COMM 242, Advanced News
Photography (Photojournalism)
(Instructor: Ross Collins, North Dakota State University)
Some handy elements of composition
(Note: all examples taken in 2004 in Cambridge,
England, except cats.)
1. Clear focal point or center of interest.
2. Rule of thirds, avoid center of interest in exact center of photo.
3. Foreground/background relationships, objects on several planes.
4. Scale or contrast, interesting relationships between rough and smooth, large and small, color, etc.
5. Leading lines, to a center of interest.
6. Repeated patterns creating visual “rhythm.”
7. Use of unusual camera angles.
8. Cropping for an uncluttered “poster effect.”
