLR (Evil or whatever you have) on top of it, but I doubt you will leave your home without the mobile phone. So, why not try to master one of the strengths (and keys) of mobile photography? Do you know which one I mean? Exactly, to the composition .

COMPOSE IN MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY

On a technical level, when we compare the possibilities of a SLR camera (or EVIL or advanced compact) there are certain limitations that we have today when working with our Smartphone. We do not have aperture or shutter speed or zoom (decent, it is understood ), for example. Instead, we have a lot of agility, skill, portability and immediacy. Most times we just have to chase the image, frame and shoot. The phone does the rest. That is why the weight of the image, its strength, falls, together with the light, on the composition.

DEFINE A CENTER OF INTEREST

That is, what is the protagonist of my image. Is it a portrait? Is it a landscape? Is it a crowd? Is it a building? Whatever it is, the first step to take a picture with your mobile phone or any type of camera, is to know what is the center of interest of your image and never lose sight of it since it is, from it, from where You will make all the decisions to structure your image .

THE POINT OF VIEW

The flexibility, size and portability of the phone make it much easier for us to work on different points of view when composing an image, since the phone does not weigh and is easy to handle. Shooting from the ground, from above (zenith), changing the shooting angle (chopped or contrapicado) will add interest to the image and completely change the way we perceive the image. Take the test, take an object and photograph it from different angles. You will see how the image changes radically.

The point of view varies. @alexadeblois

RULE OF THIRDS

The rule of thirds is one that divides the frame into three thirds both horizontally and vertically. In the place where these imaginary lines intersect, the strong points of the image are located. It is at these points where the gaze is directed naturally and, therefore, where placing the center of interest of our image emphasizes it naturally. Knowing this rule and knowing how to apply it will be very useful to improve your composition, especially when you have few alternative elements with which to direct your gaze towards your protagonist. Tip: Many camera applications of our Smartphones, allow you to add guides that divide the frame horizontally and vertically allowing you to see the intersection points live, to guide you when ordering the elements within it.

Intersections or strengths in the Rule of Thirds

THE LINES

The lines are a key element in composition, since they allow you to guide the viewer's gaze through the frame as if it were a luminous arrow. You have different types of lines, each of them inspiring a sensation in the viewer, from the sensuality, elegance and sinuousness of the curved lines, to the stiffness and strength of the verticals, or the peace and quiet of the horizontals, without forgetting the dynamism and strength of the diagonals.

Work the lines

SIMPLIFY (LESS IS MORE)

When we look at an image, it is essential that the eye is not lost among the elements and that it easily finds what we want to highlight. If that does not happen, it is because we have composed poorly. Well because we have not placed the center of interest in the right place, either because we have not used the elements at our disposal to highlight it correctly, or because there were too many elements around it that ended up losing it within the composition. The simpler the narration of an image is, the easier it is for our eye to find what we want to highlight, it is also easier to place it and enhance it, for example through color, the negative space or the rule of thirds. Do not cut yourself, look for inspiration on the network, there is a lot of mobile photography that follows this principle, some really good .

NEGATIVE SPACE

We have already advanced in the previous point. Linked to the idea of simplification, we can rely on the use of negative space to emphasize our protagonist. The negative space is a background with little information (it can be a texture, a color ...) that highlights and enhances your protagonist, accompanies it, but does not take away prominence.

Negative space

BALANCE

The balance of the image is based on the visual weight of the elements, and their placement in the frame with respect to that weight. Most of the time that weight is obvious to us: it weighs more on something that is bigger than something smaller, something that is closer than something that is further away. But other times that visual weight is not so obvious to us consciously, but we do perceive it more subtly, for example: it weighs more irregularly than regular, weighs more warm color than cold, or a single element weighs more than a set of them. To say some. Here is a complete article on this topic. Learning to play with balance, imbalance, statism or dynamism of a scene is essential in composition, especially in mobile photography.

PLAY WITH THE DIFFERENT PLANES

One of the great differences between a photograph and our real vision of the elements is the dimensions . While we see in three dimensions, we can only recreate in two dimensions (at the moment ). That is why we often come across images that are flat or boring , something is missing and we don't know what it is. Many times it is that third dimension that we lack and that we can emulate through the game with different planes in the image, to give it depth and avoid that feeling.

THE VANISHING POINT

The vanishing point is the place (real or imaginary) where two parallel lines intersect at infinity. Imagine the sidelines of a road. Didn't they seem to come together at the bottom of the image? It is that place where they converge, what we know as a vanishing point and that we associate with depth in the image.

Work the feeling of depth

THE COLOR

The colors in composition are so important that they can justify, almost by themselves, the taking of an image. Know the complementary colors to enhance the contrast between elements, play with warm and cold tones to increase the feeling of depth (the warm ones seem to get closer, the cold ones move away) or to transmit different feelings or moods. Here you have 20 tricks to play with the color in your images that will surely help you .

Play with color

THE SCALE

Another classic in composition that you must add to your photographic baggage . To demonstrate with certainty the size of something, we need to have something to compare it with. The most effective is to work with an element that we imagine or know the real proportions (for example a person, a cat, a ball ...) and one that we have no reference as a mountain, some trees ... The scale helps us to increase the feeling of greatness of one and the smallness of the other, for example.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

As human beings and therefore sociable beings, we are naturally attracted to other human beings. Including the human element in your images as a center of interest, to add a scale, or provide dynamism, will increase the interest of those who observe your image naturally, so do not forget that a person (or even a reference to it as shoes) ), can be another element of your compositions to take into account

The importance of the human element

AND FINALLY…

Believe in yourself
Be patient
Learn to observe
The photographer does not do the camera
Any opportunity to practice what is learned is valid
Knowledge does not take place
Everything you learn by photographing with your Smartphone will be useful for any type of camera
Practice
Enjoy
Never stop learning
Never
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